Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Zoysia Grass Seed and Mulch, 5 lb. - Full Sun and Light Shade - Thrives in Heat & Drought - Grows a Tough, Durable, Low-Maintenance Lawn - Seeds up to 2,000 sq. ft.

 Scotts Turf Builder Grass Seed Zoysia Grass Seed and Mulch, 5 lb. - Full Sun and Light Shade - Thrives in Heat & Drought - Grows a Tough, Durable, Low-Maintenance Lawn - Seeds up to 2,000 sq. ft.

•  Zoysia grass seed & mulch is designed for full sun and light shade
• Combines mulch and grass seed to grow a tough, durable, low-maintenance lawn
• Extremely versatile seed mix that's 99.9% weed free
• Thrives in heat, drought and partial shade
• Seeds up to 2,000 sq. ft. 

How to plant or sow grass yourself.

I teach you the easiest way to plant or sow grass.
Yes, that's right, planting or sowing grass with seeds has no difficulty and you can do it yourself, whether you only need to reseed some of the areas of your lawn that look worse, or to renew it completely. There are several ways to plant or sow grass, I am going to show you the simplest so you can do it without complications.

When to plant or sow the lawn?
The best times to plant or sow grass with seeds in Spain are Spring and early Autumn . Both are times that we can call “growth”, that is, everything grows after having overcome the extreme times; winter or summer. In these extreme times it is not advisable to plant or sow grass.

At the beginning of Autumn (in Spain), the grass comes out faster because the ground is hot from the end of summer, and it covers a lot after two weeks. In spring, the grass takes a little longer to cover the area, about three to four weeks.

Logically, the best time to sow grass with seeds depends on the climate of each area.

In continental climates, the ideal planting runs from mid-March to the end of May. In autumn, we will preferably sow between the end of August and mid-October.

In oceanic climates, sowing periods are longer both in spring and autumn, as these are mild and humid climates.

In the warm climates of the Mediterranean and southern regions, spring sowing can be anticipated in early March, and even late February, lasting until mid-May. In autumn, you should not start sowing until early September, extending the sowing season until early - mid-November.

The warm climate tussock species (Cynodon dactylon, Pennisetum clandestinum, Paspalum vaginatum, etc.), require night temperatures of about 13ºC for their germination, and daytime temperatures of about 17 / 18ºC. Therefore they must be sown well into spring or early summer. There is no fall planting for these lawns.

For temperate climate species, autumn plantings are always preferable, since we are moving towards cooler temperatures and more humid weather, conditions that are generally appreciated by tussock grasses. Furthermore, in autumn, the incidence of weeds is much lower than in spring.

However, gardening is also linked to the law of supply and demand. It is in spring when private owners and municipal technicians get down to work to prepare the parks and gardens for their moment of greatest use and enjoyment. For this reason, in spring most of the annual plantings are concentrated.

Preparing the ground for sowing grass
To ensure a good implantation of the lawn it is very important that the soil has good conditions. It must have a good structure, that is, the ability to retain water without weighing it down, and a sandy texture that guarantees good drainage.

• Do a deep tillage with a hoe or motor hoe digging about 15-20 centimeters into the ground. This way you can remove and remove stones, root debris and other coarse elements, as well as pre-existing vegetation. If you wet the ground it will be easier for you. Rake to remove the smallest debris and then leave it perfectly smooth.
• If you are renovating your old lawn and cannot till it because it would break the irrigation system, then tear off the old lawn in a layer of about 6 cm. manually or renting an appropriate machine if you find it in your area.
• Eliminate unwanted weeds with a "False seeding." To prevent plants from growing in the grass in the future, water the land for several days so that the seeds that are in the ground germinate. When they have germinated you can repeat the tillage and rake well. Another alternative is to apply a total non-residual herbicide ( total herbicide ) and repeat the operation about 15 days later.
• Make sure the soil drains well. Waterlogging can lead to grass root rot, fungal disease, or moss spots. Ensuring good drainage is therefore essential. It will be necessary to smooth the surface to eliminate any concavity and also provide a slight unevenness towards a natural or artificial drain if possible. Spreading a layer of sand will ensure optimal drainage; To establish its thickness, take into account the nature of the terrain. If it is clay, the most efficient is to mix the earth with sand. If there are still areas with excess water, it will be necessary to install a drainage network.
• Bury the irrigation system. Buried sprinkler pipes and parts should be installed at this time. Make sure the design of the irrigation system is well thought out and water the entire area evenly.
• Add mulch or topsoil. Turf needs a layer of topsoil at least 10 centimeters thick to grow strong and shiny. You can add this layer or enrich the soil that you already have well composted organic compost or mulch that will provide it with slow release nutrients, which will favor microbial activity and improve the structure.
• Level the surface. The last steps before sowing are to level the surface with a rake so that it is perfectly even, and pass it with a roller or garden roller to smooth it.

What kind of grass to plant?
There are many varieties of grass, since the grass itself is a mixture of several types of grass seeds. Depending on the type of seeds and the percentage of them among themselves, we will obtain one type of grass or another. We cannot say that one type of lawn is better than another, but rather that one type of lawn will adapt better than another to our garden, that is, to the particular conditions of our garden or the area in which we live. Climatic conditions, characteristics of the soil and irrigation water, insolation, proximity to the sea, care that it will receive and use that it will be given.

I recommend that you pay attention to the type of grass you are going to sow, asking professionals in your area or the nearest Garden Center why they have the experience, or consulting this video advice ➜ What types of grass seeds to sow in Spain , where we talk about it. If your garden has special conditions to take into account, such as shady areas, do not let them overlook them.

Once you have chosen the type of grass, it is important that you take good note, not only of the commercial brand, but of its composition. Write it down and save this informationso that in the future, if you had to reseed again, you can do it with the same type of grass or with the most suitable grass to regenerate damaged areas. Believe me, if you plant or sow grass with different types of grass, you can tell the difference, and after the years you have an unpresentable hodgepodge.

Step by step for planting the lawn.

1- First attention to drainage. Check if the land has drainage problems, that is, if after heavy rains the water remains stagnant in puddles for a long time. If this is the case, you should take care of solving this problem before doing anything, if you don't do it like this, then everything will be problems, the grass will not grow well and it will develop problems due to fungi. If you do not see special drainage problems in your garden, you do not need to do anything because the installation of drainage systems is very expensive and you must assume them only when you have no other choice.

2- The irrigation system and the quality of its design and installation is very important, if you want to sow a new lawn from scratch make sure you install a good, well-designed automatic irrigation system, and if you are going to renew your lawn or do a reseeding of damaged areas, thoroughly review the irrigation system to improve it or adjust it where necessary before continuing. Most of the problems that I encounter every day on lawns are caused by a bad design of the irrigation system that does not water the area evenly, with very wet areas and others that are half dry.

3- If you are going to start from scratch, or you are going to renew your lawn, do a false sowing, which means that you must water the land for a few weeks as if it were already sown (although in reality you have not sown anything yet), this way you will get them to germinate almost all the weed seeds you have in the field and then apply a total herbicide to eliminate them.

4- The grass will need a layer of quality soil of about 7 to 10 centimeters, so you must add vegetated soil, to create this layer that guarantees its good growth. Topsoil is a mixture of compost, sand, and normal garden soil. Do not use only compost thinking that it will be a better quality base because among many inconveniences you will see mushrooms that although they do not kill the lawn, they do make it very ugly, as you can see in this small video:

• If you start from scratch you must till the land, you can help yourself from a rototiller that you can rent, and rake all the surface stones before adding the new layer of topsoil. If you are going to renovate your lawn, you cannot till the land because you run the risk of breaking the irrigation pipes, just tear off the existing lawn to a depth of about 6 cm. Topsoil can be mixed with 30% sand if you need to improve drainage. Finally, level the ground with a rake and compact it a bit with a roller.

5- In the manuals they advise applying a chemical fertilizer in the background, I recommend that you do not apply it yet, that you wait until the grass has come out and it already has two or three cuts to fertilize it. Then I do advise you to fertilize it, but with an organo-mineral slow release fertilizer, which lasts 2-3 months and prevents burns on the lawn. Why? Because a perfect lawn does not always come out the first time and it is usually normal to have to do small “support” replants in some areas during the first weeks. So if you don't fertilize it, the grass will grow slowly and you can make these corrections. If you fertilize it before it grows, it will grow quickly, you will have to cut it, and these tasks will be an obstacle for small “support” replants.

6- Give a final raking and broadcast the seed (by hand) and first the edges first and then the rest in two crossed passes to make a more homogeneous distribution. There are also some simple mechanical machines that you can rent or buy for this task. It is important that the seed is distributed evenly. For seed mixtures, a dose of 40 gr./m2 is usually recommended. However, I recommend that you double that amount because not all the seeds will germinate, and many others will be the appetizer of birds or they will become part of the ants' pantry. If you find an anthill, apply an ant product.

7- With a metal broom placed in an “upside down” position, gently rake the area to semi-bury the grass seeds. It is about burying them a little but without moving them from place, gently. In the manuals they recommend covering the seeds with a layer, for example, of mulch (soil fertilized with manure) or (fine topsoil), however this work is not essential and you can save it, the seeds will germinate without problems with gentle raking. In addition, applying that cover layer requires a certain skill not to move the seeds or bury them too much.

8- Also in the manuals you will see that they advise to pass a roller to compact once the land has been seeded, I recommend that you do not do it either, first because once the land has already been seeded and gently raked it is better not to tread or tinker anymore, and second, because with watering the seed will join with the ground without the need to “crush” it with a roller.

9- And to water! As the seed is in the surface layer of the ground, you must always keep it moist. To do this, water a few minutes but many times a day, because the surface of the ground dries quickly, however we do not need the ground to be very wet in depth because there are no seeds there. I recommend 3 irrigations a day, at 7 in the morning, at 1 in the afternoon, and at 6 in the afternoon. At night it is not necessary because humidity is maintained in the absence of sun. The irrigation time will depend on the design of the irrigation system you have and the time you are sowing. Remember, the idea is to keep the surface 2-5 centimeters moist, so you can start for example with 10 minutes and monitor the first waterings to see if the watering time needs to be increased or reduced. Above all, do not make puddles because each puddle is going to be a future bald spot that you will have to reseed again. As the grass grows, you have to reduce the watering, going to only twice a day when the green already covers the ground, and once a day after the first mowing that you must then schedule at night.

10- The first mowing after sowing is of great importance and should be done when the grass has reached 10 centimeters in height. Only a third of the total length has to be trimmed to encourage new shoots to grow on the crown and get
the plant is spread wide. In later mowing it is advisable to maintain that cutting height, although always taking into account the variety of grass chosen. The more frequent the cuts, the higher the density the plant mat will develop.


Once the new grass is born, and after some other mowing, fertilize it as we mentioned before, yes, when you have finished the small replanting of the possible bald spots that have arisen, do not worry that it is normal that everything is not perfect at first. Keep an eye out for anything unusual, just in case overwatering during planting could have caused a fungal problem in the fragile new lawn, although this rarely happens. If you see a strange color in any area, apply a broad spectrum fungicide (for various types of fungi) and repeat after 15 days.