Lawn Seeding Tips and Video
This is what we do to get fabulous results in 30 days.
- Core aerate – this opens the surface of the lawn to better take up water and fertilizer. It also helps relieve soil compaction, and introduces soil microbes to the organic material such as dead grass, on the lawn surface. The microbes digest the plant matter, enriching the soil and reducing troublesome thatch build up. Core aerated lawns often have fewer disease problems because they are more vigorous and have less thatch and may have fewer disease pathogens.
- Power slit seeding – Power driven, steel blades, 1.5 inches apart slice through live and dead grass, chopping the seed applied into shallow grooves. This process yields a higher and more uniform germination rate for the new seed. When renovating a bad lawn, the results are far superior to “dethatching” or core aerating and then broadcasting the seed on top.
- Fertilization – Like most babies, young grass plants are born hungry. Applying fertilizer at the time of seeding or within a few days afterwards, ensures plenty of available nutrients. This enabling the young plants to flourish as long as water is plentiful.
Once days reach the 60′s or 70′s, the newly seeded lawn should be watered 3 times per day. Apply just enough water to keep the new seed moist, but not squishy. The best times to water are early morning, midday and late afternoon or early evening. There is no need to water deeply. Apply water like this for 14 days minimum if rye or fescue seed are in the mix. Repeat for an additional 7-14 days if bluegrass is present. It takes 21-28 days to germinate under ideal conditions of warn days and cool nights. Remember that temperatures in the 30′s to 50′ s in the day time, will drastically increase germination time, or even halt germination temporarily.
The next time, we’ll talk about maintenance for the new, spring seeded lawn.
