Native Plants

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Thursday - March 20, 2014

From: Robstown, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Planting, Seeds and Seeding, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Use of hand-held seed spreader from Robstown TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I am planting native turf grass and prairie grasses as part of a backyard restoration on my 1.6 acre home site. My problem is good seed dispersal for the chaffey grass seeds. Have you have any luck with hand-held seed spreaders that do a good job of this? I have tried the "feed the chickens" method but am starving some of the chickens!

ANSWER:

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is very in favor of native turf and prairie grasses, and applauds your efforts. This member of the Smarty Plants Team has, we regret to say, no personal experience with seed dispersal, having managed in 60-some years of gardening to never get involved with planting a lawn. We don't know what grass mix you are using, but have lots of information on the preparation and planting of Habiturf - A multi-species grass mix for North, West and Central Texas from our Ecosystem Design Group.

Since you are in Nueces County, south Texas on the Gulf Coast, Habiturf might not be optimum for your region, but we feel the information on the grass mix, including some on hand-held seed spreaders might help you make the decision. Please read the article on Habiturf referenced above and especially note this paragraph:

"Sow.
Sow the seed — the small, hand-cranked seed broadcasters are great or by hand — and rake and press with a garden roller or your feet. Seeds need good soil contact. Spring is the best sowing time once soil temperatures warm up (day time temperatures constantly above 85F). Later in the growing season also works well but will require more water. Avoid sowing in late fall and winter (October through mid-March)."

When we don't know the answer to a question, we always resort to Google but, alas, there was nothing but advertisements under that heading. However, we thought that even some of those might be of help. Try this ad for Scotts Handy Green II Hand Held Broadcast Spreader.

Next, on your plans for prairie grasses, please read our How-To Article, Recreating a Prairie. This is probably instruction for something larger scale than what you are attempting, but at least it's in the right direction.