How to Plant a New Lawn From Seed

Overview

Grow grass with less effort by sowing grass seed directly onto your lawn. Homeowners can seed grass onto an existing lawn, which works for patchy lawns, or onto bare soil in the case of a new home. Plan to plant grass in either the spring or the fall. Hot summer weather will stress and possibly kill developing grass seeds.

Step 1

Mow over your existing lawn with a lawnmower to cut the grass as short as possible. If you have no lawn, skip this step. Remove any debris or dead grass from the lawn.

Step 2

Even out your soil grade by adding fill dirt to patchy areas and raising depressions in your turf with extra soil.

Step 3

Rake a patchy lawn to loosen the top 1/4-inch of soil in any bare spots. Rake over the entire topsoil if you have no grass growing already.

Step 4

Spread grass seed manually or use a lawn spreader. Apply 16 seeds per square inch of ground. Seeding heavier than that will cause overcrowding, which leads weaker seedlings to die out.

Step 5

Cover the seed with a grass seed accelerator. This will help your grass seed germinate and also prevent the grass seed from blowing away before it does germinate.

Step 6

Moisten the grass seed with water. Water the developing grass daily until germination and during the first two weeks of grass growth. Water only so the soil becomes moist to the touch; do not saturate it.