How to Use a Drop Spreader for Grass Seed
Drop spreaders are devices that make it easy to distribute granular product, such as grass seed and fertilizer, onto the surface of a lawn. Drop spreaders are bucketlike containers with holes in the bottom of them. The grass seed slips out of the holes and falls onto the soil surface. Drop spreaders come in both a push variety that has wheels, as well as a handheld variety that employs a hand crank to dispense seeds. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Place the end of a tape measure at one side of the area to be seeded. Stretch the tape measure across the area to measure the length. Repeat the process to measure the width of the area as well. Multiple the length measurement by the width measurement to arrive at the total area of the ground. For example, if the yard is 30 feet long and 25 feet wide, multiply 30 by 25 to arrive at 750 square feet.
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Examine the back of the grass seed packaging to determine the amount of seed to use for your size lawn.
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Pour the appropriate amount of seed into the open bucket of the drop spreader.
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Locate the dial on the spreader that controls the rate of seed distribution, also called the spread rate. This dial is usually located on the spreader handle near the flow lever. Set this dial to the rate that is specified on the grass-seed packaging.
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Place the drop spreader at the edge of the area to be seeded. Push down on the lever located on the handle to begin dispensing the grass seed. Walk around the entire perimeter of the area at a pace of approximately 3 mph until you reach the starting point. Pull back on the lever to stop the flow of seed.
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Move the drop spreader to the corner of the soil area and push down on the lever to begin dispensing the grass seed again.
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Walk forward until you reach the opposite side of the area. When you are ready to reverse directions, pull back on the lever to stop the seed flow.
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Turn the drop spreader around so that it is facing the opposite direction. Make sure that it is positioned to overlap the first line of seeds by approximately 1/2 inch to 1 inch. Push down on the lever to dispense the seeds and walk across the area. Continue this process until you have completely covered the area you want to seed.
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References
- Photo Credit grass image by palms from Fotolia.com
