How to keep heavy rain from washing away new grass seed
Heavy downpours wash away newly planted grass seed, peat moss, and fertilizer, causing them to clump up or flood the yard. This forces homeowners to completely rake out the ruined areas and spend hours starting the seeding process all over again.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Waiting to see if current weather washes away seed before deciding whether to reseed
- 2Adjusting watering schedules
- 3Considering whether to re-fertilize at a half rate if washout occurs
- 4waiting to evaluate damage after it dries
- 5raking out clumped seed and peat moss
- 6doing a light broadcast overseed if seeds washed out
- 7keeping an extra bag of seed on hand
- 8Adding more top dressing and/or straw when downpours are forecast
- 9Proceed with the scheduled work and repair the damaged sections of the lawn afterward.
- 10Wait until the lawn is established and then let contractors walk over and install on top of it.
- 11Using straw
- 12Using protective mesh or erosion control products on sloped areas
- 13Waiting to see if the seeds survive or if reseeding low spots is necessary
- 14Hoping the rain stays light to moderate rather than torrential
- 15Checking expected rainfall amounts in inches
- 16Running sprinklers multiple times a day (e.g., 8am, 10:30, noon, 2, and 4) to keep the soil and seed wet.
- 17Using mulch products like EZ straw to retain moisture.
- 18leaving it alone and adding more seed later in areas that washed out
- 19throwing more seed down after a storm
- 20using expensive seed blankets
- 21collecting fresh grass clippings from existing lawn or neighbors to sprinkle over bare patches
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Had a big storm last weekend that washed some seed out in spots so threw more down 4 days ago.”source ↗
“Now the forecast has changed and we’ll be in the mid 90s until Sunday with no rain. I’m worried if this heat will really mess up my seed, although temps will go back down on Monday.”source ↗
“Rain suppose to last a few more hours and after today it should be a sunny week. Anything I should do after the rain stops? Should I add more seeds and spread more top soil on top?”source ↗
“Same I put about 5 hours in yesterday and all my seed and peat moss is clumped up. Probably gonna have to rake it all out after it dries :/”source ↗
“Shit got me too, I just got seed down Friday. No clue how much it rained last night but my back yard got flooded for sure.”source ↗
“I did a complete lawn renovation Wednesday and hydroseeded. I’m sitting here not knowing what to think!”source ↗
“heavy rain before germination is trouble since it washes seed away or moves it around.”source ↗
“So we just put down seed for 'new lawn' a few days ago across a portion of our yard. We currently are scheduled to have contractors come through next week to put in heat pumps (which would include an outdoor unit), and the outdoor unit is going to be pretty much right in the center of that area we seeded.”source ↗
“I'm wondering if it's better to still have them come next week and maybe still have a chance to seed back over where they mess up, or wait a month and have them walk over and install on top of the freshly grown lawn..?”source ↗
“Did a bit of overseeing yesterday without anticipating the sheer volume of rain that hit us today. Between the rain and my dog, it’s taking a beating out there.”source ↗
“Then we got five straight days of rain. Yard is soaked. A few low spots have standing water or look like seed may have drifted.”source ↗
“I seeded the 12th and this all popped up today!”source ↗
“There was originally sprinklers here and there when I first seeded; but not this much rain.”source ↗
“I’m in Columbus. Same thing. Fucking bullshit and annoying as fuck. Sorry I’m pissed. So far I’m just keeping my lawn watered all day so far.”source ↗
“I’m worried about seed washing away specifically in a few of the very bare spots, should I take seed from the lawn to those spots if some are bare, or just leave it as is at this point and hope for the best?”source ↗
“Not quite sure what else I could do to prevent more runoff other than buying expensive seed blankets which doesn’t seem worth it.”source ↗
“Had exactly the same problems.”source ↗
“All that work is about to be eroded away and theres nothing you can do except top it off next season”source ↗
“Sooooo.... there a potential for remnants of a hurricane on the 23rd 24th. I know, a long way out and it WILL change, but want to at least start mentally preparing.”source ↗
“Last weekend I scalped/dethatched an 8000sf area of my back yard. I had a local meeting Tuesday, so got my seed (Artimuss tttf) down Wed (9/9) evening and then Scott's triple action and sprinklers set on Thurs morning (9/10).”source ↗
“We're forcast for some potentially heavy-ish rain tonight/tomorrow morning If all goes well and it's not too bad I should be in good shape for the potential remnants of the hurricane with regard to germination.”source ↗
“BUT, if tonight is bad and I have to reseed again, I won't get the seed until midweek, lets say 9/16.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Will new grass survive a harsh winter?
- 4Will heavy rain wash away grass seed after overseeding?
- 6How to stop birds from eating new grass seed when overseeding
- 10How to water new grass seed with a full-time job
- 3How to grow grass from seed on bare dirt without a sprinkler system
- 86Why is my overseeding failing to grow?