Zone 5b NW rockies of the US
So it has been almost 3 weeks since removing my solarization tarp and I'm beginning to seed and plant some homemade plugs. Nearly 4000 sq feet to cover and a busy few weeks with visitors, so I had to seed in sections. I ended up with the following process:
First I watered the area well, then used a lightweight cultivator to break up the soil in one direction, rake excess thatch, spread the seed (by hand), cultivate in the opposite direction to help get soil coverage on the seed, rake out any unevenness. Then a good soak again followed by ez straw sprinkled on top. Using a watering schedule of about 5-10 min every 3 hours or so. Will taper back with root establishment.
I have been planting plugs sporadically 1.5/2ft on center since I didn't grow as many as planned but the first few rows seem to be quite happy. I still have many more plugs to plant but the blue grama is already establishing itself and doing so rather quickly as temps reach 90-100 F every day.
I still have a lot of work (and probably weeding) ahead of me, but pretty excited to see all the green shoots.
by robotcolony
3 Comments
Nice choices
We put a snack section of buffalo grass in 2 years ago. I absolutely love it. Minimal height bit is like a thick, squishy carpet. I’d love to do the entire yard, I just wish it could be seeded rather than plug or sod.
I’m planning to propagate some stolons to make free plugs to start spot treating the yard and get more.
– south dakota
Off to a good start! Please keep posting updates.