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Our first approach to growing grass, was
to sow seeds; but the task of keeping the seeded area moist was overwhelming. We
don't have an underground sprinkler system. So we thought about buying rolls of sod and
cutting into 6" squares (so it would cover more ground). But we were too late in the
year, the nurseries and home improvement stores weren't stocking sod in July.
So as an alternative, we grew our own
plugs. It was a time intensive process. Put Styrofoam cups into trays -
kitty litter trays worked best. We lined them up on folding tables on the patio and
them created "mini-greenhouse" by putting the trays on 3 plastic 4-shelving units.
We covered each shelving unit with plastic. This speed up the growing process.
We grew 25-35 plugs (depending on the size
of the cup) in each tray. We started all the trays in one shelving units, then
a week later started the second unit. A week later we started the third. By
the fourth week, the trays in the first unit were ready to transplant. So
about every three or four weeks we were about to transplant 200+ plugs. And we started
over. We started this system in July and continued until the last plugs were planted
in early November.
Finally to cover larger areas, we
harvested slugs and transplanted them. There were patches of grass growing in
the places where grass didn't need to grow, so we dug up what we called "slugs" and
transplanted them in the front & back yards. We hand water every day until they were
established. |
