Spring is the second-best time of year to lay down grass seed, with fall being the best. It is still a little early yet, but get your seed and be ready! Soil temps for cool season grasses should be 50-60 degrees for optimal germination.
There are so many grass seed mixtures. Which is best?
For overseeding an established lawn that was originally sodded, then use straight Kentucky Blue Grass, to match your existing lawn.
All grass might look the same shade of green until you seed it incorrectly or add a patch of another kind. If your lawn was originally planted using grass seed and not sod, then it is likely a mixture of grasses. Normally the cheapest bag of grass seed will contain a large percentage of annual grass seed. The grasses from annual seed will not come back the next year, so keep that percentage lower when choosing.
So why is it in the bag at all? Annual grass seed germinates rapidly, before the others and acts as a nurse crop for the other seeds (Kentucky Blue Grass, fescues etc.) Annual grasses help hold the other seeds in place, which easily float away when it rains or you are watering.
The single biggest reason grass seed fails to germinate is poor soil contact. Scruff up the soil a bit with a rake before sprinkling down the seeds, then lightly rake the seed around, not too much! Scurrying a tiny amount of soil around the seeds or lightly covering with a little straw can help with moisture retention which helps with germination. Because a lot of your seed with get blown away or washed away, plant every 7 days for a total of 3 or more plantings. Misting several times a day will greatly increase the germination rate.
What about the moss that is already showing up in the yard? I say learn to love the moss; it is so much easier than fighting a losing battle. Moss typically grows where grass will not or where grass struggles. Grass is green, moss is green, and from the street your friends won’t know the difference.
Plantin’ peas
What can we start planting? Peas are considered a cool weather vegetable and are one of the earliest crops that can be sown in the garden.
There are 3 main types of peas to choose from. The snow pea, is the flat pea pod. The pea seeds in the snow pea do not fully develop, but stay tiny so the pod appears flat. If left unharvested, full-size peas may be found in random pods. The shell pea is the type that you shell the peas out of the pod and eat only the peas. Sugar Snap pea, is a full-sized pea in a crispy sweet pod and you eat the whole thing, peas and pod, raw or cooked.
Directions for growing all three types is the same starting with a site that is full sun. Plant on the north side of tall crops, like tomatoes, if planning to grow through the summer for afternoon shade. Production of peas dramatically drops when temperatures stay over 70 degrees. In continued heat, the pea plants wither and die. There are so many things that happen to make a new gardener feel liked they failed but it is just how the plant operates!
When planting, space pea seeds along a fence or support, one inch apart in a double row, about ½ to 1 inch deep. Cover with soil and firm over. Seeds should be watered and keep moderately moist until they germinate. Peas are flimsy plants and need fencing or supports. As plants grow, the mass of plant material may start to lean away from the fence. Use garden twine and run horizontal support lines to keep it secured to the fence.
Unless prolonged freezing temps are predicted, peas can be planted as soon as the soil is workable, normally mid-April into early May. Peas may need protection from rabbits — either additional fencing or fabric. The roots of pea plants are very shallow, so weed by hand when you are working close to the plant. Take care not to pull handfuls of weeds when close to the plant, you will likely pull up the peas too — take it slow, a few weeds at a time. Plants will benefit with a thick layer of mulch as they like cool feet. And do not overwater pea plants as their tiny roots rot easily.
From the time the pea plants are flowering it is about three weeks to harvest. They ripen quickly, so check daily when harvest time begins. Pick off and toss the overgrown pods so the plants keep producing. If allowed on the plant, the pea seeds will begin to ripen. Then the plant, feeling it has done its job (producing seed), will eventually stop pumping out new flowers. No need for fertilizing peas. In fact, they actually fix nitrogen into the soil.
What usually goes wrong? Rabbits love them, but otherwise they have few other pest problems and infrequent mildew issues. A 10-foot row should supply about 4 people and they store well in the fridge.