Grow Grass Cheaply and Easily

Like many lawns that boarder driveways, the lawn sometimes falls victim to the occasional tire.  Over time the side of the driveway turns into a dirt rut.  Time to replant the grass along the driveway...and hope the tires stay off of it....

Bare spots along driveway

There are many products you can use to grow new grass, but I opted for the traditional (read as "cheap") method of shady grass seed with a marsh straw covering.

To start, I dug up the packed down dirt and broke it up.  Since the ruts were relatively deep, I used a couple bags of top soil to mix with the old soil and bring the lawn back up to the driveway's level.  Once level, I spread the shady grass seed over the top soil and covered it marsh straw then watered.

From what I understand, the trick to getting the grass to grow is regular watering.  By regular I mean two to three times per day to keep the grass seed wet while it takes hold.

Straw covering grass seed

The straw is used to help hold in some moisture and prevent the seed from drying out between watering.  Many of the more expensive grass seed products contain material such as newspaper to help hold in the moisture making it a little forgiving if you are not diligent in your watering routine.

Even with my best intentions, I'll admit there were some days that I did not water twice each day...I may have even missed a full day.

About two weeks later I had full grass coverage and waited about one more week before mowing it.  Total cost of the project to patch the grass along the driveway was less than $10.00.


1 bag shady grass seed: ~$2.50 (on sale at beginning of season)
2 bags top soil: ~$1.50 each (I actually patched 3 spots)
1 box of straw: Free!  Yes, free.  I didn't need a full bail of straw.  Took a box to the local farmers co-op and asked if I could clean up their scraps.

New grass along the driveway