Bushy and thorny homesteads are a thing of the past. Nowadays the yards of people with homes are constantly flushed green with innocent blades of grass peeping through the firm soil surface. But if you have a home of your own and not be able to plant a healthy lawn then you're missing out on the potential paradise you can furnish for yourself down here on earth. Planting a good lawn doesn't take anything more than knowing your environment; the soil structure and texture and be able to be caring when it comes to maintaining a lawn. In this article I'll help you discover the secrets of planting grass seed.

The primary objective is to know the environment to which your lawn will have to be accustomed to. Never take things for granted like: the amount of shade or sunshine in the area; whether your children play there very often; the predominant weather and the number of trees in the area. Doing a proper survey of your area will give you direction when you have to buy the seed. For example, if the area in shady you might want to cut down some trees to increase sun exposure.

When that has been done the next step is tilling and raking. Depending on the soil's structure and texture you should consider whether to dig with a hoe or with a mechanical implement. But before tilling the soil must be soft so that the soil structure isn't destroyed if it's tilled when dry. Remove stones and sticks that will inevitably block the germination path of seedlings. In the same process you will have to remove weeds and apply herbicides afterwards to make sure the growth of the grass isn't disturbed when they have to compete for nutrients. Next thing is to level the soil with a rake to achieve a fine surface for germination.

A soil test is what you'd have to carry out to establish what the pH is (acidic or alkaline) and what type of nutrients are lacking for effective grass growth. Nitrogen deficiency will lead to stunted growth of the lawn and a potassium deficiency will result in yellowy and pale looking grass. Just take random soil samples and take them to an expert, it won't cost you a lot but it will help you achieve your desired lawn.

Planting is what comes after that. The right timing means that you don't grow the grass in extreme winter when germination can be slowed down. Simply take the seed and throw it carefully without applying too little or too much. Then take a rake and cover the seed shallowly, not too deep because seeds are small and they might struggle to germinate. Proceed to water the area, but again careful not to displace seeds by waterfalls of water.

Eventually all you'll have to do is keep watering the area until it is a healthy spread. Lastly, irregular germination will occur and the way to handle it is by extra sowing.

Good Luck.