How to Plant Fescue in a Lawn
- 1). Mow your grass to a level of about 1 inch. Cut your grass short so the fescue seed can more easily reach the soil. Use the bagging attachment to collect clippings that may interfere with the seed planting.
- 2). Aerate your lawn with a core aerator or slitter. Rent or borrow an aerator that removes plugs of soil from the lawn or a slitter that cuts long slits in the ground. The goal is to create openings that allow air, water, seed and nutrients to more easily enter the soil. This is especially necessary in heavy clay soils.
- 3). Apply a quality grass seed that contains low amounts of filler or weed material with a spreader. Load the seed into the spreader and apply in a back and forth direction across the lawn to plant. As a rule of thumb, apply 5 to 10 lbs. of turf type fescue per 1,000 square feet. Consider using a seed that is coated to repel animals and rodents or seed that features a water-retaining coating.
- 4). Lightly rake the seed into the lawn. Use a heavy lawn rake to work the seed into the soil. You may want to add a 1/4-inch covering of soil to bare areas.
- 5). Apply a starter fertilizer that is high in phosphorous to the planted fescue seed. The phosphorous, or P, is the second number in the NPK fertilizer label.
- 6). Water the newly planted or seeded lawn thoroughly using a garden hose and sprinkler or irrigation system. Water the grass at least once a day in the morning for the first two weeks or so while the grass is germinating. Avoid watering in the evening as this may result in the growth of mold over night on the wet lawn.
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