seeding centipede grass? (versus sod)

[fieldgrade]

Every place I’ve ever seen centipede grass in new construction homes it has been sodded. I’ve never seen it seeded, but I know you can buy the seed. I have about a third acre yard that has sandy soil which centipede should like, but I don’t want to spring five large for the 22 pallets of sod it would take to sod the yard. And that’s just for the sod.

Have any of you ever successfully seeded centipede? I’m retired so I can water every day to get it in, and we are just getting into prime season soon to grow it.

Advice welcome. I’m not going to seed fescue, especially this time of year, and being an investment property, I’m not going to try zoysia.

 

[Ben Jefferson]

Centimetre seed is so small it hard to keep track of. The only time I did it was successful but dis seed heavily with rescue but mixed the centimetre seed in.

 

[fieldgrade]

Centimetre seed is so small it hard to keep track of. The only time I did it was successful but dis seed heavily with rescue but mixed the centimetre seed in.

Thanks for reminding me of this. I re-landscaped a yard at an older house I bought in '95 and heavily researched grass types. Then again at another older house in 2006. Ended up with fescue both times. I’d love to get centipede in this one because it has no shade anywhere on the lot, is sandy soil and I don’t want to have to re-seed the yard every fall.

 

[Sp00ks]

I've only plugged it. Find some growing through a brick somewhere and transplant it.... Yes that was sarcastic. Seed is quite expensive but I've never tried it.

 

[Ben Jefferson]

I f'ng hate spellcheck!

Makes me look like I'm from Durham when I get in a hurry.

 

[fieldgrade]

I think I’m gonna handle this “problem” like I usually do. Throw money at it. I can haul one pallet of sod in the truck which covers 500 sq ft.
I’ll do a pallet at a time till I get tired of paying $270 a pallet, then start spreading pine straw over the rest of it.

 

[Just Tripp]

I’ve never seeded centipede, but I’ve seeded hundreds of acres of grass. Most people don’t seed warm season grasses because it’s a slow, two season proposition to get it established. Not trying to talk you out of it, just explaining.

If it were me I’d find out what rate is recommended per thousand square feet and get enough seed to cover that area. Hulled seed is preferred to unhulled. It’ll germinate quicker. Check the seed label on the bag of whatever variety you choose. One line you’ll want to pay close attention to is the percentage of “noxious weeds“. The lower the better. ”Other weed seed” is another. Anything under those categories is likely to be Poa Annua in the bag.

When we used to seed bent grass on new greens we’d often mix Milorganite with the seed as filler in the spreader. Google search says recommended rate for centipede is a quarter pound per thousand square feet. If you’re doing roughly 15k ft2, youre only looking at using using less than 4# Of seed. Mix the two together in a five gallon bucket thoroughly before putting it in the spreader.

I’d scarify the soil surface first with a rake or something to break up any crust. If you can, spread in more than one direction. It prevents “rows” from being obvious. If you have access to a drop spreader, they’re preferable to rotary types with fine seed. If rotary is what you have, just spread when there’s no wind. When you’re done “tracking” the seed in with tires like a mower helps to push the seed in the soil and prevent erosion or floating away. Once it’s down, water the soil lightly and frequently until germination.

This may have been more in depth than you wanted to hear. Apologies if so. Grass is just what I do, and I thought I’d try and offer some help. Best of luck!

 

[fieldgrade]

I’ve never seeded centipede, but I’ve seeded hundreds of acres of grass. Most people don’t seed warm season grasses because it’s a slow, two season proposition to get it established. Not trying to talk you out of it, just explaining.

If it were me I’d find out what rate is recommended per thousand square feet and get enough seed to cover that area. Hulled seed is preferred to unhulled. It’ll germinate quicker. Check the seed label on the bag of whatever variety you choose. One line you’ll want to pay close attention to is the percentage of “noxious weeds“. The lower the better. ”Other weed seed” is another. Anything under those categories is likely to be Poa Annua in the bag.

When we used to seed bent grass on new greens we’d often mix Milorganite with the seed as filler in the spreader. Google search says recommended rate for centipede is a quarter pound per thousand square feet. If you’re doing roughly 15k ft2, youre only looking at using using less than 4# Of seed. Mix the two together in a five gallon bucket thoroughly before putting it in the spreader.

I’d scarify the soil surface first with a rake or something to break up any crust. If you can, spread in more than one direction. It prevents “rows” from being obvious. If you have access to a drop spreader, they’re preferable to rotary types with fine seed. If rotary is what you have, just spread when there’s no wind. When you’re done “tracking” the seed in with tires like a mower helps to push the seed in the soil and prevent erosion or floating away. Once it’s down, water the soil lightly and frequently until germination.

This may have been more in depth than you wanted to hear. Apologies if so. Grass is just what I do, and I thought I’d try and offer some help. Best of luck!

I appreciate the post. I have gone to great lengths to get yards in in the past two houses that I re-landscaped with shovel, wheelbarrow, and rake. I get into that level of detail to get a good lawn in. Top soil hauled in. Even installed the Fieldgrade semiautomatic sprinkler system I buried myself. I am now remembering why I didn’t seed centipede before. I posted above this while you were typing. I think I’m going to sod some of it, and do natural areas for the rest.

 

[Just Tripp]

Lol. Yes, your post came up about when I was gonna hit “post reply”. I hope the sod goes well. If you can pick it up a pallet at a time yourself you’ll definitely save money, as opposed to buying it at Lowe’s. I was picking up some Bermuda last week from the sod farm we deal with (Sandhill Turf), and one of the growers was telling me demand has been through the roof.

 

[Frank Powers]

I bought a new house in 1985 and seeded centipede, about a third of an acre lot. Can't remember how many ounces of seed I bought but it was as recommended for the size lot. I kept the property 6 years and then sold it and still did not have a good full mature lawn. Old timers have a saying about centipede, 1st year it sleeps, 2nd year it creeps, 3rd year in leaps,,,,,,,,,,,, mine never really did leap. It is a really nice lawn though if you ever get it full, chokes out everything else.

 

[Mike V]

I bought a new house in 1985 and seeded centipede, about a third of an acre lot. Can't remember how many ounces of seed I bought but it was as recommended for the size lot. I kept the property 6 years and then sold it and still did not have a good full mature lawn. Old timers have a saying about centipede, 1st year it sleeps, 2nd year it creeps, 3rd year in leaps,,,,,,,,,,,, mine never really did leap. It is a really nice lawn though if you ever get it full, chokes out everything else.

Could be my post except for the result. Did it in 85 also. Lived in Myrtle Beach. Very sandy soil. You mix the seed with sand to use as a "carrier and use a small, hand held spreader. Within a year I had a lawn second to none. Big difference between then and now is the price of watering. In MB I put in a shallow well and pretty much watered every day. Free. Try this in Cary (which I did when I first bought this house) and you will have water bills in excess of $300 a month.

 

[NCFubar]

I think I’m gonna handle this “problem” like I usually do. Throw money at it. I can haul one pallet of sod in the truck which covers 500 sq ft.
I’ll do a pallet at a time till I get tired of paying $270 a pallet, then start spreading pine straw over the rest of it.

With sod ... make sure you water it per instructions. It dries out real quick since the root system has not been established.

 

[fieldgrade]

With sod ... make sure you water it per instructions. It dries out real quick since the root system has not been established.

My current house was sodded with centipede on hard pan red clay two years ago and I got it in, so I should be gtg.

 

[SCshooter]

I think I’m gonna handle this “problem” like I usually do. Throw money at it. I can haul one pallet of sod in the truck which covers 500 sq ft.
I’ll do a pallet at a time till I get tired of paying $270 a pallet, then start spreading pine straw over the rest of it.

Another option is to split that pallet up into sprigs and do the whole yard that way. I've had centipede numerous times - Columbia SC, Chapin SC, Jacksonville FL, Orlando FL. If your conditions are right - sandy soil, plenty of sun, lots of watering, sprigs will take off pretty quickly. You'll have a full yard before you know it. Sod will get you a yard quickly but centipede sprigs will have you one soon and a lot cheaper.

 

[dmarbell]

I f'ng hate spellcheck!

Makes me look like I'm from Durham when I get in a hurry.

Durham, England uses the metric system. Durham, NC, not so much. Except to say the victim was shot with a 9mm.

 

[dmarbell]

I appreciate the post. I have gone to great lengths to get yards in in the past two houses that I re-landscaped with shovel, wheelbarrow, and rake. I get into that level of detail to get a good lawn in. Top soil hauled in. Even installed the Fieldgrade semiautomatic sprinkler system I buried myself. I am now remembering why I didn’t seed centipede before. I posted above this while you were typing. I think I’m going to sod some of it, and do natural areas for the rest.

Do the front in sod, try to seed the back. The front will be beautiful and bullet-proof if you look after it right early. If you're going to water, mow, trim and blow you can just keep the equipment warm and swing by my house.