Our lawn care services team is often engaged to establish a lawn for new homeowners. Establishing a new lawn can be accomplished in different ways depending on preference, requirements, and area of the land. Common options are growing a lawn from seed, laying out sod, or even hydroseeding.
What our lawn care services team recommends you consider before getting a new lawn started
It’s important to not only consider how your lawn space is going to be used, but also think about the aftercare and long term landscape maintenance needs of your lawn before getting started.
Different grasses require different levels of care. Discuss your grass preferences and lawn uses with our landscape maintenance services team so that the right type of grass is established in your lawn.
Talk about irrigation and drainage needs with our lawn care services team before you start with the lawn. This ensures that you don’t have to dig up your lawn after your grass has been established and any custom drainage needs can be determined so that you’re not dealing with drainage woes later on.
Once your irrigation and grass needs have been discussed and worked out, our landscape maintenance services team can advise you on the best method of establishing your lawn. A popular method for medium to large lawns is hydroseeding. This method enables us to quickly spread the grass seed across a large area of land in a fairly short amount of time, saving you money on labor costs. It’s especially effective on sloping areas as the seed is sprayed on directly to the soil surface and can adhere easily.
Before the seeding work begins, the dirt work needs to be completed. A thin layer of topsoil is essential to allow the seed to take root. Our lawn care services team ensures that the grade work is as smooth as possible to avoid dips and humps which affect the appearance and future maintenance of the lawn.
The hydroseeding process
Once your lawn is ready for seeding, our lawn care services team will discuss your seed options. Bermuda seed is the most popular choice due to how quickly it germinates. The grass germinates within 10-14 days and the first mowing usually happens after 1 month. Other popular options are centipede – which is really slow growing – and zoysia.
The Hydroseed mixture consist of seed at 1 pound per 1000 sq. ft. with a fertilizer to stimulate good root growth. This is mixed in 100% wood fiber mulch with a tackifer that helps it stick to the ground so that the seed doesn’t blow away with the wind or get washed away in case of rain. The ingredients are combined and then transported to the final location.
Before the slurry mixture is hydraulically sprayed on the ground, our landscape maintenance services team covers fences and other structures to ensure that they are protected from any spray.
Our team knows that the key to successful germination is the mulch as it’s essential for the growth of the seed. The mulch retains moisture that’s needed during germination, protects the seeds from extreme heat, and also helps adhere the seed to the soil thereby preventing erosion. Over time, the mulch also decomposes and mixes into the soil.
Aftercare and lawn maintenance services you should plan for
Landscaping companies make it a practice of sharing some simple after care instructions for a new lawn. With hydroseeding, the most important thing to keep in mind is watering the new lawn.
If you haven’t opted for a sprinkler system, you can place sprinklers around your yard and water the lawn twice a day in the hot summers. Each watering should be for 10 to 20 minutes. It’s helpful to put timers on the faucet to avoid having to keep track of the duration each session.
If you have sloping areas, keep in mind that water runoff can occur, so rather than over water, you may want to water an extra time each day but for a shorter duration.
Although hydroseeding mulch doesn’t contain any weed seeds, it is still possible to see weeds germinate as the combination of top soil, mulch, and fertilizer can make it an ideal breeding ground for weeds to take root. You can weed as needed or talk to our lawn care services team about preventative measures and other ongoing lawn maintenance services.
Hydroseeding can be a very beneficial method of establishing a new lawn as it provides cost savings due to effective and quick application. The germination rate of the seed is also higher with hydroseeding and you can enjoy your new lawn quickly with the short duration of time required for lawn establishment.