Mulch new grass?

[Cord]

Trying to regrade the yard and have a very large area to seed. Maybe 200' by 80'. It's on a slope that will be prone to washing out. I typically will put straw down, but it's such a large area that the straw will be very expensive. Plus I'll have to rent a straw blower. Thoughts on just seeding the area, dragging and compacting the soil and then watering it well? I mean, the farmers don't mulch their wheat or oats, why is a lawn any different?

 

[Gary Fowler]

The easiest way to get an established lawn on a slope it to buy sod and lay it down, job complete. It costs a lot more but on a slope prone to washing, it is about the only way to get grass growing. I just did a small area of slope that I had re-graded to decrease the slope a bit and it kept washing my seed away. I put down $90 pallet of grass and problem solved. Grass seed isn't cheap either and neither is straw and even with straw, a good rain is going to wash it away also.

 

[rustyshakelford]

The easiest way to get an established lawn on a slope it to buy sod and lay it down, job complete. It costs a lot more but on a slope prone to washing, it is about the only way to get grass growing. I just did a small area of slope that I had re-graded to decrease the slope a bit and it kept washing my seed away. I put down $90 pallet of grass and problem solved. Grass seed isn't cheap either and neither is straw and even with straw, a good rain is going to wash it away also.

35 pallets of grass would be high though! I'd plant a little heavy, drag it and hope the heavy rain stays away for a few weeks.

Brett

 

[pinetree10]

Two weeks ago I spread 8 yards of beautiful topsoil, carefully spread 100 lbs. of grass seed as evenly as possible on every inch of it, rolled it with my hand roller and stood back to admire my perfect job. A few days later we got an inch of rain.

I like the sod idea.

 

[SHORT KID]

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and get that rolled mat for landscaping and roll it out. It should stop erosion until the seed takes hold. I don't know the price but less work than straw.

 

[tractorshopper]

I buy the straw mat rolls. $35 for 7' by 110' I believe. I've been working on my side hills also with top soil delivered at $400. For as far as I got filling in and smoothing the top soil, though, I'm thinking I could have had 5 pallets of sod and probably got as much done without the washout issues that came with spring rains. I'm resolved now to just periodically work a pallet of sod into my budget and chip away at the rest of the side hill by putting in fill dirt and sodding.