The front page of the Stein’s advertisement last week didn’t feature a picture of a pretty flowering shrub or a spectacularly blooming perennial. What it did have in large letters were the words “Grass Seed Sale.”
Kind of boring as ads go, but a good reminder that it’s time to fill in the holes that my pup, Lucy, has dug in the lawn over the summer and replant the grass. The best time to plant grass in Wisconsin is August 15 to September 20. There is time for the lawn to become established before winter cold sets in, yet it won’t have to deal with the hot July sun and lack of summer rains while it is young.
There are just a few kinds of grasses suitable for Wisconsin lawns. Three major Wisconsin lawn grasses are Kentucky bluegrass, the fine fescues and turf-type perennial ryegrass. The label on the grass seed will list what kinds of grasses are inside and the percentage of each. For sunny areas, a higher percentage of Kentucky bluegrass is desirable; the fescues do better in the shade.
Grasses fall into two categories – creeping and bunch grasses. Creeping grasses like Kentucky bluegrass spread vegetatively by horizontal stems to form a tight dense turf. They fill in or cover small areas where grasses have been killed by pests (that would be Lucy) or physical injury (Lucy again). Bunch grasses grow in clumps and do not spread vegetatively but the individual bunches do get bigger as they get older. Perennial ryegrass and tall fescue are bunch grasses.
Some grass seed mixes list annual ryegrass on the label. This is a nurse grass that germinates quickly and fills in while the other grasses become established. Look for a low percentage of annual grass in the mix because it won’t survive the winter and will leave bare spots in the lawn come spring.
Adding the percentage of each type of seed on the label tells you the percent purity. Say it adds up to 97.5%. The remaining 2.5% of the weight of the contents should be accounted for. “Other crop seed” could be any other type of grass. “Inert matter” refers to dirt, chaff or stem pieces. “Weed seed” might be seeds of weeds such as plantain or chickweed. There should also be a listing for noxious weed seeds. Ideally there will be “None found.”
Package directions explain how thickly to sow the seed. Cover the seed lightly with hay, straw or netting to conserve soil moisture, to prevent erosion and to keep birds from eating the seed. The soil must be kept constantly moist from the time the seed is spread until the grass is up and established. A fine mist a few times a day is best until germination. When the grass begins growing, water it more deeply.
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