# is this straw or grass on my newly seeded lawn?



## ihildreth (Sep 12, 2009)

Looks like grass to me.

When you buy straw, there generally aren't any very many (if any) seeds. The seeds are the crop, and the straw is just a useful leftover that can be used for mulch, animal bedding, etc. By the time you get it, straw has long been dead and won't grow a new plant.


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

MLMIB said:


> I just seeded my lawn after tilling it. I put down straw over it and I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is seed or straw starting to grow.
> 
> any help in ID'ing it is greatly appreciated.
> 
> ...


Tough call. As you said, new grass is usually much more fine when it first comes up. In fact, as I look more closely at the picture I think I can see some tiny blades of grass toward the lower left portion of the picture.

I'd say, though, that even if you're seeing oats spring up, don't worry about it. They're not perennial, so they won't cause you any problems in the long run.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Grass seed usually takes a week to 10 days to germinate but as the Dr says, no worries, the oats, wheat, or whatever, will not last through the winter


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## raichovasilev (Sep 27, 2011)

Tough call, looks like grass to me but even if it isn't it wont last long  btw did you aerate before you over seeded the lawn? if not you should have and should remember to do it for the future it helps the grass to germinate a lot faster, if you do not own an aerator rent one from the home depot tool rental hope this helps .


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## CLC (Oct 5, 2011)

raichovasilev said:


> Tough call, looks like grass to me but even if it isn't it wont last long  btw did you aerate before you over seeded the lawn? if not you should have and should remember to do it for the future it helps the grass to germinate a lot faster, if you do not own an aerator rent one from the home depot tool rental hope this helps .


He tilled it first, which is even better. 

It's likely emerging seedlings by the next year's warm weather. Depending on the climate you may have weeds from the wheat straw but just mow the lawn as needed and it won't be a long term problem. Mulch the straw on the lawn if you have a good mulching deck, or vacuum it up and bag it if you do not. I would avoid raking it up unless the lawn was fully established.


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## elroy427 (May 6, 2013)

*That is Grass from the Straw*

That is grass from the straw you put down. There are seeds in a lot of straw sold at the local stores, i put down a line of straw on my newly seeded grass and it come up everywhere. Choked the lawn out. I waited too long to pull it out and now im hoping i don't have to do it over again.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

raichovasilev said:


> Tough call, looks like grass to me but even if it isn't it wont last long  btw did you aerate before you over seeded the lawn? if not you should have and should remember to do it for the future it helps the grass to germinate a lot faster, if you do not own an aerator rent one from the home depot tool rental hope this helps .


Aeration will help with compaction and will provide air space for existing turf roots. It will do nothing to help new seed on the soil surface germinate. In fact, seed will fall into the holes too deep to germinate.

As mentioned, that coarse grass is probably some annual that was in the straw. It will disappear after a growing season. And, at the end of the day, turfgrass is a numbers game. Once your lawn seed germinates and establishes, strength in numbers will squeeze those stray grass shoots/bunches of resources. 

Remember seed will germinate at different rates. Annual rye (hopefully that is not what we are seeing but it is sometimes in cheap mixes because it is sprouts fast) germinates in 5-7 days, perennial rye in 7-10 and bluegrasses and fescues 14-30. You have to keep the seed moist until it happens.


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## Ocelaris (Oct 9, 2012)

Depending on what kind of seed you planted you can also spray Tenacity herbicide which will usually take care of a large number of summer grass weeds (i.e. crabgrass), and broadleaf weeds. If you tilled, you might have stirred up some weed seeds that were buried but not sprouted. 

I'm going to renovate my lawn come fall (best time for cool season grasses), and I plan on fallowing for a month after spraying with Round up. I'll do 3 cycles of Round up, cut low a few days after, and continue to water so I sprout any weed seeds, and use up any carbohydrate reserves of my current Zoysia grass.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

this thread is 2 years old


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