I feel like I have my very own personal “Alcide” — yes, that’s a True Blood reference. I kept calling John “Alseed” while he spread seed across our newly leveled backyard. I’m corny like that. He rolled his eyes, but I suspect he secretly liked the nickname. He’s tall, a little dorky, and handsome, so for me he’s actually better than the fictional Alcide. But anyway, back to our freshly cleared backyard—if you want the full backstory on the clearing phases, you can find those previous posts on our site.
We get a lot of questions about how we seed, what products we use, and how we spread the seed, so here’s a straightforward run-through. First, we raked the entire area to loosen and fluff the soil and to remove acorns and other debris.
Next, we added some topsoil to a few spots that weren’t as level as we wanted—places where we had dug out plants like liriope or pulled large weeds. Giving those low spots a bit more soil helps the new seed settle evenly and promotes better root establishment.
Then John took over and broadcast the seed with our spreader. We used a Scott’s Tall Fescue Mix, which is well-suited to our climate and does especially well in shadier yards like ours. It’s the same seed blend we used at our previous house to establish both the front and back yards after clearing and prepping the soil.
We didn’t only seed the areas where we’d dug; we overseeded the entire yard to fill in bare or thin spots. Overseeding in fall, when conditions are right, is one of the best things you can do to thicken a lawn naturally. A dense turf crowds out weeds and reduces the need for heavy chemical treatments. A thin lawn is simply more vulnerable to weeds and bare patches.
A quick tip: when broadcasting seed, it’s easy for some to land on walkways or brick paths where you don’t want grass to grow. We swept seed off the brick and back into the soil so we wouldn’t end up with grass sprouting along the edges. If your spreader scatters seed onto a path, a broom or brush will fix it quickly. Optional: dust your shoulders off when you’re done.
We watered lightly for just 15 minutes each evening to keep the seedbed moist without washing everything away. About four days after seeding we began to see tiny green shoots emerging. We typically start seeing sprouts after roughly one week, but in this case the weather was nearly perfect—warm days, cool nights, and a little rain—so the results came in faster than usual.
A little over a week later the yard was noticeably greener and much more lush. The new grass has that vivid neon-green look that baby blades get, so the transformation felt dramatic. I didn’t edit the after photos beyond resizing and labeling; the color is real and largely thanks to the fresh, dense growth combined with a helpful rain that day.
Every day Clara and I look out the big living room window to watch the grass grow. She calls it her “play grass” and loves checking to see how it’s coming along. That large square window at the back of the house is now our official grass-watching spot.
From the far end of the path you can see back to the house and the tree where we removed an aggressive vine. That vine is thinning out now and dropping leaves, which is another small victory in the yard renovation.
So that’s the gist of it—four phases of backyard work that added up to a much-improved outdoor space. We’ll overseed again in the spring to help maintain density and keep weeds at bay. After that the routine will be basic maintenance: mowing, occasional hand-pulling of any stray weeds, and spot reseeding where necessary. That approach worked well at our previous house and we expect similar success here.
What outdoor projects are you finishing up? Any last-minute attempts at late-season seeding, or multi-stage renovations finally wrapping up? We’re glad to have the backyard project buttoned up as we turn our attention to basement work and then the hall bathroom next.