Laying Grass. Sod Vs. Spraying Seed

Grass is water/labor intensive and way too many chemicals are used to grow it.
And really, plant tall fescue and all you do is weed it, feed it, water it and then spend time and effort mowing/trimming it.
WHY?
We need to get over this thing where we want our homes/grounds to look like English Manor houses.
If you don't have an environment that can support grass without a lot of help from you then grow plants that are native to your area.
We have 3 acres and it's pretty much a mown field.
There's some grass but the weeds are highly drought resistant.
There's lots of clover, wild strawberries, violets, dandelions, wildflowers, plenty of crabgrass and other wild grasses.
We're in the country and have horse/cow pastures nearby.

This time of year no one here lays seed because the water it takes to get it to grow is more than the difference between seed and sod.

If you just can't afford sod I would talk to a local nursery and get a blend that will take root and just suck it up for the rest of the summer then overseed in the fall. That way next spring it should match the sod you already have.

When we first built this house we tried to do the backyard with seed. A fair few areas we sodded the next summer. In the other areas it took about two seasons of overseeding before it looked like the sod and probably cost us as much as if we had just sodded the whole area in the first place.

Have you considered xeriscaping with drought tolerant plants and gravel/hardscaping? You are not in a climate that really should have grass.

We put the seed down in the fall so it will germinate as soon as the snow melts.

We have a large lot. When we built the house we used sod to establish the yard. Yes it's expensive and it takes effort to get it started. Since we built in 2000, we've often had a pallet or 2 of sod delivered each summer to replace areas that need it due to dying, fungus, whatever.

My vote would be bite the bullet and sod.

we do seed in a push-spreader, but we get a fair amount of rain here, and aren't bothered by clover and dandelions. (well, my husband is, but that's another post. we don't do pesticide.)
i think if i lived in an arid climate, i'd forego grass and do natural landscaping. maybe a compromise? lay some sod around the house so you've got soft grass for your toesies, but go natural further out?
khairete
S.

When doing seed in any area you have to figure out how to keep the birds out of it and other critters. The gym laid a bunch of seed and they lost it that week. Then they laid it again and the birds started swarming. Day and night they had a cannon boom thing going. It scared the birds and they'd take off and fly up and circle then land again, it would boom every minute or so, they'd do it over and over and over.

So you have to figure out how to keep the seed on the ground to take root.