We bought a new house in NW Oregon in August. A while back our landscaper offered to help us fill in some bare spot in the grass and do some leveling. It's a big yard so the offer to help was appreciated. We didn't think much of it, because he had done a nice job with everything else so far.
Fast forward to March — he and his crew aerated, threw a bunch of new soil down over a lot of existing grass, hand-seeded over the top of it, and then put a bunch of grass clipping over the top "to hold the moisture in".
4 weeks later almost nothing had happened short of a few areas where some grass was sprouting. When I pushed him on it, he said he'd come and fix it. The result is what you see in the pictures. More soil, more hand-spread seed. Very poor results. This happened a week ago and we don't see any new progress, and he's effectively killed a bunch of the older grass that he threw dirt over.
Based on the pictures, does anyone have any suggestions on where I go from here? We wanted a nice green lawn for the summer, and so far it's not looking like we'll have that. I wanted this done in the fall, and he wasn't able to make that happen. I'm willing to do whatever work I need to do to get us back on the right track. We're super frustrated, probably ready to ask for our money back and fire the guy, but I also want to get things back on track so my kids have a lawn to play in again.
Appreciate whatever insights you smart lawn experts can provide!
by eshar11
12 Comments
Are you watering it? I’ve had problems in the past with seeding not taking because I didn’t water, and some patches I had looked like this.
How much watering did you do?
Agreed with the others, seems like the landscaper did his job and it was at the right time given your location. How much per day have you watered?
Did you water at least twice a day after he laid the new seeds?
‘Didn’t think much of it’ is where this problem started.
Throw down a thin layer of peat-moss and keep watering.
I can’t see shit in those pictures, but these guys sound like clowns. Throwing seed on top of the soil doesn’t do a damn thing. I’ve never heard of putting clippings on the seed. They should have aerated, seeded, then put some soil down, and probably a starter fertilizer.
Based on all the other dumb stuff these guys have done, I’d suspect they threw down way too much seed, too.
I will say, some grass takes longer than a week to germinate, so I’d give it a bit more time to see if it gets any better.
I suppose it’s good that none of you are saying we’re screwed and need to start front scratch in the fall. We’ll keep watering and throw some peat down.
Knowing that the soil was unevenly seeded, should I also do some additional overseeding?
Oof. People tend to underestimate how much water new seeds need, I’m guessing that’s where this went wrong. The good news is that the lawn is hopefully leveled, the bad news is that it’s probably not gonna look great this summer.
1. Have you had a soil test done and/or put down any fertilizer or weed and feed?
2. Do you have a lot of wildlife in your area and/or lots of dogs that use that area for a bathroom?
Usually sand is the best leveling compound. Or a mix of sand and dirt. 50/50 but I threw sand and it just flourished the next day
Could still be too cold for a lot of the seed to germinate. I’m in North Idaho there was a warm period for like 2 weeks but now it’s back to cold. It’ll take awhile for that kind of work to rejuvenate. As long as the leveling looks good, I’d just ride it out keep the water to it on the dry days. Twice maybe even 3 times soil needs to stay damp nor drowned.
Not enough watering