Planting Grass with my Daughter

Last fall we had to dig a narrow foot wide trench in our front yard to lay a sump pump line out to the street.  I let the ground settle over the winter and planted grass seed earlier this spring.  The grass started to grow but I was lazy and didn't keep up with the watering.  That and the 2 month stretch of 95+ degree weather with no rain killed most of what had grown.  Now that it's fall and cooled off a bit I'm trying again.  Earlier this week I took my 5 year old to the garden/lawn store down the road and did the thing that most men don't like to do.  I asked for grass growing help from one of the garden/lawn experts.

With his help I was able to gain a few grass growing tips to pass along to my daughter.  Through each step of the process I explained to her the purpose.  Here are the major steps.

1.  I grabbed a couple of rakes and 'stirred' up the top layer of dirt for the grass seed to settle in.  My daughter was an excellent helper on this.

2.  Together we dropped the grass seed.  Just like the tomatoes, peppers, and green beans we planted in our garden this year, all plants start out as seeds.

3.  Next we placed a layer of straw over the seed.  I've seen this done before but never taken this step myself.  The straw is supposed to help keep moisture on the dirt/seeds.  In the process we made a huge mess of straw pieces on the driveway.  Both of my daughters helped clean this up.  It was very cute watching my 2 year old struggle with a big broom.  When asked if she needed help, she flat out refused.  She was doing this on her own!

4.  Next came the watering.  I explained to my daughter that just like people, plants need water to grow up healthy.

A strip of what will hopefully soon be grass in my yard.

Having my daughters help me with this project turned the project from work to fun.  Obviously there are some home improvement tasks that kids, depending on their age, are not able to help you with.  But if you have a project that is kid friendly, take advantage and let your kids help out.  They'll learn some useful skills that will help them later in their lives.  Plus they get to spend quality time with you!