Perenial rye grass not coming up?

[Rio_Grande]

I just disked and reseeded my yard. I am 5 days in and have some grass poking up in the wetter areas but the rest of the lawn is bare. Seems like I am mostly wattering dirt.

I know I am a bit early on the germination time 7-10 days but with it coming up in areas I am getting concerned. Am I nuts?

 

[smstonypoint]

Just curious as to where you are located.


In my neck of the woods (the Carolinas), ryegrass is used in the fall to overseed warm-season grasses that go dormant in cold weather (e.g., bermuda grass). The ryegrass dies back as it warms up and the warm-season grasses turn green.

Steve

 

[GGB]

Might be, but I just don't know you well enough to tell for sure! But you might be a little overly concerned about how fast the grass is coming in. If you've been watering religiously so the soil stays damp, you should be fine.

I'm not sure where you live, but soil temperatures need to be consistently above 60 degrees day and night where I live to get germination in the 7-10 days you mentioned. Seems like I sometimes see nothing, then suddenly get nice results.

Over the years I've found it's better to seed in the fall to get good roots developed enough to survive the summer heat. Worst that happens is that you may need to come back in the fall and hit the areas that didn't come in the way you like in the fall.

I also know this: It's hard to be patient when you've worked hard to get grass going. Let us know in a few days how it turns out. Good luck!

GGB

P.S. You're not any crazier than me! But please don't ask my bride for a second opinion-she might not agree.....

 

[JakeBrake]

My rye grass is through for the season. It has gone to seed and turned brown. It will be back about next January. Now, the bahia is up.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Located in southeastern Indiana. We purchased the rye grass at the direction of our local seed store. he asked if I liked the way the local football field looked, and I did, he said that was what was used there. We have had some 90 deg days for the last week but the temps are backing off. Wife may have dround it tonight. I told her to move the waterer around a bit in the yard and turn off the sprinkler. 2 hr later the sprinkler was still running,,, This is gonna cost me a fortune.

 

[bp fick]

Curious, did you "cover" the seed with straw? Or, is it sown bare into the dirt?

I've always had much faster and complete germination by covering my lawn seeding with straw to hold the moisture more consistently.

 

[AchingBack]

I just disked and reseeded my yard. I am 5 days in and have some grass poking up in the wetter areas but the rest of the lawn is bare. Seems like I am mostly wattering dirt.

I know I am a bit early on the germination time 7-10 days but with it coming up in areas I am getting concerned. Am I nuts?

As a landscape contractor, I've installed several thousand square feet of lawn. Your post doesn't give us enough information.

What was the condition of the lawn before you touched it? It sounds like a classic mistake. When you turn over a living, existing lawn - you bury root clumps of the old lawn at various depths. Those hard clumps that are down 6-8" take longer to block the roots of the new grasses. The ones nearer the surface will be the first to impede the new sprouts, which will soon fail. Those areas where your lawn looks good, also have the best conditions for grass growth, i.e., good aeration in the root zone.

Never disc, or use a rototiller on a living lawn. In addition, the best time for this type of work is early fall, when broad leafed weeds seeds are dormant. Encourage the good growth for now, and come fall, cultivate the the spots that did not develop deep roots. Reseed, and see if that doesn't do the trick.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Well I may have absolutely made those mistakes. I added at minimum 6 inches of topsoil to a sparce yard inplaces I brought it up a foot. Compacted it with the track loader to get a firm footing and watered regulary. Left it set for about 2 weeks and then disked less than 3 inches of the top, it is a small disk. Drug it out for final leveling with a roll of chainlink fence and seeded following up with the chainlink one pass to get some soil contact on those seeds. Cover with straw and the watering has been fairly steady. with it getting good watterings in the evenings.

 

[Transit]

What kind of rye, annual or perennial?

 

[whistlepig]

I just disked and reseeded my yard. I am 5 days in and have some grass poking up in the wetter areas but the rest of the lawn is bare. Seems like I am mostly wattering dirt.

I know I am a bit early on the germination time 7-10 days but with it coming up in areas I am getting concerned. Am I nuts?

Not a good planting year in the mid-west with so much rain. Perhaps the weather is a bit better where you live. If we knew where that was.