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grass seeds drain when I water the lawn

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Deal Addict
Apr 9, 2008
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grass seeds drain when I water the lawn

So I put first layer of soil and then seed and then soil again.

I then watered the lawn.

I saw the seeds draining on the front yard with water specially the ones on the corners.

What to do?
25 replies
Deal Fanatic
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Nov 13, 2005
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when you lay your seed down on top of your soil, you should tap it softly in to earth, not to bury them in the soil. When it comes to water, you want to sprinkle water on the soil enough to get it wet.
Deal Fanatic
Jun 13, 2010
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You are over watering. Use less water more times instead of a lot at once. You are supposed to water daily anyway to keep the seeds from drying up.
Deal Guru
Feb 4, 2015
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Canada, Eh!!
Try shower or mist setting on hose nozzle and move nozzle constantly without letting puddles develop in any area.
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Mar 31, 2005
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Don't use a sprinkler. You're not looking to water the lawn, just keep the seeds moist. Go out in the morning and evening with the hose and a light spray until it's all damp.

Actually, any time you water you should not be seeing much flow away from your lawn or else you're doing it wrong and wasting a lot of water. Sounds like you might want to review your overall watering procedures in general.
Deal Addict
Apr 9, 2008
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How many days after I seed the lawn do I need to water daily for?

I used scott's coated seed.
Deal Expert
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Oct 19, 2003
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Your soil is badly compacted and you should wait until fall and do a thorough core aeration and then overseed afterwards. You shouldn't have any run off just from using a sprinkler.
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Mar 31, 2005
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bsobaid wrote: How many days after I seed the lawn do I need to water daily for?

I used scott's coated seed.
Every day until it grows. Likely twice a day if it's hot/dry out.
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Apr 11, 2008
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Should the seeds be pre-mixed with top soil? Some websites suggest that, some say just spread the seed and rake a bit.
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Archanfel wrote: Should the seeds be pre-mixed with top soil? Some websites suggest that, some say just spread the seed and rake a bit.
It doesn't matter, it's not that complicated, you just want the seeds to be touching the soil so they stay moist that's all. People make such a big deal of growing grass seeds, when all around them they see seeds of weeds coming up all over the place with no human intervention at all. There is little difference.
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Apr 11, 2008
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BinaryJay wrote: It doesn't matter, it's not that complicated, you just want the seeds to be touching the soil so they stay moist that's all. People make such a big deal of growing grass seeds, when all around them they see seeds of weeds coming up all over the place with no human intervention at all. There is little difference.
The problem is that even weeds don't grow thick. Yeah, they are everywhere, but if you count them, there are still a lot less weed than grass. My problem is that the seeds will come out, but always in thin patches and never into a thick lush lawn.

My neighbour swear that seeding doesn't work and I have to dig everything up and re-sod, but I still got half of bag of seeds left.
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TotallyKiller wrote: Every day until it grows. Likely twice a day if it's hot/dry out.
when should I start seeing the new grass? it has been 5 days now.
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bsobaid wrote: when should I start seeing the new grass? it has been 5 days now.
What does the bag say? I'd give it a couple of weeks before you see it clearly, and even then you need to keep it moist. Once it starts growing it's really fragile for a while.
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Archanfel wrote: The problem is that even weeds don't grow thick. Yeah, they are everywhere, but if you count them, there are still a lot less weed than grass. My problem is that the seeds will come out, but always in thin patches and never into a thick lush lawn.

My neighbour swear that seeding doesn't work and I have to dig everything up and re-sod, but I still got half of bag of seeds left.
Your neighbour is an idiot. Seeding works. How do you think they make sod? For starting from scratch I'd for sure use sod as it's cheap, really easy to lay yourself, and provides almost instant results. For patches and annual maintenance I'd seed and overseed. (dropping seed in the fall and spring). Overseeding helps naturally crowd out weeds and is super easy.
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Archanfel wrote: The problem is that even weeds don't grow thick. Yeah, they are everywhere, but if you count them, there are still a lot less weed than grass. My problem is that the seeds will come out, but always in thin patches and never into a thick lush lawn.

My neighbour swear that seeding doesn't work and I have to dig everything up and re-sod, but I still got half of bag of seeds left.
Grass always starts out looking thin, because each grass plant starts out as a single blade but with trimming (read: mowing) that one shoot turns into a whole clump and certain varieties will naturally fill in available spaces (creeping varieties) multiplying themselves. You just have to keep it alive and not trample on it long enough to get past the first couple of mowings and it will begin to bush out. Bottom line is your lawn does not consist of ten million blades on a one per plant ratio.
Deal Guru
Feb 4, 2015
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Had grass envy as well as neighbour's grass seeds seemed to work quite quickly.

BUT with daily watering and after about 7-8 days do see new grass... be patient, water and keep in mind we have had weird temps last 2 weeks [hot and cool] so probably affects grass seeds.
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Jul 30, 2005
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dont feel bad i cant grow grass either. My lawn is 100% clay and as hard as concrete. I bought the coated grass seed and mixed it with top soil and had limited success. Very patchy. Got some free bags of the ez seed, going to try that next and water it religiously, hopefully will have better results.
Deal Addict
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adblink182 wrote: dont feel bad i cant grow grass either. My lawn is 100% clay and as hard as concrete. I bought the coated grass seed and mixed it with top soil and had limited success. Very patchy. Got some free bags of the ez seed, going to try that next and water it religiously, hopefully will have better results.
I hope so. It has been 6 days. I used generous amount of scotts turf builder and scotts coated seed and I water with sprinkler bucket every day and sometimes twice I day. I still see all the seeds lying dead. I hope hope hope they grow.
Jr. Member
Dec 18, 2007
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Ottawa
bsobaid wrote: So I put first layer of soil and then seed and then soil again.

I then watered the lawn.

I saw the seeds draining on the front yard with water specially the ones on the corners.

What to do?
you must of bought the self leveling seeds by accident
Deal Addict
Nov 21, 2007
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LMAO @self leveling seeds, smartarse.ki

OP, if you still have not see any sprouting then go ahead do a redo! Spread seeds again and WALK ON THE LAWN to embed them to the soil. What? You scared of killing the seedlings? After that lay a thin layer of topsoil over and water and water and water and water......see me after 10 days.

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