How to put your own lawn in inexpensively

One thing I noticed when building my house was that everyone (except me) in the neighborhood was paying some guy 3 to 4 thousand dollars to put their lawn in. I put my lawn in (1.9 acres)for less then six hundred dollars. Mind you it took some time and effort, but i have a lawn that is just as good as any lawn put in by a so called "professional".

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• lawn tractor
• rented core aerator
• lawn seed that contains rye grass
• at least 2 to 3 seasons of growing (patience)
• broadcast pull behind spreader (not a drop spreader)
• weed b gone (as much as you need for your lawn - that means you have to read the label)
• rented or owned pull behind sprayer

1. After you home has been built and the excavator has put in your septic if you have one and either rough graded or fine graded your lot. They will do that for you in you ask them too if they are worth their salt as an excavator. They might charge you, cant say. but you can only start this after that part of your lot is done. Pick up any rocks for debris from your lot at this time. Also if you can have your downspouts trenched in and buried before you start your lawn it would make things much easier.
2. During this time you will have to let mother nature take her course on your lot. Let the weeds grow. The more weeds the better. Now this growing can start anytime, but preferably in the spring or early fall. (mid-west).
3. After you have a significant growth of weeds take your lawn tractor or find someone with a bush-hog to chop them down to about 3 inches from the ground. At this time you should make available at least a full weekend of time for you to finish your lawn and start the growing grass process. remember patience. After the lawn is bush-hogged down, wake up early (preferably Saturday)the next day you have good weather (sunny, no rain). Have your core aerator set up to rent on a Saturday. That way you can have it for Saturday and Sunday and wont have to get it back to the rental place until Monday.
4. Wake up early on the day you will core aerate. Start aerating your lawn of weeds until the top 1 to 2 inches of dirt is loose. Take your broadcast spreader and follow the manufactures instructions for spreading grass seed for how big of a lawn you have. Keep your lawn watered and let mother nature help when it rains. The weeds will help keep your grass stabilized. The rye grass will come up first and very fast. This will also help hold you perreniel grass also. Your lawn will not be looking good this growing season because of the weeds. Don't worry. The Weed-B-Gone will take care of them next season. Also if you happen to get ruts in your lot from run off fill those in with dirt and re plant grass in those places.
5. After planting of grass is done. Let the weeds along with your grass continue to grow and keep it mowed for this season. And again don't worry how it looks. It will look much better next season. 2nd season you need to re core aerate and re seed. Your grass from last year will hold your new seed for you again. You will still have to deal with weeds but only the first half of this season until you get some good growth of this seasons seed. Your grass seed should start to drowned out some of the weeds in your lawn by now. The 2nd half of the 2nd season, take you weed-b-gone and on a still day, and spray your lawn for weeds. This will kill all the broad leaf weeds on your lawn and allow your grass to spread roots more then ever. Start introducing fertilizer to your lawn every fall and spring. Ask you lawn care dude about what fertilizer to use for what time of the year. They are different.
6. Repeat the last step for the next year or two and you will have an awesome looking lawn that YOU did and can be proud of for way, way less then your neighbors did and they will envy it trust me.

Tips & Warnings

• When you fertilize in the fall be sure you get fertilizer that will help you grass roots grow.
• When you fertilize in the spring be sure to get crab-grass preventative fertilizer.
• If you have pets, be careful to let your weed-b-gone dry before you let them out. I spray it in the morning after my dog has gone out to go potty and then she stays in till its dry.
• This method cant be guarenteed for everyone because of the soil type you have or if your lot is full of clay or rock or stuff that is not conducive to growing grass. Then you will have to bring in dirt which will be more of a cost. I had good soil on my lot and that is why it only costed me 600 hundred dollars.