Planting grass on a hill

I want to finish planting seed in our backyard, where we have a hilled and flat area of about 1.5 acres. I have had trouble with wind and rain on the other 1.5 acres. Many bare spots. I completely removed everything down to the soil, before planting a mixture of Tall Fescue and Perrenial Rye. The wind blew away the straw and rain washed much of the seed.

I want to eliminate that from happening again.

I was considering mowing down the remaining field (2-3"), and raking out the rocks, leaving some grass and weeds for erosion control, but loosening the dirt. Then plant seed on the area and see how this does. Eventually the seed should choke out other grasses and weeds that were growing.

Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Any other suggestions?

Have you considered hydroseeding? Not the least expensive option, but it will work well on a hill.

If you do put seed down, make sure you rake it in, then roll it. That'll put it into good contact with the soil. Also make sure that your soil is healthy - get a soil test and amend it if needed before planting.

Thanks for the advice. I will probably rake it in and roll it.

I'll second the hydroseed idea. We had some very steep slopes done and that darn seed was growing on the trees that got hit with the spray for over two years. We have some grass that is still growing on near vertical cuts along our drive. I believe we paid $600 for a rig that held 1500 gals. of seed mix. There are smaller rigs out there so I would look local and see what if available.

You may also want to mix some oats in with the new seed for that hill if you seed. The oats will come up fast and hold the seed until it takes. No need for straw with the oats.

MarkV

Mark,

You rented the seeder or hired out the seeding for the $600?

I have a lot of areas I would love to seed but paying some one to do it would be very expesnive. If I could rent one that would be ideal.

Fred

Fred,

That was for a company to come in and do the work. I believe they said that their 1500 gal rig would do 3 acres but I don't remember exactly. We had a smaller area do but they were the only game in town when we needed them. I have seen smaller rigs that I would expect to be less expensive. Couldn't hurt to call for some prices.

MarkV