How to Install a Grass Starter Blanket

Using a grass starter blanket after you sow your seed provides protection from erosion while allowing moisture and sunlight to enter and touch the seeds. The blanket helps keep the soil warm, which is ideal for early spring plantings or seeds with higher germination temperatures. The blanket decomposes, acting basically like a mulch, so there's no need to remove it later.

1
Lay the grass starter blanket roll along the edge of your seeded area. Unroll it about 6 inches. Tap landscape staples every 12 inches along the edge with a rubber mallet to secure the edge to the soil. Landscape staples typically are galvanized steel, but biodegradable ones work as well. If you're installing on a slope, start the roll at the top of the slope.
2
Unroll the blanket, stopping every 2 feet to hammer landscape staples into the blanket. Space them every 2 feet across the center of the blanket as well as down the sides.
3
Bury the end 6 inches of the landscape fabric under at least an inch of soil. On a slope, this end should be at the bottom.
4
Overlap the next blanket by 2 inches if your seeded area requires more than one. Install it with landscape staples just as you did the first blanket. If you know you'll need more than one blanket, there's no need to secure the side edge of the first blanket. After overlapping the second blanket, drive landscape staples through both layers and into the soil.

References

American Excelsior Company: Curlex Excelsior Blanket
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service: Seed Covers and Germination Blankets Influence the Establishment of Seeded Warm-Season Grasses
National Seed: Erosion Control Products

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