Straw is growing in newly seeded lawn?

Mfinley919 · Nov 19, 2003

June til October is 5 months.

Thanks Leadarrows, in the end it's all about the grass anyways, right?

crawdad · Nov 19, 2003

Originally posted by Mfinley919
June til October is 5 months.

Thanks Leadarrows, in the end it's all about the grass anyways, right?

First post in this thread;
10-01-2003 12:11 PM
Where do you get June till October?

Crawdad

NCSULandscaper · Nov 24, 2003

Originally posted by johnhenry
Glad your lawn is looking good. In the spring you might have some side effects from the straw.Watch out for crabgrass in the spring.Next time never ever use straw.It has no value at all to the seeding process.If I need anything to help cover the new seed.I will use either sand or peat moss.

Sorry bud but straw has lots of value to the seeding process. We use combined wheat straw on all yards thats not sodded to keep in moisture, and to deter the birds from eating the seed, and for erosion control also.. Ive never had a problem with weeds coming up when using straw. Its weeds coming up because of the seeds(crabgrass) that were laying dormant in the soil until they were disturbed. Crabgrass is not a result from strawing. Big deal if a little wheat comes up in the yard it will all die out and break down into nutrients for the grass.

GroundKprs · Nov 28, 2003

History will usually help one to understand what is good in any human endeavor. In most areas, not just plants, history shows how man learned the best ways to handle some natural or mechanical condition, and then over time eroded the simplicity and functionality of this procedure in the interest of effeciency and/or cost reduction.

Straw (common terminology for threshed wheat) has been used for a long time in seeding grasses, to control erosion and retain soil moisture. I have not come across anything better for these two functions, but there are a lot of other cheaper (less labor intensive) alternatives today. In my experience none of them matches straw. Generally other seed mulches are used in the interest of cost savings and/or cosmetics.

I have not gotten completely clean straw since the late 70s - even the threshing process has been sped up in the name of cost savings and efficiency, so all the wheat seeds are not separated out. But wheat is a winter annual - plant it in the fall, and it dies out in next summer's heat, so wheat growing in a new lawn is not a problem, unless you are not going to mow it, and the wheat goes to seed late next spring, LOL.

And new lawns in this country used to be also seeded with wheat, to get quick soil stabilization. Note the roots below a few days after wheat hits ground (that's a quarter in the middle). However, around the 1920s the wheat was eliminated to make seeding cheaper. Mfinley, you don't need to worry about the wheat.

needforspeed · Dec 16, 2003

Hydro seed , or after seeding spread light layer of peat or compost soil organic over area, never use straw unless you want a yard full of weeds! If it is a very large yard just let it go and over seed now and then,

Gary

Planet Landscaping · Dec 16, 2003

Needforspeed, Dont talk out yuor butt.You Dont know what your saying.Straw will not produce weeds .

NCSULandscaper · Dec 16, 2003

Originally posted by Jammer
Needforspeed, Dont talk out yuor butt.You Dont know what your saying.Straw will not produce weeds .

Exactly, if you know anything whatso ever you will know there is no weed seeds in straw. Weed seeds are in the ground. You will get just as many weeds from hydroseeding as you will with straw. Its all about the amount of disturbance you do to the soil to prep it.

hole in one lco · Dec 17, 2003

if you use pre m you won't be Abel to overseed and you will need a lic to apply pre m

leadarrows · Dec 17, 2003

There can be weed seed in straw. There usually isn't because it's best to harvest your wheat before the weeds have had time to get large enough to produce seeds. It could happen though and I have seen it. After the wheat dies back and the wheat is ready for harvest enough light is available for the weeds to grow. If for some reason like a lot of rain slows the harvest sufficiently you could have some weed seed. Weedy wheat is not unheard of either. So it is possible but not the norm. What makes you guys say it like it never could happen?

NCSULandscaper · Dec 17, 2003

Originally posted by leadarrows
What makes you guys say it like it never could happen?

Because it doesnt happen here. I have never seen a yard that was strawed be covered in weeds. I guess we just know how to grow wheat like it should around here.

leadarrows · Dec 17, 2003

If the wheat is at all weedy then some of those weed plants are going to make it to the straw bale. If those weed plants have weed seeds...... there will be some weeds. Not covered I wouldn't think ether but it's the never any at all I debate.
It isn't a matter of knowing how it's circumstances and conditions that could make it a problem sometimes.
You grow a lot of wheat your self?
How many acres do you have?
I grew up on a Indiana Certified Seed farm. You can see some of the equipment my grandfather farmed with in the Tractors Forum.
By the way I never said our wheat had weed seed in it. LOL Our seed had to meet strict standards to be certified.
I said it can and has happened. Different folks on here have had different experiences. Given the wide area the membership here enjoys it's no surprise. I'M happy that you have not had a bad experience with it your self and for the record I have 5 acres of winter wheat planted this year. We don't grow much wheat these days but I'M running low on straw. LOL
OH and by the way I use it all the time and I don't have a problem with it either. All I'm saying is maybe some of those other fellas did. It is possible. Thats all.

NCSULandscaper · Dec 17, 2003

We use to grow about 30 acres of wheat and baled our own straw, now i get it from the farmer next door cheap.

needforspeed · Dec 17, 2003

A buddy of mine did his yard and ran out of straw,so half was done,with straw and did not do anything with the other half,
and guess what! you got it, Maybe we just get some bad straw :nono:

lol

needforspeed · Dec 17, 2003

Originally posted by NCSULandscaper
Because it doesnt happen here. I have never seen a yard that was strawed be covered in weeds. I guess we just know how to grow wheat like it should around here.

That could be Matt, that could be,,LOL

Mfinley919 · Apr 18, 2004

Well, here is the update. It is now mid April 2004, the lawn made it through the winter, I was keeping my fingers crossed since it had so little time to establish itself.

I gave it it's first mowing, finally! There are a few patches that still need to grow in but for the most part this seed blend has created a lawn that is dark green and looks like it is part of a golf course, people continually stop and wave and thumbs up me or make comments on how lush it looks.

Where my neighbors lawn and mine touches there is a clearly defined line, on my side the lawn is deep dark green and on the other his looks green, but nothing like this, it is absolutely astounding.

I have never seen a lawn that is so thick and rich looking. The Galaxy blend of 3 Kentucky blue grasses only is amazing at this point, we will have to see how it fares in the heat of the summer, I may be crying instead of grinning.

I got tired of waiting for the straw to die, and also the looks of everyone in the neighborhood, I think I was getting to be known as the crazy guy who tore up his perfectly good yard to grow hay in it. I just round uped or yank them all out after I couldn't take it anymore. I don't know if they would have died out on their own, but I was just too impatient and embarassed to put up with them anymore.

Critical Care · Apr 18, 2004

Maybe you could post a pic of your lawn. Be honest now and don't show us a picture of the fairway over at Emerald Greens golf course.

Straw is growing in newly seeded lawn?

Mfinley919

crawdad

NCSULandscaper

GroundKprs

needforspeed

Planet Landscaping

NCSULandscaper

hole in one lco

leadarrows

NCSULandscaper

leadarrows

NCSULandscaper

needforspeed

needforspeed

Mfinley919

Critical Care

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