New Seeding Care

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Wagner Landscaping, Inc.

Residential & Commercial

Slice seeding & Over seedinG Care

Why Slice Seed?

What is the benefit? Do I really need it?

There are many reasons one would need or want a slice seeding service. Athletic fields, thin lawns, lawns that were attacked by insects or fungus, planting a new lawn and the list goes on. The major benefit in slice seeding over conventional seeding is that you get direct seed to soil contact. When you overseed a lawn, broadcasting seed across the surface is a good idea in trying to thicken your lawn. However, you need to have good contact with the soil for the seed to germinate. Slice seeding slices into the soil with steel blades creating furrows that the seed is then dropped into. Beyond that with our slice seeding service we also apply a starter fertilizer of slow release nutrients. This is something most starter fertilizers do not contain. The goal is to feed the plant longer than usual to further develop the plant and its roots.

When should I seed?

Generally, the best time to over seed a lawn is in the fall time. We have cool season turf grasses in Massachusetts and that means they like “cool weather”. Our lawns have two growth spurts, in the spring and fall. Summer and winter are dormant times of the year for turf grass. However, summer may not be if adequate moisture levels are maintained. The best growth season of cool season turf grass is the fall. It’s the longest and most stable of the two. This is not to say that you cannot seed during the summer months. This is somewhat related to people’s ability to water their new seedlings. It’s not easy to water a new lawn due to the frequency that is necessary. Please see watering methods below. If you can provide the correct amount of moisture the correct way, then any time of the season is acceptable.

What should I do after seeding?

Simply walking across new seedlings can be enough to dislodge the shallow roots and stop the new growth completely. It is extremely important that you wait as long as possible before walking or disturbing the new plants. KEEP THE DOGS AWAY! Dogs will surely destroy the new seedlings and it is your job to protect your new grass plants until they have time to mature. It might be a good idea to cordon off the sections of lawn that were seeded in an effort to keep people and animals away.

Watering Methods

Your grass will not germinate without water, if you do not water you will not have grass!

All plants need 3 things. Food, Sunlight & WATER!!!! Do not underestimate the need for water when growing grass. Your number one priority should be setting up methods to provide adequate moisture to your grass while it’s in the establishment phase. This will generally be for the first 3 to 3 1/2 weeks. At that point, you should be able to slowly back off your watering schedule frequency. What does this mean? Ok.. let’s put it this way. When you are establishing turf grass you are looking for LIGHT FREQUENT watering. That is 3 times a day (morning, noon & evening) for approximately 10 – 15 minutes in each spot. When you are watering already established turf grass you are looking for HEAVY INFREQUENT watering. That is 1 or 2 times a week watering to a depth of 4 – 6″. This could mean watering each spot for around 45 minutes. It will depend upon your soil type and most importantly how dry the lawn really is. If we are in a drought, you would need to ensure that you drench the soil to that depth at least 1 time weekly to keep the plants alive and healthy. But your goal here is new grass and that requires gentle watering frequently for short periods of time. If you water too long, then you risk the chance of water pooling on the surface and dislodging the seed that is trying to root into the ground. Your goal should be focusing on keeping the soils moist all day long. If you can do that or at least most of the day, then you are ensuring your grass will germinate. If you do not keep the soils moist then you are ensuring that the grass seed that was applied will burn out and die. That means you just wasted your money, time and hopes for thickening your lawn. If there is any one thing that you do, please let it be watering properly. This is the most common complaint with folks who try to seed anything. What am I doing wrong here? Why doesn’t the seed grow? Well…. If it has water, it will grow. It will grow better with warm temperatures, sunlight, water and food.