put hay on top of grass seed

10 years ago

we put down grass seed in bare patches, and put down hay with seed on top of it. We are trying to remove the hay and seeds, but it's impossible to remove all the seeds. (the grass has not germinated yet). Are we going to be in trouble? Are we going to get more weeds and/or something other than grass growing? If so, how do we get rid of the unwanted? It's too many areas/large areas to remove the top layer with the seeds and reseed with grass again.

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Comments (3)

LOUvox50
10 years ago
Hi,
I am certainly no expert, but I understand that one reason we use straw instead of hay is to avoid the seeds. *If* the hay seeds are viable I would expect some growth from them.
Best!
-Lou
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
If you really used hay, then you will have a hay field next spring. It is more likely that you used straw and didn't know there was a difference between the two materials.

In any case, the seed is supposed to go down first, then the straw. And in ANY case, you don't need straw, hay, or any other topdressing to go over seed. Why did you use what you used and why did the seed go down on top of the straw/hay? And why would you want to remove it?

The reason the grass did not come in is that grass seed must have contact with the soil to germinate. Yours had no contact with the soil. If you just rake up the straw/hay, some of the seed that falls back to the soil will likely germinate. If you want to maximize the amount of seed that germinates, roll it down so you have good contact with the soil. Then water 3x per day for the next 3 weeks or until you have 80% germination.

If you really did use hay instead of straw, then simply water 3x per day trying to germinate all the seed from the hay. When it comes up, spray it with RoundUp to kill it. Continue watering frequently like that and spraying weekly with RoundUp to kill everything. If you only have a few weeds come up, then spot spray the Roundup. No need saturating the soil with that stuff.
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LMG31
Original Author
10 years ago
dchall. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. We put down grass seed first on top of the soil. Then the hay which contained seeds was put on top of the grass seed to keep in moisture. However, having put down the hay that contained seeds, we decided to pick up the hay so that the hay seeds would not germinate. Unfortunately, it's impossible to collect all the hay seeds, and many are making contact with the soil in combination with the grass seed. The grass is starting to come in. Will the round-up kill the germinating hay? Will it also kill the germinating grass seed? We're in PA and it will be hitting the freezing mark in the next 2-4 weeks. What options are there so that we don't have a hay field?