How-to Plant a New Tall Fescue Lawn from Grass Seed

Each year we handpick the best Tall Fescue varieties for the Southeast creating our own special blend for planting new lawns and overseeding existing ones. This blend of three first-quality Tall Fescue varieties is specifically chosen for it’s dark color, disease resistance, and drought and wear tolerance. Today we are going to be looking at necessary steps for successfully planting a new Tall Fescue lawn.

1. The first step in preparing our site for planting our new lawn will be to eliminate any existing vegetation. One of the best ways to do this is by spraying the area with a concentrated weed killer containing glyphosate, something like Roundup. You want to make sure you do this about two weeks prior to seeding to give the glyphosate plenty of time to act on the existing vegetation. Remember safety always comes first. Make sure you wear the necessary protective eyewear and gloves when handling any chemicals.

2. Two weeks after spraying concentrated glyphosate, we use a tiller to remove the vegetation from the site. After we finish tilling the site, we want to look around to see if there are any sticks, stones, or other debris that have been left behind. You also want to try to use a rake to examine for any low spots, depressions, or possibly even high spots. This will help with irrigation and the water flow throughout the seedbed as you prepare.

3. Now that we have removed any existing vegetation along with any sticks or stones that may have been left behind, we are going to add an organic humus compost known as Soil3. Soil3 will actually add beneficial bacteria and nutrients to the soil, which will help promote a healthier and stronger fescue lawn. One thing you will want to do before this point is have a soil test done on your actual soil. A soil test will help identify whether or not you need any additional amendments added to the soil to help prepare the best seed bed possible. You may find that you don’t need anything. However, when testing our site, we found that we needed to add 50 pounds of lime per 1000 sq. ft. and in addition a 5-10-15 starter fertilizer.

4. After spreading Soil3 and any other necessary amendments to the soil, now it is time to plant the seed. A handheld spreader will help you control exactly where and how much seed you are actually putting out. The first thing you want to do is make sure the spreader is calibrated correctly, which means you have it set properly. Different spreaders have different types of calibration so you will want to follow the instructions for your particular spreader. We suggest and prefer that you take about half of the seed and walk in a North-South pattern then take the remaining half of the seed and criss-cross in a East-West pattern to make sure you have adequate and complete coverage over the entire seedbed area.

5. After spreading Tall Fescue seed across the seedbed area you want to make sure there is good seed contact. You may have heard that spreading wheat straw lightly over the Tall Fescue seed is one option for making sure that your seed are covered. We actually advise against that. Remember, we only sell blue tag certified Tall Fescue seed, which is 100% weed free, as is our Soil3 compost. Any time you introduce another element, such as wheat straw into the area, it’s possible that you will introduce foreign weed seed into the site. One possible solution to achieve good seed contact is to lightly rake over the area. When you do that the seed will end up just slightly under the surface. You don’t want to plant them too deep., about ¼ inch is about as deep as they should go. Another option is to use a soil compost spreader. This is really the best option. By using a soil compost spreader you accomplish two things, by rolling back over the entire area it presses the seed lightly into the soil making sure there is good contact. Also, by adding another light layer of compost, the seed will be just under the soil surface and ready for proper germination.

6. We are down to just the last few steps of planting our new Tall Fescue lawn. One of these steps involves using a roller to eliminate any air pockets you may have or smooth out any uneven areas that may have been left lingering behind.

7. The final step is to make sure you are prepared to water. We have said this in all of our other videos but we can’t stress it enough. One of the most essential ingredients for establishing your new Tall Fescue lawn from seed will be to make sure you have the proper amount of water. Water immediately after seeding. Then keep the area moist until germination occurs. Once the seedlings start to appear you can gradually decrease the water amount to 1-2 inches per week.

[jaydeec]

I've watched many videos to help grow grass. Your video helped me to be able to grow grass fast. My grass grew 2 inches high from seeds in 5 days. Best grass grow video and detailed. Thanks.

[M.Huling]

Now you sir seem to know what you are doing. Good Job. Thanks

[herbieberieherb]

I PLANTED SOME TODAY. in the Desert ! ...got a roller for $20 in a Hardware thrift sore soil here is so contaminated and void of all minerals ... I got a bunch of top soil, lots of cowsh*t, a few guys and planted a 50 lb. bag of fescue Seed, ....after seeing this video I realize all the mistakes I made but I got a feeling the turf is going to come out ok....I stared few months ago, I seeded four different types of grass together .... the Rabbits got me as soon as it stared growing so lovely like, ...so I redid it today with help for two hired hands we got it flat flat flat and really rolled and treated the soil again, then build a chicken wire wall to keep the Rabbits OUT !! ....I hope it works....something about fresh cut grass makes me feel good, especially when its Mine

[alandr]

When is the best time to plant fescue in Southern California?

[Xanduur]

Would have been helpful to see the lawn when fully grown.

[chadwilliams]

Hi. Great video! I’m Totally new at lawn work. So I till in the fertilizer, first layer of compost and any other amendments that I put in? Sorry, I’m brand new at this and totally confused Lol.

[cguzman]

How (where) do I go about getting my soil tested?

[vaughnhess]

New employee. Trying to learn all I can.

[Sugabug]

My red clay is so hard, my tiller just bounces off of the top. Even when I moisten it to soften, it won't make a dent! Any suggestions?

[howboutdemirish]

I'm just south of the Atlanta airport, will this type of grass grow in this disgusting clay soil and southern heat?

[JonnyRico]

Will the “dead” weeds that are still rooted, possibly grow back? I have a dry brown lawn that is infested with foxtails I have tilled the soil, but some dried out vegetation still remain in the soil. Will a top layer of soil fix this? Or will pulling them from the soil be necessary?

[jnm]

Any alternative to Soil3? It’s too expensive to cover a big area I’m renovating.

[feliciadaniels]

love this video! We're moving to a new place and we're considering planting tall fescue in the area where our dog runs will be. Will this stand up to high dog traffic and them using the bathroom? If so, how long after planting should we wait before moving the dogs into their kennels? Also, is it ok to walk around on the area where we plant the seeds or should we stay off for a certain amount of time? Thanks!

[Keramagic]

I wish I'd seen this video before I paid a lot of money to have my old lawn professionally removed :(... Do you have another video or info on how to remove weeds (such as crab grass) from gaps and reseed those spots?

[SupersodTurfgrass]

Mr. Zteve,

For some reason I can't figure out how to reply under your comment/questions - the "reply" button is not showing up. I do hope you see this comment here!


Our team of experts will be happy to assist you!

Thank you for taking the time to post a comment.

[ZteveW]

You really know ur stuff guy! Are you anywhere near Atlanta?

[williamwhitlock]

Any suggestions about when it is best to do this in middle Tennessee?

[chadridge]

Any tips for the kentucky area... Would like to do a blend ..

[harolddasynth]

Hi man, i know that tall fescue is a cool season grass, does this mean it will turn brown during the summer heat?i have a seed here that is 20% ryegrass and 80% of two varieties of tall fescue, i intend to plant it this spring and i want a green lawn for the summer, is this the right seed?thanks

[lillyday]

Thank you so much for this video. I am going to redo my mother's lawn
in the next week or two and man is it a mess right now and I'd like to
tell you a little about it and my plan for it. She lives in Arizona,
when she bought her home here the lawn was OMG Bermuda really nasty and
invasive! She did not have it properly removed before she had planted
something even worse! She had a seed sent from Canada a reseeding tall
growing mess that has infested the whole neighborhood (pure evil stuff) !
I am going to mow this all down as low as possible and then torch it
all as to kill and destroy all seeds, then I am going to roter till the
yard and a quick re burn rake out all remaining rocks and debris. Next
I'm going to bring some good lawn soil and mix (till) it into the
remaining native soil of course rake it all smooth then seed it and use a
roller to press keep it watered for a week or two. The seed that I
have chosen for the new lawn is called tall fisque (sp?), I am told that
it does well in full sun and shade which is good because we have both
and is drought tolerant, it does not reseed or grow tall. Do you have
any advice about my plan or suggestions and what do you think about the
seed that I have chose? Thank you in advance.