When it comes to growing new, healthy grass in your Louisville lawn, power seeding is one of the most important services that you can implement.
Power seeding (which has also been called “slice seeding”) is the process of cutting rows into the soil and planting seeds. It is a service that has been used by golf courses for years to achieve some of the thickest, healthiest turfs out there…and it’s what Limbwalker uses to grow the best grass for Louisville homeowners.
Of course, a huge piece of the puzzle is proper care after you’ve had a power seeding service completed. The last thing that you want is to go through the time and investment in power seeding only to have your grass fail to grow because you didn’t care for it properly. One of the most important factors is proper watering.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to water after power seeding. With the right watering habits, you’ll be able to nurture your new grass to grow its best.
Before we jump into a power seeding water schedule, let’s talk about why it’s so important in the first place. We know that people sometimes assume Mother Nature will take care of any watering for them, but grass seed needs to be watered more often than it typically rains.
The fact is, grass seeds need moisture in order to even start the growing process. If you fail to water your new grass seed, it is really going to struggle to grow. It might not even grow at all! This is a point we really want to emphasize as we know that people don’t always recognize just how important watering is to the end results. We never want to see homeowners unhappy with their power seeding results because they didn’t keep up with watering.
That’s why it’s important to keep in mind that any periods of dry spells can lead to poor germination rates as seeds will dry out.
That being said, if we get a good, soaking rain after power seeding, you’ll likely be able to skip a watering session. But because grass seed needs frequent watering, you’ll have to be back at it again soon.
The best kind of rain for new grass seed is good, soaking rainfall. A quick shower is probably not going to be sufficient.
Now that we’ve established that you should water after power seeding, let’s talk about how to do it.
Your seed will germinate in two weeks after we powerseed. You’ll want to minimize or eliminate all foot traffic on your new grass after planting until at least 4 weeks after it germinates. In total, this is a 6 week no-traffic commitment.
In terms of how much to water, it’s going to vary depending on what stage your grass is at. Let’s look at how often to water after power seeding during the pre-germination period and then once the grass has started growing.
Water becomes a critical component of the seed’s ability to germinate from day one.
The early stages of your lawn’s growth are absolutely critical to its performance. The fact is if you don’t water your grass seed, you may risk it never growing at all (or perhaps only growing in thin patches).
Directly before and after germination, the most important factor is keeping your seeds and baby grass moist. As we mentioned above, this is critical when it comes to germination actually happening.
You do not want to completely drench your seeds. In fact, if you overwater, you could actually wash the seed out. Instead, you want to think about keeping the seeds consistently moist.
After your seed is planted, we advise watering twice a day for 10 min each time, until 2 Weeks after your seed germinates. This is a total of 4 weeks.
During this stage, you are helping the seeds to germinate and establish early roots.
We know that this is a lot of watering and probably not feasible with a garden hose. At the very least, you’ll want to consider a lawn sprinkler that you can move around from zone to zone.
Even better, an irrigation system can remove the guesswork from watering and ensure your lawn is getting exactly what it needs.
Congratulations…your grass is established and growing! As you start to see rows of green pop up from where they were planted, you should pat yourself on the back for playing such a valuable role in ensuring that your grass actually grew.
Once you’ve made it through those early stages, you will be able to back off a bit. However, it’s still important to recognize that young grass is more prone to drought damage than established grass that has been growing for years.
However, this is not the time to quit watering.
It is important that the soil is getting moist even down to several inches beneath the surface. This will help drive the root growth for your new grass.
After 4 weeks, switch back to your regular watering schedule of two times per week for 30 min each time.
Louisville lawns need around 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week. Often, Mother Nature is not supplying enough water, particularly during periods of drought. That’s why it’s important to continue with supplemental watering as your lawn needs it.
Typically, watering each lawn zone for around a half hour twice a week should help your lawn perform its best. Obviously, the rate at which the water comes out is a factor to consider (and will differ depending on what you’re using). You can use a rain gauge to get a sense of how much water is being applied during your watering sessions to make sure you’re on target.
At Limbwalker, we have always viewed the best lawns as a partnership between us and the homeowner. While we play an important role by performing a power seeding service, we then pass the torch onto you, to keep up with your grass seeds’ care.
By providing the right amount of water and keeping your grass seed healthy, it’s going to pay off with the amazing new lawn that you desired.
We’re always here if you have questions or concerns about how to water after power seeding. We know that life gets busy and keeping up with watering can be a challenge, but making the best possible effort will pay off with amazing results. You’re always welcome to ask us questions and we’ll always be here to help.
Are you ready to have a thick and healthy lawn that’s getting everything it needs at your Louisville, KY home? Get in touch with us to get a quote for our lawn care programs, which include three lawn care pricing options, and about adding power seeding to one of those programs.