When is the Best Time to Plant Grass Seed?

Have you ever asked yourself whether the time was right or not to plant grass seed? Surprisingly, many people don't when they try to plant new grass, or repair a damaged lawn. Mostly, they will go out and purchase some seed, do a little bit of preparation work, and then plant the seeds. While this may work, it is only going to be working in a hit and miss manner. The best way to learn when the best time to plant grass seed is to simply follow the guidelines listed below.

• Know your area. The first step in figuring out when the best time to plant grass seed is to learn about and know your area. Knowing what the general climate is like, knowing the type of grass that grows well in the area, the average moisture, temperatures, and so on. This is all important information to learn when the best time to plant the grass. In fact if it is at all possible get some information about the pH balance of your soil so that you have a better idea of what type of grass to use, or what work you have to do on your soil to make it work as well as possible.
• Avoid high temperatures. A fairly good rule of thumb to follow about planting grass is to avoid doing it during the summer. The reason for this is actually rather simple in that grass seeds need to be kept moist, as well as the soil that it is planted in. This is something that is particularly difficult to do during the high temperatures that come with the summer months. Usually during the summer months, whatever water you put onto the grass seed will evaporate before too long. If you do your planting during the early spring or middle to late autumn since the soil will still be warm, but the average temperature should be low enough to allow the soil to stay fairly moist.
• Apply fertilizer at the same time as the seed. When you do begin to lay down the seed, make sure that you apply fertilizer at roughly the same time. By roughly, this means that you need to apply it the same day that you applied the seeds to the lawn. This fertilizer will help keep the seeds fed, and help prevent them from dying before they really get started.
• Keep the soil and seeds moist. After you have planted the seeds and applied the fertilizer, it is time to begin watering. However, you will need to be careful when watering your new grass. If you don't water carefully, you can end up washing away the seeds that you just laid. When watering the grass seed, you want to get the soil nice and moist to a fairly deep level. Just make sure that you don't use too high of a pressure to do it.
• Don't cut too soon. Allow a minimum of three weeks to pass before you even think of cutting your grass. This allows time for the roots to get nice and deep before you do anything that could end up tearing the young grass out. Wait until the grass is at least three inches long before you do your first cutting.