Any tips & tricks when growing grass?

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porksoda

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Well we decided to grow grass here at our house.
The front yard is all we want to plant grass which is about 875 sq ft.
Currently the whole area is just straight dirt. No grass and no weeds. lol.
I am glad I have a blank canvas to work with though.
Since I am in Eastern New Mexico I have heard the best bet to grow is Bermuda or Buffalo grass. I am leaning toward of just doing all Bermuda.
Lately I have been watering the ground at night to soften it up.
Also I called a rental place here in town and talked to them about renting a tiller. They said it would be $45 to rent for 2 hours. Which I am sure is more then enough time to do this area I am working with.

Should I lay manure down on the ground and then hit all the ground with the tiller to work the manure or fertilizer into the ground?

I have a few more questions but I cant remember them at the moment.

If you guys have any tips or tricks when growing grass I would really appreciate any help.

Also I ask here because I trust my MOPAR buddies more then the people at the local Lowes Hardware store.

Thanks again guys!
 
I grew grass in my front yard from seed. I'm out in the desert, so that wasn't the easiest thing to do. For me, I laid down about a 1/2" layer of mulch/potting soil, then seed, then a layer of manure. The trick for us out here is to not let the manure/seed mix dry out during the day. This can be difficult if you start too late into the hot season, where the sun is beating down on it all day long.

Actually, you might wanna try covering the manure/seed with cardboard until it starts to sprout and gain a little strength.
 
Not sure about New Mexico but the best time to put in a lawn in the east is around Labor Day....warm days, cool nights and the weeds don't have an opportunity to establish themselves. I rough up the ground with a metal rake, use starter fertilizer, use the proper seed and cover it with straw. Don't use hay or you'll have a crop. After that, I water about twice a day until I see it germinate and cut back to once a day.

Good luck.
 
Not sure about New Mexico but the best time to put in a lawn in the east is around Labor Day....warm days, cool nights and the weeds don't have an opportunity to establish themselves. I rough up the ground with a metal rake, use starter fertilizer, use the proper seed and cover it with straw. Don't use hay or you'll have a crop. After that, I water about twice a day until I see it germinate and cut back to once a day.

Good luck.

My wife and i live in west texas. We have a wonderful back yard with st augustine. Its a creeping grass. Planted it in squares for.$1.00 each. Watered the hell out of it to get it going. Only planted it 2 squares deep around the border of the yard, left the weeds and other grass. After 5 years it has taken over most of the back yard. It is so thick and broad leaved that there are no weeds in the yard where its fully established. It just chokes em out.

The front yard is next. We have a large expanse of front yard, we are going to use brick borders for plant beds to decrease the size of the lawn in the front we will need to water. The plant beds will be filled with asian jasmine. This plant creeps, and has dark green broad leaves, and once established is drought resistant. I would imagine living in new mexico water is at a premium too. This is why i am going with the ground cover and a smaller patch of lawn to cut, plus the Jasmine has nice flowers in the spring, and can add to your overall landscaping ideas. While lessening your watering footprint.

Hope this helps
Matt
 
I used to own/operate an organic lawn care business ..hence my handle...actually, it was the Grassy guru but most folks shortened it.

is your soil healthy ? have worms ? Not you, your soil :)

The first thing I would do before flinging money at it is have your soil checked.

After that, I would visit a good nursery to see what type of grass grows best in your area..they are the experts.

Hope this helps.

Grassy :)

If you need advice on the other, I grow that too, legally.
 
When we moved out here, all this was where the house it was just a big yard of dirt. I went to the local Ace Hardware and bought a 125 pound sack of bermuda grass. Just chunked it out and it was up in three days. ........but when it sprouted, it was RED. I mean blood red. Took it two weeks to get green. That was in July 2002. I aint watered it. I ain't fertilized it. I ain't weeded it. I've driven over it, dug it up, pissed on it and it just keeps gettin thicker every year.
 
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