Planting grass in winter ( Iowa )

mr willy – posted 09 December 2003 18:03

I recently built a house on what was once a corn field, While I plan to sod around the house in the spring. I havent figured out how to fill in the rest of the land ( about three acres) Since a large amount of dirt was moved to form the area I know its going to be a weed and mud filled nightmare in the spring.A farmer suggested throwing down rye grass seed and let the snow cover it until spring.How well does this work? it seems like a good idea.Is this a good general grass cover for larger areas? – Thanks

ted – posted 10 December 2003 10:44

no. it won’t work. the problem is that it’s too large of an area to gamble on that much seed. you hit it on the head- a farmer told you to do it! there’s the old wives tale about having a continuous supply of water off the melting snow to help the seed germinate, but the reality is it’s just to cold to germinate seeds. wait until spring with temps in the 70’s! then plan on reseeding again say in september- using bluegrass- not rye grass.