Seed & Repair BARE SPOTS In The Lawn: How To NEVER FAIL

[@delinquense]

This video reminds me why this is my go to lawn and grass channel. I love the detail that is provided.

[@TurfMechanic]

So glad to be the lawn guy for you! I love going deeper than average and love my viewers that want the extra bits.

[@3WolfMoon]

Facts.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I love to see baby grass grow. It's so exciting.

[@HugeHeffner]

I love to see hot broads strip off their clothes. It's so exciting. Everybody has different tastes. Yours is grass mine is good-looking broads. Whatever floats your boat.

[@SteveinJersey1234]

Excellent video, as always, Brian! And very timely for me as this is exactly what I'm doing this week here in northern New Jersey. I had one additional and optional step to suggest; something that has worked well for me in fixing bare spots. To get the seeds to germinate as quickly and effectively as possible, I have found that pre-germination works really well, particularly if you're choosing slower germinating grass types like tall fescue and KBG. And because there are so few seeds needed for bare spots, the pre-germination procedure is much easier to accomplish compared to seeding/reseeding a large lawn section. I just place the required handfuls of seeds in a fine mesh drawstring bag, place them in a quart sized plastic container (a couple of dollars at Home Depot), fill it with water, and cover it with a lid. And I change out the water every 12 hours. I do this for 4-5 days and then when it's time to seed, I can simply add some milorganite or sand directly to the quart container to help with the seed spreading. I then follow pretty much the exact steps you laid out in your video. Following this procedure has really speeded up and improved the germination, at least in my experience. Just something I wanted to suggest.

[@TurfMechanic]

For spot repair seeding with pregerm you can make it even easier by taking the seed you are planning to spread and mixing it into the peat moss you are going to spread in a bucket, mixing some water into the bucket and storing it all up for an even mix. Then cover the bucket and keep it inside the house where it's probably about 70 degrees and after about three days give or take just take the bucket outside and dump it on the spot and rake it flat. Seed should pop so fast doing this and you never even have to worry about tending to a bucket of water 😀 thanks for bringing up the topic, should help a lot of beginners out there in the year to come.

[@almaburns6562]

​@@TurfMechanic You're certainly helping this beginner! This video, along with the helpful comments, is a keeper.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I've got tons of bare spots. This is a perfect video for me right now. The two issues I have right now are leveling my lawn and bare spots. Lol

[@TurfMechanic]

lets be real, I made this video just for you :D

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

@@TurfMechanic it's like you're reading my mind. Lol

[@myredrose45]

Congratulations on how much your channel has grown 👏. I love how you take your time to educate everyone through y 4:36 our experiences and also how your always trying different methods. So much better than some other channels where people only seem to be bragging about their lawn. So thank you so very much Brian.

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks so much Myredrose! It's been a wild ride these last few years and I've been super happy to see people like yourself enjoy learning about the grass right along with me. Gotta experiment to really learn right? :D

[@poolmotorrepairguyFL]

Jay the Florida pool pump motor repair guy. When Service Calls Longwood approved ! That was good info 2 see & know👨‍🔧 a good job !! Turf Mechanic

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks Jay

[@BassandCoffee]

I threw seed on my bare clay soil and covered it up with peat moss and it germinated in 5 days lol. I did spread lime and gypsum when i seeded as well. Watered 4x a day for 15mins each and 19 days later it has been filling in nicely!

[@ctskidoo]

Did the same with clay soil I had dug from a pond project. Hard as a rock, threw seed on it and germinated and growing fine. Was a surprise how well it's doing.

[@almaburns6562]

​@@ctskidoo Did you cover your seeds with peat moss, & did you use the lime & gypsum also?

[@eazylnova1952]

Perfect! I’ll be needing this in the spring. I did follow your video of pre germinating seeds in order seed the spots the squirrels dug up and they germinated wonderfully before yesterdays first frost. Some parts under my two 40 year old oak trees I’m sure will have some damage from the millions of leaves that fell 😒

[@melissaann9765]

I learned something new tonight! Thank you

[@gailh4466]

Thanks for this video. Bare spots are a challenge.

[@mikep490]

Excellent advice, from my experience. You have the seed on good soil and lightly covered, so it'll stay moist. One thing I might suggest is pre-sprouting your seed. That doesn't speed the entire process but increases the chance seed will sprout and shortens the time before sprouts emerge. That's especially important if you can't guarantee perfect growing conditions. Presprouting seed takes about 1/2 the time listed on the seed pack but it often shows shoots in under a week once on the ground... plus often gets 90% germination. I especially like how you put down 1/2" of potting soil over the dead spot. Some leaves can "poison" the soil to minimumize the chance of plants germinating.

[@JoeBilello1969]

My Johnathan Green Black-Beauty Ultra sprouted in exactly 8 days. I seeded a bare area last Saturday and now the sprouts are already an inch high and those seeds grow in the shade😊

[@SnowHarp]

Fabulous video and very clear - thank you for taking the time to provide instructions. I am in Canada so cold weather is fast approaching and we have a huge problem with birds eating the seed - I have already tried deterrents like spinning silver foil and white plastic bags but the birds get used to that and are brazen. I will be buying some of that crop cover cloth you demonstrated. Again, thanks for an excellent video.

[@TurfMechanic]

no problem at all, crop cover or frost blankets are those gardeners products that haven't made in mainstream into lawns but they should be in every lawn guys garage. So incredibly helpful.

[@almaburns6562]

​@@TurfMechanicWould you post a link to the video where you talk about frost blankets, please?

[@BenjaminT.Minkler]

my Rye grass came up and already got its first light mow, but I had put that seed down first; I figured the Fescue would have beaten it(and I put that seed down a few days later, almost two weeks ago now) as this other area is 'full sun', however I haven't really gotten too many sunny days and instead a wave of sub 50F cloudy days and colder nights with some good rains mixed in ....now I'm coming back to some mid 60F's days with mild nights; but this video gave me have hope, that sometimes we might not see any germination until well into the third week - thanks!

[@TurfMechanic]

you are learning through trial and error, best way to do it! yep, fescue will always take longer than rye, always. But it's robust if you are patient. It's only mid-oct so it'll still come in and grow fairly well into Nov. Just give it a good dose of kelp or better yet cytogrow once it's in sprout stage to push as much rooting as possible going into winter. You'll be happy with the spot in April and May, I won't guarantee it but I want to guarantee it. :D

[@BenjaminT.Minkler]

@@TurfMechanic thanks, you have been so helpful

[@BenjaminT.Minkler]

I love you man!

[@TurfMechanic]

☺

[@ConstantineKrystallis]

Cool stuff as always. When do you hold off on the repeated daily watering? How long after germination do you go into normal watering cycle.. if even nessecary.Thanks!

[@TurfMechanic]

My rule of thumb is about a week. If seed sprouts on day 5 I pretend like nothing sprouted until day 12 and I keep up the frequent light spritz watering schedule. If it sprouts on day 14 I water until day 21, etc. At that point I switch to a once a day watering applying a good bit more water all at once, I do my once a day watering in the evening usually to ensure things stay wet for a larger portion of the 24 hour cycle. After about a week of that I start watering in the evening of every other day, then a week to 10 days later I move to every third day. My goal is to get my grass rooted deeply and tolerate once every 7 day watering. Depending on seasonal weather patterns this can happen in only a couple months. Seeding in spring however is the exception because as summer approaches root mass doesn't usually allow for once a week irrigation until at least Sept.

[@kanwalpreetsandhu3520]

best guy out there doing his THING

[@nickmarek]

Can you apply Mesotrione after the baby grass has sprouted? I hear most people saying they apply it “at time of seeding” meaning when the grass is still a seed. What about if you pre-germinated / primed your seed?

[@TurfMechanic]

I see no problem applying at any time. At time of seeding the Meso will largely wear off about 21-28 days later so if you are seeding a slow to germinate grass in cool soil then the second application will come right after the seed sprouts anyway. On multiple occasions I've seeded and then made my first application of Mesotrione a few days to a couple weeks later. Just make sure you don't apply meso to grass types that are sensitive to it. Fine fescue is sensitive as are some of the warm season grasses.

[@jrowson]

Great video! So glad to see! Would this work if fixing a bare spot in a lawn in zone 8 using a warm season seed? All of the experts say I have to wait until spring/summer to seed, I have centipede.

[@PETERThompson-e6h]

Another great video. I love how you speak in layman terms. Very easy to follow. I have a newly seeded lawn, 5 weeks old. When should I fill in the bare spots as you outline in your video? Thank you so much Peter

[@juliaorchardmerkel2189]

This is such a great video! You explain the process very clearly. Thank you!

[@AliveNotDeadmund]

Great video! Cheers from a gardener in Australia. 🙂🤙

[@helenamarchan7916]

Excellent video

[@BobFord-i3n]

did this last March. it works.

[@visionquest414]

Hey :)... Can I simply use some top soil to cover the seed? I have like 2 bags... To apply it simple rub your hands together basically to ensure the soil drops down real light on the seed , right?.....I bought a handheld cultivator too to rough up the dirt .

[@AudiS4orce1]

What exact crop cover are you using? What's a good/cheap option?!

[@eckdavid2472]

I have the same question.

[@NoQuarter01]

What if I have 4ftx4ft dead spots of sod a couple months after buying the home? Do I need to remove the sod in order to put the seeds directly into dirt or can I seed over the dead sod? Thanks

[@TurfMechanic]

you should be able to seed over the dead sod. I'd probably go over the sod area with a manual aerator and pull a bunch of cores from it to help get a bunch of deeply rooted seed into the subsoil instead of just the dead sod patch but overall it should be fine. Try your best to match up the grass type of the seed you use with the type used in the sod otherwise it will never blend together very well. Also, if you sodded the whole area and only have about 16 square feet that didn't take, you should be able to very easily pull it up and just replace it with new sod. That small of a space would probably be super affordable.

[@38vausa]

Great video!! You were mentioning that seeding a bare spot in late Spring or late Falls. Can I seed bare spots that are in a shady place (north side of my house) in the deep summer?

[@teddyboy252]

Good work

[@petersonfamily6223]

What are considered cold temperatures?

[@mikegriffin2425]

Great, informative video! But is there no need to add starter fertilizer to area being seeded? I'm about to start my own repair of several areas.

[@TurfMechanic]

One of my next videos coming out within the next week is about the lack of need for starter fertilizer. It's not usually necessary, it helps for sure but not as necessary as most people think. In this vid I covered seed with a bit of bagged soil, that stuff has organic matter and nutrients in it, enough for sprouts, and the native soil should have enough P and K in it for mid term establishment. Starter fertilizer can speed it up a bit but for spot repair I think it's probably overkill.

[@johnpham7138]

Awesome video! I just seeded and have a bare spot due to runoff from my sprinklers and a few rainy days. I'll probably try this in spring? I think it's too late now. Tempts are dropping.

[@carlahoyle9108]

How long does crop cover stay on ?

[@mikeo8890]

Some of my fescue lays down and my mower won't cut it, I've been raking to try to get those areas to stand up and get cut, when I rake it up there's a bare spots, I've seeded most of the bare spots but I found some more, I don't think I will plant tall fescue again, It just grows too wild.

[@TurfMechanic]

Sometimes baby grass needs more time to "toughen up" but you're right; you may have better luck with a different grass type. Also, different watering schedules might help too.

[@ocsplc]

It seems the bare spots in my lawn are stubborn and it makes no sense as some are in the middle of the lawn. Soil quality is ok to fair. Best you can hope for near Lake Ontario (millennia ago the lake used to cover this area). Anyway, I tried almost everything. Might have to worry about it in the Spring.

[@ryanbrown171]

Excellent Video! I did see a dandilion near the bare spot though :) LOL! I would probably pull that :)

[@TurfMechanic]

Ah man!!! You caught me! If I could only go back in time 😂

[@skutsenkow]

Thoughts on using mushroom compost as a topping instead peat moss?

[@TurfMechanic]

I've used mushroom compost in the garden at my old house but never on the lawn. Admittedly I need to research this more but my gut tells me it would be a great top-dressing for the next time you cut the lawn low or aerate. For seeding I bet the compost could be too heavy like saturated worm castings. Could be worth an experiment but I'd guess it wouldn't work as well and would probably cost a lot more.

[@skutsenkow]

@@TurfMechanic seems to be what a lot of the nursery/supply places near me recommend. They also don't sell peat moss in bulk for some reason. Was just curious your opinion.

[@VitoAnthonyD.-ow7oo]

Beware the dreaded squirrel. If you are trying to repair a large area, you will come to despise squirrels. They come around every day at the same time in the morning around 10 am and start digging up your newly laid soil and seed but the thing is not to freak out and curse squirrels. What you need to do is just rake over the divits that the animal created and then spray a fine topping of water over it to sew the soil back up. Do not try to press in the divit with your foot as you will crush the sprout and compact the area and inhibit growth. This is why it is important to keep the area soaked all the time. Don't worry if the water pools on top. This will minimize stress of the sprout if an animal decides to play hank panky with it since the root will be better insulated by more moisture giving you more time to rake it over and repair it before it dries out and dies.

[@two_legit1832]

What if I'm doing this with red dirt/mud/clay? Same process?

[@TurfMechanic]

Same process but if it were me I'd use a higher volume of potting soil or peat moss to mix in and/or cover it up. The clay soils usually like that extra bit of organic matter in both the short and long term.

[@two_legit1832]

@@TurfMechanic Good deal. Preciate that!

[@rhotshild]

is peat moss kind of compost ? i cant find it here

[@aggiekromah6254]

Thanks 😁👌👌

[@delinquense]

If i understood correctly... you wouldnt normally add topsoil unless you were trying to adjust the height of the ground, such as in your situation with the tree roots. Then you followed up with a light layer of peat. For my purposes, if i didnt add topsoil, the birds would eat all of the seeds. ( unsurprisingly, for me, no birds when i overseeded in the fall, like September... but tons of birds when i did in the spring)

[@TurfMechanic]

Correct, I added extra soil just to tweak the height of the ground around the roots. If I didn't need to do that I would just use peat moss for moisture management. Top soil is heavy and peat is light so it's better to cover seed with peat instead of top soil but if you don't have peat moss then covering with a bit of potting mix or top soil (dirt) is better than nothing. For birds, that crop cover is the gold standard for preventing seed loss and it can be reused over and over.

[@patrickkeschl596]

I tried shiiny pinwheels and that did little to scare them away. Straw isn’t the best option either

[@FGKing-gc3xn]

Never seen a before and after

[@velcroman11]

So, what is it mate, meditation or vegetation?

[@TurfMechanic]

we always need to meditate and watch the grass grow :)

[@BigWesLawns]

I have a spot at the road edge where the new bluegrass is a hard start. I put up a barrier to keep off, and its coming along. I should have done this step there, on top of the scarifying I did. It didnt score deep enough, and the soil is pretty hard. I added gypsum for the 1st time last spring, and I added a biochar compost mix but it hasnt had a chance to soften the soil using biology yet. A hand rake woulda made a yuge difference.

[@TurfMechanic]

hand tool for the win! I love my hand tools and always look for reasons to use them :)

[@ACKCSC2024]

"No muddy dirt spots" I think we can all relate

[@TurfMechanic]

😂

[@JL-qo7cs]

I would have cut the tree roots out and raked in the grass seed before putting peat moss down.

[@TurfMechanic]

It was an option for sure but those trees hold our hill in place so I was never keen on damaging the roots in any way.

[@scooter73-i2]

Five minutes after I walk away, birds swarm and eat all of the grass seed I've spent my money and energy on. Gotta figure out a way to prevent this without using a net of some sort.

[@richardgray3910]

Cover the seeds with compost or peat moss

[@petew676]

@@richardgray3910I discovered the peat moss trick and have had more success this year than ever before! Also used a peat moss moss spreader to keep it easy.

[@rdspam]

Straw

[@claytonoakley8677]

Straw works great

[@DougHanson2769]

I hate that Put some Human hair around the seeds. I think that would help. I’m just a rookie though

[@mumstheword8]

19 days for just sprouts??!? Wow, so long.

[@TurfMechanic]

It's slow when over tight temps drop to low 20s. 😬

[@allensadicario5196]

Always great info thanks again brother

[@TurfMechanic]

Thank you Allen!

[@randythomas5884]

Look like he's rolling dice

[@afrocraft1]

It's already late fall? 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, yeppers 🤣 think about how much mowing needs to be done after Halloween? That's just 13 days away! 😱

[@jeffb9586]

Moist Moist Moist Moist Moist Moist

[@TurfMechanic]

It's a good word

[@robfrazier7854]

Moist count (🗣️): 12

[@rhammerfist]

You are doing Gods work 😂

[@youtoldharpotobeatme5023]

I used some topsoil from Home Depot a couple years ago to level a couple spots and come spring i had a crap ton of weeds in those areas.

[@TurfMechanic]

It's hard to find clean dirt, if you find a supplier ask to take a bucketfull home, then just water it for a while indoors and see if anything germinates out of it. Lots of cheap sources of soil are not clean. 😒

[@tednitta1785]

Too much work

[@Lipmonster]

Way too many seeds. You only need one seed per square inch. Have you ever seen when grass chokes itself out that's when you know you have too many seeds

[@cofboy2]

False, I've always done this method for the past 7 years and it's always worked.

[@gregjones3660]

Rawr

[@bbtank3000]

I loved using peatmoss but the price doubled this past year. It's now $36 per 3cu. ft. bag.

[@TurfMechanic]

it's definitely an extra cost but it's worth it if you consider the price of having to do a reseed a month or two later. I estimate a 3 cf bag to cover about 500 sqft of seed, give or take.

[@ATHikers]

It's pathetic the way prices on everything have gone up in the last 3 1/2 years. Gee, I wonder why?