Ok lounge lawn gurus...a little help please....
I'm not a yard guy. Don't really care what it looks like. My proprietary blend of weeds looks just fine when mowed.
Anyway, I have a high dog-traffic area in the back that gets destroyed each winter. We need grass there primarily to keep the dogs for tracking in mud when it rains.
I seeded the area last Sunday. I used a Scotts brand seed with fertilizer type product. Just seed and little blue pellets, no mulch. I put it down on bare ground and it got well watered in by virtue of a good gentle rain that day. I've watered it each day. Temps have been in the 60s and 70s during the day, and low 30s at night earlier in the week. Sunny days.
Today, on day 7 I see no evidence of growth. In the past, by this time I'd expect to see some little green whickers poking up but I got nothin.
You think it might just be a little slow getting going? Or do you think it's possible I got some bad seed? At what point should I punt and go get more seed?
35 Replies
3mo
in hibernation. Give it another week for the soil to catch up to the air before you go buying more seed. Also, if that spot is as compacted as I think it is from the dogs, the seed might just be struggling to get a foothold. Next time, poke some holes first so the seed has a 'bunker' to grow in.
Is Aeration and Seeding Worth It? Since you mentioned this is a high-traffic dog area, aeration is actually your best friend, but maybe not for the reason you think. Dogs don't just "wear out" grass; they compact the soil. When soil is packed hard like concrete, roots can’t breathe, water can't penetrate, and new seed just sits on top like bird food. For a high-traffic dog zone, doing a core aeration once a year (ideally in the Fall) is worth every penny. It punches holes that allow the soil to "relax" and gives your seed a protected place to grow. Normal Yard: Every 2 years. Dog/Kid Zone: Annually.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
I've kept off of it, and kept the dogs off of it....but it it's worth doing now I will...
(In response to this post by VTVOICE)
3mo
aerator and do this yourself, but they are bulky and heavy to transport. A lawn service can do this for you for an annual fee, but they usually give their regular mowing customers priority scheduling. Also, contact them early for scheduling.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
(In response to this post by VTVOICE)
3mo
high-traffic dog zone, they can actually make things worse. They don't remove dirt; they just pack it tighter around the hole.
If you don’t want to mess with a plug aerator, just grab a pitchfork, stab the mud zone, and give it a little wiggle to break the tension. It’s a lot cheaper, and it gives that Scotts seed a better chance of actually finding a home instead of just sitting on top of a concrete-hard yard.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
a hand plug aerator. what sort of grid pattern am I looking for? Like how far apart should the holes be?
(In response to this post by VTVOICE)
3mo
2-to-3 inch staggered grid. Commercial machines usually space them out more widely, but for a hand-job on a high-compaction zone, you want about 20+ holes per square foot.
Also, leave the 'dirt cigars' (the plugs) on top of the grass. They’ll melt back into the ground after a couple of rains and help cover that Scotts seed. It looks messy for a week, but it’s the best way to get that 'proprietary weed blend' to actually take root in the mud.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
Until it gets to 50-55 degrees the seed will not germinate. (From a 15 year Green Committee chairman)
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
It's surely been well above those temps every day, but many nights were much cooler than that.
(In response to this post by Galenahokie)
3mo
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
I meant that to mean no existing grass. I scratched up the surface pretty good prior to spreading the seed. And I do this dance just about every year, and I don't recall ever having zero visible germination after 7+ days.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
7
7Hokie1
3mo
over winter. I've had better results using a contractors seed blend.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
It was a beautiful patch of grass heading into the winter.
(In response to this post by 7Hokie1)
3mo
Probably hard as a rock and if dogs are regular there the pH is assuredly screwy. If the seed decided to germinate how is the root supposed to bore its way into the ground? Some seed can handle that like winter rye but even that most likely won’t make it through the summer.
If you don’t see anything for another week I’d start with fresh seed, break up at least a couple of inches of depth with a shovel, re- seed and rake in. Then water! You can thank me later. Oh, and keep the dogs off of it till established. And overseed this fall when it’s the best time to plant grass.
** Edited by DonHo-kieHi at 4/12/2026, 8:48:28 PM
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
Wise policy.
Insert standard English Bob pic here
Ugh
** Edited by Coach McGuirk at 4/12/2026, 5:05:38 PM
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
Spring grass has to be watered every week since the roots are shallow.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
It just gets chewed up during a winter of no growth and three 70ish pound dogs sprinting through it several times a day. Delilah runs like she's mad at the ground, and the other two aren't much better.
I'm relegated to doing this dance every spring.
(In response to this post by Spudnut)
3mo
Put seed in the holes. Top with potting soil. Water every other day. That way the roots will be deep enough that the grass should come back.
And get Titan RX seed from Southern States.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
delays sprouting.
As long as you’ve maintained watering.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
Maybe it was there when I applied it. It had just started to rain so I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what I was spreading.
(In response to this post by Stork)
3mo
to retain moisture, but it’s really so they sell you less seed.
That coating typically is 25 pounds of a 50 pound bag.
** Edited by Stork at 4/12/2026, 3:34:24 PM
** Edited by Stork at 4/12/2026, 5:17:25 PM
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
...I tried uncoated seed from Pennington last spring and got literally zero germination, despite topdressing and watering daily. As I mentioned in another post, I haven't had great success with any seed lately, but that one in particularly was pretty terrible. So while I do think the coatings allow the manufacturers to charge more for less, I also think the coatings do provide some benefit.
** Edited by MP4VT2004 at 4/12/2026, 4:09:07 PM
(In response to this post by Stork)
3mo
1/3 of this was brown last year. Damned grubs and drought.
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
3mo
see the need for it. If I’m spot seeding, I’ll still by a quick bag of the coated seed.
But in the fall, when overseeding, I’ll search out the hard to find seed that isn’t coated.
My bigger issue is they don’t lower the price when selling only 25 pounds of seed in a 50 pound bag. I’m sure most folks who don’t read the label breakdown don’t realize they’re buying half a bag of coating.
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
3mo
....that utilizes timers to deliver water regularly and consistently, and even that didn't produce germination from Pennington's uncoated seed.
(In response to this post by Stork)
3mo
If so, check the label on the back (usually a sticker or tag) that stipulates when the seed should be sold by. Not sure where you purchased your seed, but I know that Lowe's has a really bad habit of leaving seed on the shelf long after it should have been sold.
Otherwise, does the seed have good soil contact? Or is it just sitting on top of bare ground? I typically use some seeding mulch or other type of topdressing (such as peat moss) to provide a thin layer of cover after seeding bare areas, which helps keep the seed moist and promote good germination.
That aside, I have had pretty terrible results with multiple brands of seeds over the past few years. Most recently I've used the cheapest stuff I could find at Lowe's, which was Sta Green tall fescue. I actually seem to have had better results with that than Scott's or Pennington products, but even so it seems like ~50% germination and has required several rounds of seeding.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)
3mo
If it hasn't sprouted by midweek I may go to to the assistant to the assistant manager in the garder dept.
I did rough up the soil a bit, and it did get well watered in when I spread it.
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
3mo
We can form the phalanx advisory committee to keep any more gullible crap buyers from being beaten down by Big Seed.
(In response to this post by JoesterVT)