 
Watering
New seed should be watered on average a couple of times a day to keep the soil consistently moist without puddling or washing away.The best time of day to water a newly seeded lawn is mid to late morning and mid to late afternoon. The length of time to water will vary from site to site depending on a number of factors such as sun exposure, type of soils, volume of water source, slopes, time of year etc.
You will find that over time you will need to water less frequently as the soil builds up moisture and the seed starts to germinate.
Most grass seed mixes are a combination of at least three varieties of grasses that germinate anywhere from four to twenty-one days, so continue watering as described above for at least three weeks.
After the first mowing you should be able to reduce watering to once per day, again watering should be done in the heat of the day between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. Once the lawn is mature watering times should be in early morning from about 5:00 am to 9:00 am. Avoid evening watering; this will promote disease in the lawn.
Mowing
After about four weeks, when the grass reaches a height of about three inches you can mow the newly seeded lawn. Make sure that the grass is dry, the mower blades are sharp and bag any clippings. Mowing should be done as frequently as needed to maintain a 21/2’ - 3” height. This will help the lawn fill in quicker and denser.
Fertilizing
New grass has a limited root system for the first several months, so it will need more frequent fertilizing. It is best to fertilize every four weeks with a STARTER FERTILIZER ONLY at the manufacturers recommended rate only. DO NOT OVER FERTILIZE and DO NOT USE ANY WEED CONTROL OR HERBICIDES until the lawn has matured, usually eight to twelve weeks after seeding.
 Spring Lawns
Spring lawns are always difficult to control weed growth. Weed season begins in late spring and ends in mid August. Weed control in this time frame is difficult. Most weed control products will harm new grass. The best approach to a spring lawn is to keep it watered, fertilized and properly mowed until mid to late August. At that time the lawn should be mature enough to avoid damage from most weed control products. In some cases it may be necessary to reseed some areas that have extensive weed growth.
Fall Lawns
Fall lawns are the easiest to care for. Weed season is over, the weather makes watering easier and the lawn has ample time to mature before the next weed season. It will be necessary to keep any falling leaves off the newly seeded areas.
Hydroseeding
If your lawn was hydroseeded you will still have to follow the directions above. Hydroseeding does a couple of things - it helps the seed germinate sooner and reduces the amount of watering by holding moisture in the ground and helps to hold the seed in place until germination.
Guarantee
Due to all the conditions involved in growing a newly seeded lawn we cannot guarantee complete germination. We will however return one time to reseed any thin or bare spots. We can fertilize the entire seeded area at this time for an additional cost.
Be patient. High quality seed mixes are typically slower to germinate and can take up to three weeks to fully germinate and any seeded lawn will take 12 to 18 months to completely mature.
Click here to print these newly seeded lawn care tips.
Return to top
|
