How to grow grass from seed on bare dirt without a sprinkler system
Growing grass on bare soil without an automatic irrigation system is difficult because the dirt dries out extremely fast and requires constant hand-sprinkling. People worry constantly about whether the soil is too wet or too dry, which makes it hard to keep the seed consistently damp for proper germination.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Hire a company for core aeration and seedingDid this help you?
- 2Pay for hydroseedingDid this help you?
- 3Use a walk-behind seederDid this help you?
- 4Broadcast seed manually and use above-ground hoses with sprinklersDid this help you?
- 5Running 4 zones for 20 minutes every 2 hours (7-8 times a day)Did this help you?
- 6Mixing compost and topsoil into sandy soilDid this help you?
- 7Rolling out coco coir to cover the soil areaDid this help you?
- 8waiting for forecasted rain and cooler temperaturesDid this help you?
- 9switching from regular overseeding to dormant seedingDid this help you?
- 10Continue watering until someone in authority tells you to stop and play dumbDid this help you?
- 11Hand water with a hose, which is sometimes allowed under bansDid this help you?
- 12Use a sprinkler discreetly and risk only a warning citationDid this help you?
- 13Using a hose and a few impact sprinklers manuallyDid this help you?
- 14Using manual sprinklers and watering every day for the first two weeksDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“leaving me extremely worried about how it would bounce back, especially with overseeding 10k of my 15k sqft and only having 2 manual sprinklers and no irrigation.”source ↗
“Zone 6b. I have 2 acres to overseed, no irrigation possible.”source ↗
“Am I better off dormant seeding?”source ↗
“Have basically bare dirt. Have two kinds of seed I want to use.”source ↗
“We have only above ground irrigation we can work with. We really need to try and get a nice lawn grown but established somewhat quickly.”source ↗
“City wide non-essential outside water ban. But prior to ban I had spread seed and loam. I’m in Zone 6b. Not much natural rain. Am I doomed?”source ↗
“I get nervous when the dirt feels dry, so my sprinkling has been to keep it damp as I’ve read in so many places.”source ↗
“I’m using Rainbird 42SA+ rotary heads.”source ↗
“I just cannot believe how fast this soil dries.”source ↗
“I guess I’m looking for feedback on how dry is too dry? How wet is too wet?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Do I actually need straw to keep grass seed wet?
- 22How to keep a lawn green during a drought with water restrictions
- 20How to water new grass seed with a full-time job
- 178Why is my overseeding failing to grow?
- 5How to fix hard, dry, sandy yard soil for a garden
- 9How to prep a weed and mulch area for laying sod