Question
jim
I live in middle georgia and I am trying to get centipde grass started in my yard, I have been getting the ground harrowed up, I have about six acres that I am planning on planting with seed, but I am not going to be able to water the seed once I put it out, and so far this year it has been dry, I was wondering if being it has been so dry will it just take the seed longer to germinate. I am not looking for golf course type lawn I am just tired of mowing weeds and I want something that is low maintenance, if you have any advice that you could give I would greatly appreciate it

Answer
Only night cool temperatures and low soil moisture will have the main effect of delaying seedling germination. Seed will not sprout with cool nights and dry conditions.

Some general comments apply to all warm-climate grass-types including CENTIPEDE GRASS.

A moisture retentive soil can do much to make seed germination easy. Heat and winds make the job difficult.

Six acres is a very large area to seed and typically Centipede grass lawns are started in the spring after all danger of a hard freeze is believed to have past. The seeded areas should be kept moist but not soggy until the seedlings have a good rooting system established and this may take several days. So much depends upon the weather and your existing soil conditions.  It would help to have a damp weather period for starting the seed. With warm days and winds, you may lose all your seedlings and have to start over.  It is common to have to go back and re-seed failed areas.

Your Local Weather Report and 5-day forecast from your Zip-Code:
http://www.temperatureworld.com/

If possible, I think you may save yourself time, effort  and expense if you could find a way to start the seedling lawn areas part-wise with broadcasting the seed only to areas you can monitor for hydration.  They may need to be watered more than once a day. Using hay, straw or a commercial mulch will help to protect the seedlings from drying winds.  After the seeds are going good this mulch can easily be raked-away. See links below for more info:

With a total lack of any method to water areas, you may just need to have extra seed around.  Try to broadcast seed before a damp weather period which will get some started.  Then keep trying to fill in the areas that did not take as the weather reports make this opportune.

The grass that sprouts will also mature to grow to fill in where there are failed areas, so you can increase your efficiency by booster seeding areas that are island areas.

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Lawn Science Seed and Seeding Resources:
 http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/seed/seedings.html
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For Seeds, seeding products and "Straw Net" or similar) to protect seedlings:
(link to the products page)
http://www.wls.com/

For wild flowers and Native prairie grasses:
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jodaniel/seeds.html
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With a good fertile-loamy well draining top-soil, best quality hybrid grass type(s), 1-3 inches of water per week, plenty of sun-light, an healthy root-zone ecosystem...almost anyone can have an excellent lawn with a minimum maintenance effort.

I Hope this has answered your question(s)!
Have a Great Summer!

Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more facts and links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html

Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com

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