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KiwiStack t1_j92647y wrote

We are going to seed clover and other pollinator friendly greens. Traditional lawns aren’t super great for the environment

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dmwave45 t1_j92aqva wrote

Planning the same. I think it looks nice too.

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firemummy t1_j92ekce wrote

Do you have any tips to get started on that? I have a very leaf-covered lawn (pine needles as well as oak leaves), and the soil is pretty dead. I was considering trying to till some compost or something into the soil and then doing some clover and other stuff for pollinators.

We were told that the previous owner tried to plant grass after putting some top soil down, but I guess the roots couldn't take hold below the topsoil (due to the compacted dead dirt below). Then they said it kinda just slid down the hill.

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KiwiStack t1_j933ks5 wrote

Honestly leaving it up to the S/O to deal with. Think his plan is to wait for a rain and then till up the the yard. We have a lot of moss and shade and just plain dirt patches to deal with so who knows how it will go. I think he plans to seed in March.

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thornykins t1_j93lwu2 wrote

Just as an FYI, you probably want to avoid tilling right after rain, if the soil is too damp it will end up more compacted than you want it to reseed with anything.

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prairie_oyster_ t1_j96d1mj wrote

I’ve had my best success choosing a part of my yard and letting it grow wild. Then watch and see what pops up on its own. Pick your favorite volunteers and propagate those.

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bontster2023 t1_j932wk5 wrote

What variety did you choose?

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KiwiStack t1_j9339kf wrote

Ladino clover and creeping thyme

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TheEverydayDad t1_j93616k wrote

Where are you purchasing it?

We are trying to reseed our yard with clover for pollinators. Suburbia is hell

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KiwiStack t1_j9370vm wrote

I believe Amazon is where we got our trial batch. Probably only got like 1000 seeds or something to see if it will take in our crap dirt before investing for the whole yard

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TheEverydayDad t1_j937dv3 wrote

Thanks. We got some small clover bags from amazon and tried to add some topsoil to a bad erosion location. The clover is coming in a tiny little baby clovers. Hopefully it'll be nice as it grows in over the spring and summer.

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iinaytanii t1_j92fyhu wrote

Spring seeding in Richmond is a waste of money. Unless we have an unseasonably mild summer very little survives.

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Bustin_Chiffarobe t1_j96awaw wrote

That is absolutely not true, you can plan grass next week and it’ll have established enough roots by peak summer to survive. Do you have to spring seed? No. Can you? Yes.

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MrPlowThatsTheName t1_j96liy5 wrote

Depends on the amount of shade too. Any area getting full sun will have young grass scorched by midsummer.

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nitsual912 t1_j929hdi wrote

Aeration and reseeding is a fall activity.

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raycus92 OP t1_j92uhqq wrote

Yeah I missed the fall, figure now's better than dirt

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CurrentlyInHiding t1_j97a4zl wrote

You'll have some survive, depending on how much you care to water. But you'll likely definitely need to reseed come fall as well.

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DogOnABike t1_j931izw wrote

My lawn is at least half moss. I'm planning to kill the grass and let it all be moss. I think it looks cool and moss doesn't need mowing.

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RVAblues t1_j93vih0 wrote

This, OP. This all day long. If not moss, then clover, ivy, whatever. Anything but grass. It doesn’t want to live here and maybe we shouldn’t be forcing it.

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raycus92 OP t1_j982v87 wrote

Yeah I should have specified, not tied to grass, was considering clover seed also since my lawn is half clover already

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whatslife t1_j9atmlo wrote

Not Ivy, also doesn’t live here and is incredibly invasive. Clover good though

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toller_kate t1_j91zbx6 wrote

Probably too soon...I feel like this is still false spring trickery and winter weather will return again. But who knows..I'm waiting to seed for another month or so

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geneb0322 t1_j928b09 wrote

I just let whatever wants to move in grow, to be honest. I did the whole seed and fertilize a few years back and it's just not worth the bother to me.

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garfobo t1_j93ycg9 wrote

Same. I wasted a ton of money and time with grass seed for no reason. I just mow it now and have discovered no downside.

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rabbiferret t1_j924qfs wrote

i was thinking about over seeding some clover but haven't really done more than think about it.

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Daykri3 t1_j93pp0k wrote

We did this and love it. We will add more clover seed this fall.

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rabbiferret t1_j93wgzg wrote

do you remember what kind of clover you used? I was trying to find the native clover but without luck.

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pmyourcoffeemug t1_j94jxfr wrote

Red and white Dutch clover is “naturalized”. There are 3 native clover to the area and they are kind of rare. (Don’t quote me, I’m semi drunk and going off memory, not a botanist). No grass that people plant in their lawns is native, and it is all very taxing on the soil. There are native grasses but lawns are not how they live in the wild. Clover>grass

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Daykri3 t1_j96rs2l wrote

We got a short red clover seed that we were told would be better than grass. I do not believe it is native.

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Sage_Advice420 t1_j94jnbp wrote

Ohbyeah share the deets in the clover! What type, how dense, fert? Water? Spring? Fall?

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Daykri3 t1_j96smvt wrote

It was nothing fancy. Just some red clover over seeded in the fall. We put some lime down the year before. We lightly fertilize with less than recommended (I would rather have too little than run off). I never water my lawn. A precious resource such as water is saved for the produce gardens.

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upearlyRVA t1_j925yz0 wrote

Last fall was when I did all the reseeding, etc...

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skeevy-stevie t1_j92792f wrote

I was really under the impression that they fall was for this.

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upearlyRVA t1_j92e0lk wrote

It is if seeding cool season grass such as fescue. Maybe OP is seeding bermuda or some other warm season grass. Spring would be the time for that.

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what-the-what24 t1_j92b0hw wrote

Fall is the time for aerating and seeding your lawn. This gives the grass ample time to mature and strengthen before the summer heat arrives.

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pmyourcoffeemug t1_j94jj53 wrote

Plant clover!!! Bees like it, ya don’t have to mow it, fertilizes your lawn naturally, stays green all year, grass sucks anyway. Rough up soil slightly and spread the seed before a rain. Water until it establishes. Over seed if needed. Forget about it forever.

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FlexRVA21984 t1_j93b8s4 wrote

Never. I’m replacing all grass with flower & vegetable beds. Grass lawns are terrible for the environment

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thornykins t1_j93m250 wrote

Leaning into the fact that grass is an ecological nightmare and ripping it all out to replace with groundcover and florals, planning to plant the first weekend in April.

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mugofmayday t1_j9259qi wrote

Last frost date is April 15th

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Lady-Meows-a-Lot t1_j92uux4 wrote

No, that’s the day my taxes are due.

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RVAblues t1_j93vm6h wrote

Only federal. State’s not due until 5/1.

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lunar_unit t1_j92s0dg wrote

Due to construction and grading, part of my yard and my neighbors was recently seeded and straw covered. It's already coming up, so I guess it likes the current weather.

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jmsjags t1_j95truu wrote

A bad freeze will kill off all the seedlings.

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lunar_unit t1_j960dys wrote

That makes sense. Fingers crossed. After the 81° degree forecast for Thursday 😳 looks like the temps fall again by the weekend.

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Mikey6304 t1_j93331b wrote

Late September to late October.

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STREAMOFCONSCIOUSN3S t1_j93otom wrote

I'm about to give up on seeded grass like fescue and go with one of the warm season ones.

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mboja1fv t1_j944s2s wrote

You do this in the fall.

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LostDefectivePearl t1_j92259y wrote

I keep getting it too late so on a whim I seeded a patch of my yard recently and they just started sprouting a few days ago (probably died from the freeze last night).

Tbh I’m probably just going to seed again in a week because I bought a lot of seed to waste for this exact reason. I’m sick of the sprouts getting scorched when I seed at recommended times.

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lillantina t1_j938dgw wrote

The fall time is a good time to put down seeds - at least this is what I have been told.

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Myfourcats1 t1_j93ub9e wrote

I pay Virginia Green to do this. They’re not too expensive. I don’t have to worry when I should seed or fertilize.

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nsaju t1_j942bi5 wrote

I had to learn the hard way that RVA is best suited for cool season grasses like fescue. Remember to keep seeding starting in fall to winter. Spring and summer are to maintain your lawn using pre and post emergent weed control.

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images-ofbrokenlight t1_j943sve wrote

Is anyone using a lawn service to plant clover? I can’t do it myself and was gonna start looking out for someone.

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SACGAC t1_j94azzt wrote

Our backyard is almost completely shaded and we were going to do it the first week of March.

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Henhouse808 t1_j95dom9 wrote

I'm sowing clover seed now. Once every few weeks in early winter, right after rainfall. White clover and ladino clover. Ladino is supposedly good for shadier areas. Had great success the last 2 years.

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Miss_ChanandelerBong t1_j98iidd wrote

You could plant rye now for the summer since it's an annual and then seed cool weather grass in the fall.

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Charlesinrichmond t1_j92we1k wrote

Fall is best. Otherwise start early it's better to waste than time

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Hayek66 t1_j93t3ip wrote

Natural lawns!

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