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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Weeds of grass

Our backyard is a mess of spindly bushes and trees increasingly cushioned with engorging circles of weeds and ivy-like plants. I hope to reclaim some of the backyard for the people by converting some of the weed patches to a grass-like surface.

Fortunately the mother-in-law lent us her little electric rototiller. Last Friday I spent about an hour (~1 mosquito bite per 3 minute interval) chewing up a portion of the yard. This is about halfway through.
Here's the day after, now with a grass-seed mix. I've marked the boundaries of the seed spreading. Hopefully the conditions will be sufficient for grass growth.
As you can see, there are still plenty of weeds. I don't feel like hand-weeding this entire section, so this will have to do for now. It's really more of an experiment. I haven't successfully grown grass in a plot larger than a couple of square meters.

After 4 days (and lots of water), I begun to see a few grass seedlings! Hopefully the density will continue to improve. I might seed again. I'm not sure if that's a good idea, though.



3 comments:

Nan said...

Does that 'lots of water' include today's 4.5" of rain? I hope the poor little sprouts weren't washed away or drowned!

Anonymous said...

This looks really good.
It isn't easy to get grass weed free. And I know you like using green products only, which makes it more difficult. But if the grass is feed regularly to make it deep rooted, with something organic (check websites) then it will force out the weeds.
And yes, you can seed now. You can add a little top soil on the top of the seed to hopefully hid it from the birds. And also protect it from the heat. Or you can top it with hay and that will also do it.
Just make sure its watered really deep to insure root growth.
The best times to seed is the fall and early spring. Mostly because you have less heat to contend with. Seed and feed again in the fall and that will help to get thicker grass next spring.
Good job.
Signed
The M-I-L
P.S. Glad you were able to use the rototiller.

D said...

@MJ - the grass is still there, even after the crazy amount of rain we go
@ MIL - I just added more seed today. I've been watering once, for 30 minutes. However, I just read that I'm supposed to be watering with less water more frequently in the beginning. Apparently too much water can cause the seeds to rot. I'm seeing lots of unproductive seeds.