My wife wants to pave front of house, but I kinda like the grass there...looks way better than grass in the yard.
Coli Homeowners: Will Converting the Grass in my Yard to Pavement Result in Higher Flooding Risk?
- Thread starter Raw Lyrics
- Start date
My wife wants to pave front of house, but I kinda like the grass there...looks way better than grass in the yard.
Leave the front grass and do pavers in the back. If it was me I would leave a little green space but I don’t know how your back yard looks
I'm guessing it's around $10-20k? Small backyard (will take photos this weekend)
awesome, i look forward to the pics.
when I said ornamental I refer to grass that isn't like fescue, that can handle a little bit of treading but isn't for significant movement on. Your lot size reminds me of rowhouse sizes in DC, something like these below is what i envision. This will be costly, (labor to plant individual plugs + cost of plugs, will look something like bosley for a lil bit) but it will be very little maintenance basically forever.
^^^ monkey grass, ophipogon japonicus
^liriope
GnauzBookOfRhymes
Superstar
Lawns are actually much harder to maintain than many people think. Different grass types grow better in different conditions. I asked about trees because even within same types of grass, you can buy seeds that have been created to grow even in shady areas.
In new York youre probably best with bluegrass or tall fescue. Bluegrass has a deeper green color and once it is established it forms a very thick lawn that can take a lot of traffic. But flipside is that it takes longer to establish.
I asked about the ground because a lawn that has a lot of bumps/dips will end up being patchy bc of the way water collects (or runs off). Grass needs water but if the ground is always saturated with water it will die off from fungus etc.
Depending on the size of your lawn it might make more sense to just buy the turf and have it installed. As long as you make sure it never dries out it should establish itself relatively soon.
If you want to try it yourself I would buy seed from a reputable dealer (figure out the square footage of the yard to determine how much seed you need to buy) cut the grass as low as you can, get a metal rake and break apart the top inch or so of soil, especially wherever it is patchy. You can buy a handheld spreader that will dispense the recommended amount of seed. These are nice bc you can use them for fertilizer as well. Throw your seed down. Don't be cheap. I usually throw more than the recommended amount bc might lose a lot of seed to birds. Once you've thrown the seed down, make sure it is pressed down into the ground. Roll something heavy over it or if yard is small enough just walk all over. You will need to buy starter fertilizer and peat moss. Use the spreader to put starter fertilizer all over. This helps your seed to germinate and gives it nutrients to grow. Then throw a light sobering of peat moss over everything. This will help keep the seed moist. Roll over or walk over everything again. The seed has to be in contact with the ground in order to grow. Then most importantly is watering. Water early early in the morning and at least once more in afternoon. The lawn/seeds must remain moist in order to germinate. If it's starting to look dry use the garden hose and go over it. Never water at night.
GnauzBookOfRhymes
Superstar
As long as you keep it wet you should see small shoots of grass coming up after about a week. Don't let anything or anyone walk on it. At the end of fall/ early winter, hit it with some more fertilizer. It will say on the label that it's for fall/winter treatment. That will feed your grass during winter and also prevent a lot of weeds from emerging in the spring.
Once winter is here, after the first decent snow, go ahead and spread even more seed. This is called dormant seeding. When the snow melts it will bring the seed down to the ground. The melting snow will soften the ground and the seed will hopefully be embedded. It will survive the winter and as soon as the ground warms up in the spring you should have even more new grass coming in.
Once winter is here, after the first decent snow, go ahead and spread even more seed. This is called dormant seeding. When the snow melts it will bring the seed down to the ground. The melting snow will soften the ground and the seed will hopefully be embedded. It will survive the winter and as soon as the ground warms up in the spring you should have even more new grass coming in.