In this video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook and turf expert Mary Owen show how to pick the appropriate grass seed.
Steps:
1. Be sure the grass planted in your yard is appropriate for your region of the country.
2. Avoid planting creeping bent grass, which requires constant mowing and a lot of care and maintenance.
3. Don’t use annual ryegrass for lawn because it dies back each year and must be reseeded.
4. For cooler climates, consider planting Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass or tall fescue.
5. Fine fescues produce low-maintenance lawns.
6. Creeping red fescue is excellent for shady areas.
7. For hot, humid areas, consider St. Augustine grass, which is a very vigorous, hardy plant.
8. Bermuda grass has finer texture, but doesn’t grow well in shade.
9. When watering a lawn, be sure to apply enough water to soak the lawn’s root system. In most cases, 1 inch of water per week is suitable.
10. Use a rain gauge to keep determine rainfall amounts.
11. To check the moisture after watering or rain, use a soil sampler to pull out a core of soil for visual inspection.