Establishing a New Lawn with a Tractor and Rock Rake
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- I've always enjoyed landscaping and growing ornamental plants, and that includes lawn grasses. There's nothing more satisfying to the soul than finishing the mowing and weed-eating and looking out over your perfect lawn. It's not all that tough to establish a good stand of grass, but there are a few issues that can trip you up. With a tractor, it's a real easy task to get a nice lawn.
First step is to level the ground so when you're done you have good drainage and easy mowing. This is the place where I usually fail because I'm trying to hurry to get to the next step in the equation. So, a couple of years down the line, I'm usually coming back and adding topsoil, or regrading, basically doing what I should have done the first time. So the best advice here is to take your time with the bucket and get it smooth and graded the way you want it.
Next step is to remove the debris. A rock rake is a good tool for this, but it won't get it totally clean. Go over the area multiple times to get rid of the bigger rocks and limbs, then hand pick the rest of the smaller rocks in the loader bucket. You can't grow grass on a rock.
The next step is the seeding. If you're doing a cool season grass like fescues, bluegrass, or rye grass, fall is the best time. That's because those grasses will get up and flourish in the fall/early winter when there are no weeds to compete with. They don't mind a little cold, they don't like hot weather and weed competition. So, if you sow in the spring, they get out of the ground and immediately have to compete with the weeds and hot weather, and I've never been able to make that work. If you're seeding in shade, creeping red fescue is the best choice, in the sun, a lawn-type fescue of bluegrass is good. Rye grass is usually part of the mix because it comes up quickly and gives you a good stand of something green, but you don't want a high percentage of rye because it doesn't live long. I use a really old cyclone seeder to sow the seeds but I have done it by hand or with a little push-type spreader as well.
Next step is to put the seed in firm contact with the ground. This is where a lot of people have problems. The seeds actually need to be compacted with the soil...not too much, but enough to know they're out of the bag of seed. I recommend one trip across with the tractor tires.
The last step is applying the straw. This helps hold water and prevent erosion. I've tried this process without this step and failed miserably. I'm not sure if there's a reason the new seeds need a light protection from the sun, but I wouldn't miss this. Just a real light covering is all you need, don't smother the ground.
You'll see the final result in the video. Don't be afraid to mow the new grass, but higher is better. I never mow below 4"and it's great for cool season grasses. Finally, remember to keep the lawn mower blades sharp.
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I can attest the way Mike shows is the best way. I’ve done the same way for years (discovered it years ago by trial and error. Spent a lot of money to find way that wouldn’t work as good) and confirms it works best. The lawns still look great.
I just cleared the place my grandparents’ house sat on and I learned some good info about what to do. Thanks
We do a lot of site prep/land reclamation on the farm as we expand the vineyard.
Taking down vine choked woods that were really fields left fallow for half a century. Burning then cleaning up/consolidating remnants for a final burn on a section.
First we kill everything with herbicide, then grade it, rake it, seed it with a gravity fed seeder that airfares furrows and seeds. Afterwards on slopes we overseed with a cover (rye usually).
Works fairly well but we still have some weeds move in
Well done.
You can skip out on the raking the seed in bit but one does have to keep the soil top moist till germination.
And so nice to hear someone say cut the grass at 3.5 to 4.5 inches for cool season turf...A1.
I 4" cut all the time and it makes a huge diff on turf density and health.
Oh and put down nitrogen in the fall as soon as the grass stops growing...not in the spring.
Sounds like you know turf! I grew up mowing too low and when I came home from college saying we needed to mow higher I was scoffed at. I finally got dad sold on the concept and IT IS AMAZING how much better the turf mat is with higher mowing. He thought you'd have to mow more often but I actually believe the opposite is true when you mow high. It's also nice not grinding up elm tree roots and digging rocks out of the ground...
Good video. I do exactly what you do with great results. Soil contact is critical. You can't just sprinkle the seed on top of loose soil and be done with it. The seed might germinate but it won't last. One additional thing I do is add starter fertilizer. It makes a big difference with my soil.
Well done, just in time for the leaves and snow to cover it up. :-)
You could do a whole series on just attachments. For all around grading and soil preparation for seeding I really like my tr3 rake. It's my all around favorite attachment. I prefer it over the harley rake for tractor work.
Nice video
Just to be clear, did you say "fescue" grass seed? I'm new to this type of work
Ron, yes, in our area a good turf type tall fescue will give you a great lawn in sunny areas and creeping red fescue works well in shade. It may be different where you are.
Ok stupid question. In that first season where you say not to cut low, but 3 to 4.5 inches high, would a brush cutter work ok on that lawn grass or will the centrifugal force snag and damage the roots more than a finish mower just cutting the blades of grass? In other words does the type of grass effect the quality of cut between a finish mower vs brush cutter?
Steve, not a stupid question at all, but I don't think I'd recommend what you're wanting to do there. A brush cutter has thick blades for slashing the brush and they could damage the new grass. If you mowed high enough it might not matter that much, but I don't think it's worth the risk. Are you trying to get around the expense of a finish mower? If that's the case I'd buy an old beater riding mower off Craigslist for a couple hundred dollars and make sure it has sharp blades and mow with that until the grass is established. Unless we're talking about ten acres. What's your goal?
Great video Mike, I used my rake to put in a wheat food plot this year, worked out good, without tearing up the ground with a disc.
I mow an airport in a small town in southwestern Washington.
A lot of animals walk across the airport, leaving lots of depressions from their hoofs.
I'm thinking about using a landscape rake with our subcompact 5000 series cub cadet via the three point hitch.
I do not want to destroy the current grass, but rather to scrape off the high spots and fill in the low spots.
My question: will a (say a 4foot) landscape rake be appropriate?
rkwill100 I have a 4 ft on a 1025r go with the 5ft
Higher thicker grass also helps to choke out weed growth. Good video.
Hi Mike. Thanks for the videos. Would a stick rake be suitable for spreading mushroom compost across a small pasture?
I'm afraid the rock rake would windrow them up and not spread them out. My vote for that task would be a pasture drag harrow. That's what we use for spreading out the manure in the field so it decomposes.
Years ago when I was a teenager my parents had to have the yard regraded. I cannot remember if we put seed out (35 years ago). We lived near the Choctaw Nation Councel House, so we offered to clean out their horse stalls. We took the hay with horse manure and spread that over the dirt yard. Within a few months we had nice lawn. Not sure what kind of seed was in the manure, but it took hold fast and the next spring when mowed it looked fine and was completely free. Not sure if you can use raw manure in town when your neigbors are only 30 ft away, but in the country it works great.
Thanks for posting. I have been subscribed for sometime but just found this one. Will a rake like that skip over a ground level stump?
So the stump has been cut off right down at the base and you're wondering if the teeth will catch on it? That's possible. I think I'd try my best to navigate around it, it could damage the rake.
Thanks Mike! Yes I flush cut every stump. I am have been seeding with limited success. I am going to buy one of these rakes. Then be careful until the stumps rot
Nice vid Mike, going to be doing this myself next Fall. Have been leveling and cleaning about 2 acre's worth of area most of the summer and finally have it looking good. Like the tip about seeding in the Fall; makes sense. WAS going to try it in the Spring, so thank you for saving me the wasted seed :-) Happy Turkey Day!
Love it so good
That is a nice thing to do to have grass growing and that is the procedure I use to level my ground and plant seeds.
Mike I have a 885 Case should I get a 6 or 7 ft landscape rake? Will be used for general use? Thanks Mike
The tractor should have enough power to pull either. The 7' will be harder to get in tight places but you'll get done quicker in the open areas. Either one would work well.
Good tips. Thanks for posting.
very kewl thanks!
Thanks for the videos. Wondering what kind of rock rake you use?
It's an el-cheapo farm store rake. It was in the fence row of a friend and I made what I thought was a low ball offer and they took it. I'd like to have a better one someday because I'm afraid I'll tear this one up...it's really not built very heavy. I'm using it more than expected.
I have a problem with wild pigs rooting up my pastures what and how would be the best implement to repair this damage
Good question...I don't have a great answer because I've never seen exactly what that looks like, maybe someone else can comment. I might run a field roller over it and see what happens.
I'm a little late but here but I know some folks use a disc harrow. I recently purchased a chain harrow to try next time hogs root our pasture. Any type of drag should work to smooth it back out. If they rooted very deep, as sometimes they will, you might have to fill it in with a box blade or land plane first. Hope this helps!