First time grass grower - from seed...help!

OK, I moved into a new place about 3 months ago...site unseen. Well, I saw a picture...LOL!!

It has a HUGE backyard...fabulous for my 4 dogs! However, it is an all dirt backyard, and access to the backyard is through a door that opens from my living room. So when my kids go outside (my kids are dogs to many!), they step down from the middle of my living room onto a dirt surface. And just outside that door is the low part of the yard...which means that all water drains there and it's the "mushiest" part of the yard.

It's been really dry here in Austin but we had one afternoon of a good rain about 2 weeks after I moved in and I cannot imagine living like that! I would have half of the dirt in my backyard inside my house each and every single time it rains!

But of course, having just moved in at this time of year, it's not "optimal grass growing season".

But I was told I could put Rye seed down and it would in fact grow!

AND GROW IT HAS!!!

I put the seed out two weeks ago TODAY and it is truly phenomenal how thick and long it is...it literally feels like carpet!

I made a couple of mistakes - I figured it wouldn't come up, and if it did it wouldn't take very well cause the soil is very rocky. So I put out a TON of seed - boy was I wrong! HA! And I also didn't realize how soon you are supposed to mow it so I let it get waaaay too long before asking my neighbor to do it for me.

So what happened was that it mostly got trampled down flat and when he mowed it, it didn't cut anything. There are some tufts here and there that are sticking up...it's like someone got a REALLLLLLLLLLY BAD haircut! HA! But the root system is so thin and the grass is so thin that if I raked it, it came right out of the ground. So I just had him go over it from each direction - up, down and both sides - to get what he could.

This is how it looks today - he cut it yesterday. I then deep watered it yesterday afternoon to hopefully get the roots to grow deeper.

But is there ANYTHING ELSE I can do? I don't think it's going to do very well this way and it certainly doesn't look very good but of course it has done EXACTLY what I needed it to do...cover up the dirt so that when it rains, it doesn't turn to mud.

Do I just need to leave it how it is for the winter and it's just going to look like this until Spring? I will then seed over this - or I may have to pull it up, I don't know. Can you help me with that as well?



This message was edited Nov 19, 2008 5:36 PM

Another shot

And another

OK - I just reread my message...my backyard is in fact HUGE to me! To many I am sure it isn't...but it is the biggest backyard I have ever had - and you are only seeing half of it! Including when I was growing up...LOL!!

If anyone has any ideas for me to maybe have the other half I have yet to see to prevent this from happening, I would be so grateful! I only did half in case it didn't work...but it obviously did! LOL!! Maybe this is just the type of grass it is? Did I use too much seed? Not mow it early enough?

Anyway, last shot

This message was edited Nov 19, 2008 5:33 PM

Did you use a spreader to apply the seed or did you do it by hand? It almost looks to me like it's unevenly distributed, some clumps and some spots that look like they might be bare once you're able to get it mowed evenly and can really see how the grass is spaced out. If there are bare spots I'd probably just overseed, I don't think you'd need to rip up everything you already have. As far as the mowing, I don't have a lawn so can't really give good advice on that, but I imagine as it grows more the roots and the grass blades will get stronger and make it easier to mow down the road, although it may be a bit floppy for a while.

I think it laid down because it was not mowed early enough.

You need to ask around to find the best summer grass for your area. Keep in mind that the bermuda that grows so nicely there, will also grow thru asphalt and your flower beds. :-(

The rye will either die or go dormant in the heat of summer, as it is a "cool Season" grass.
I think it dies, as my parents overseeded every fall with it to contain the dirt that 5 kids and a few dogs would bring in over the winter.

You have several months before you need to take action, so do your research well. You'll need to go over to the Texas gardeners forum to ask fo rmore specifics on the kind of grass you will need to plant for the rest of the year.

DH and I have occasionally used rye grass for deer food plots. When it first comes up, the individual blades are very fine but as it matures, it develops a crown with several blades coming from each crown. It also will develop a very strong root system. Yours looks pretty thick already so I wouldn't recommend over-seeding as that will cause over-crowing and the grass will choke itself out. You might wait until it gets fairly dry and try lightly raking it to see if that will lift it so you can get it mowed better. Rye grass will keep growing until it gets quite tall and will go to seed in the spring. Come spring, I'd just till it all in (before it goes to seed) and let it sit a bit before planting whatever type of permanent grass you want. By tilling it in, you'll be improving your soil which will help your new grass to grow better.

It is in its infancy. Give it time and it will do fine. The first growth tends to look very fine but it will thicken up as Nature said.

Yeah, You might just cut it short when it warmes up in spring and overseed with bermuda or whatever type you decide on.

i agree.. you waited way to long for its first cut. to get the roots deeper... you need longer waterings about 15-20 minutes each about 3x/week. short waterings are shallow and the roots wont go deep. by the door you really need to put some kind of stone or gravel because it will eventually wear out and you'll get a ditch effect and get dirt into the house.

just keep cutting it dont worry it will fill in and the roots will grow over the winter with better coverage in spring it will look great but remember to cut it on a regular basis like every week or ten days.

You might want to post on Texas Gardening, too.
There are a bunch of members in the Austin area that can help. There are so many different areas and soild in TX, that someone local can be a lot more help than those of us at a distance.

As some others have said, Bermuda will survive anywhere and is extremely invasive. Centipede, St. Augistine, etc. also do well, but have their share of problems in the hill country. Good luck.

I agree with the gravel or a concrete or wooden deck to allow a lot of debris to be knocked off before entering the house.