Broadcasting and Raking In Native Grass Seed on a Dry Mountain Lot With a Steel Bow Rake: Double the Rate, a Quarter Inch of Soil, and a Late Fall Window
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Bare dirt left over from a septic job, a new driveway, or an old burn pile will not stay bare for long. If you do not seed it, the weeds will. Broadcast native grass seed at double the drill rate onto a clean, firm seedbed, then rake it in so the seed ends up about a quarter to three-quarters of an inch deep and pressed against the soil. For dryland seeding, the best window is late fall, before the first big snow, so the seed sits over winter. What the extension guidance says Colorado State University Extension's grass seeding guide for the eastern Front Range says a good seedbed is free of old weeds, rocks, and clods, and should be fluffy yet firm. Its test is walking across it: your footprints should sink about a quarter inch. The same guide says dryland seeding can be done from November 15 to April 30 on unfrozen ground, at a depth of...