Software
Houzz Logo Print
whaas_5a

How long can grass seed sit in yard before watering?

9 years ago

Haven't run into this situation before waiting for water hook up. How long can the seed sit in the yard before it requires watering?

It was drill seeded with a variety of cool season grasses like bluegrass, rye and fescue.

Comments (7)

  • 9 years ago

    Hey Yard, thanks for chiming in. I was thinking along those lines but with the blazing sun I was second guessing.

    Rain should be on the way in a couple days...fingers crossed!

  • PRO
    9 years ago

    It is truly amazing how long some seeds can survive just lying about waiting for the right conditions. I got rid of a morning glory more than 4 years ago and seeds are still germinating from it. Thankfully less as time passes.

    whaas_5a thanked Yardvaark
  • PRO
    9 years ago

    The seeds can lay dormant in/ on the ground for quite some time. What kind of grass seed did you use?

    whaas_5a thanked Treesdale Landscape Company
  • 9 years ago

    Might have a different issue now where I won't be able to get the irrigation down in time before we get a potential heavy rain.

    Contractor used this seed.

    PROGREEN 500
    Premium blend consisting of 50% (3 varieties) of high quality
    bluegrass, 20% creeping red fescue and 30% elite perennial rye.
    Rapid establishment. Persists at lower management levels yet provides
    excellent turf at higher maintenance levels. Excellent blend
    for new lawns or overseeding existing lawns regardless of current
    blend.

  • 9 years ago

    I think your issue will be that now (mid-September) is the time to be starting grass in zone 5. If you let it go too long, it will be late in the season and it may not sprout this fall or not have developed enough roots to survive the winter. Spring sprouted grass doesn't do as well (cold soil and warm to hot air) and there are the annual grasses to compete with new perennial grass, and before it's warm enough to sprout you may have issues with seed washing away in the spring snow melt and rains. So if there's any way you can get the area watered on a regular basis you will have better success with the grass starting it growing now or in the next week or so.

    In one spot you mentioned water hook up and in another irrigation. Can you do regular sprinkler watering before the irrigation system goes in? That is, is there any water available and are there functioning outdoor faucets? How large an area is it? How likely are you to have regular rain? Can you set up some type of water collection system like rain barrels if it's a smaller area that needs watering?

    whaas_5a thanked NHBabs z4b-5a NH
  • 9 years ago

    Good point that it can't sit too long in my zone. First week of September is ideal. You can go as late as late September but you better hope for a warm October.

    I just wanted to make sure it could sit in the hot wind blown weather for a week. It got really hot for a few days and I knew I couldn't get any water anywhere for about a week.

    We ended up getting torrential rains this past Wednesday and then light rain here and there up through this afternoon. Not too much erosion so we'll see what happens. Main issue is that I see that seed pooled in certain areas so I'm hoping something was left in the surrounding soil.

    500 lbs of seed went down for over an acre. Now that plumbing is hooked up I'll walk the border around the house and shoot the water out as far out as I can. The rest will be left to mother nature. I wanted to get the hoses and sprinklers with manifolds set throughout the yard but I couldn't get to it in time with that huge rainfall. Now its too late as the soil is so soft and that rye will start germinating any day now!