Had this house for a year. The house faces the west so this part of the little hill faces the south gets sun the whole day. When it rains it's a mess. Any advice on how to grow some grass there and get it stay?
Go cut a chunk of sod out of another area and lay it in there, then fill and replant that spot instead.
Weekly-Working5573
Get a “long hand garden cultivator” hand tool. With it, rough up that spot to the point where it’s pretty much loose dirt. Put a LOT of grass seed down. Now grab your garden rake, and flip it to the back side. Use the back side to gently “cover” the grass seed with the dirt. You’re trying to get the seed covered. Don’t obsess about it – a lot of seed will still be visible when you’re done. Also, liberally overseed the area nearby that has grass growing. I can see it needs it. Grass is something that needs friends nearby for support. If it rains, then the next day is a good day to do all of this. In my experience, it is next to impossible to use too much grass seed. Keep the seeded areas moist. Seeding the bare area is a bit of a challenge because of “runoff” when you water. Just be careful and think in terms of keeping it moist. After seeding, I would cover the bare area with a light layer of grass clippings, which will reduce runoff, reduce birds eating seed, and help keep the soil moist during germination. I’m not big on fertilizer, but you may want to do a little bit of that. I would suggest erring on the side of too little fertilizer, rather than too much. I wouldn’t put fertilizer on here until spring, though – and use a “spring fertilizer”, not a fall fertilizer. You can, however, seed at this time of year, but it won’t germinate. The above is really instructions for spring. Winter (dormant season) overseeding is a thing – you just put the seed down, and let it work its way into the ground during the freeze/thaw cycle, and wait for spring. In your case, though, with a bare patch, I would make it a spring project.
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Go cut a chunk of sod out of another area and lay it in there, then fill and replant that spot instead.
Get a “long hand garden cultivator” hand tool. With it, rough up that spot to the point where it’s pretty much loose dirt. Put a LOT of grass seed down. Now grab your garden rake, and flip it to the back side. Use the back side to gently “cover” the grass seed with the dirt. You’re trying to get the seed covered. Don’t obsess about it – a lot of seed will still be visible when you’re done. Also, liberally overseed the area nearby that has grass growing. I can see it needs it. Grass is something that needs friends nearby for support. If it rains, then the next day is a good day to do all of this. In my experience, it is next to impossible to use too much grass seed. Keep the seeded areas moist. Seeding the bare area is a bit of a challenge because of “runoff” when you water. Just be careful and think in terms of keeping it moist. After seeding, I would cover the bare area with a light layer of grass clippings, which will reduce runoff, reduce birds eating seed, and help keep the soil moist during germination. I’m not big on fertilizer, but you may want to do a little bit of that. I would suggest erring on the side of too little fertilizer, rather than too much. I wouldn’t put fertilizer on here until spring, though – and use a “spring fertilizer”, not a fall fertilizer. You can, however, seed at this time of year, but it won’t germinate. The above is really instructions for spring. Winter (dormant season) overseeding is a thing – you just put the seed down, and let it work its way into the ground during the freeze/thaw cycle, and wait for spring. In your case, though, with a bare patch, I would make it a spring project.