Lawn need a little help? Or maybe a lot?
Slice seed, fertilizer, amp, water, repeat –> Easy?! Of course,
Hey everyone, thanks for checking in and welcome to fall. Haha, it’s still August but many of you may have turned on the heat last night. Well, we are nothing but flexible with the weather, so let’s get into fall lawn care and go over our GREAT lawn renovation program!
Even though the summer of 2019 has been short and fairly mild, July and August are still a very difficult time for lawns. Less water and hotter temps weaken the grass and there are a variety of weeds that thrive in these conditions – like nut sedge and spurge, but even more of an issue is crabgrass. Crabgrass needs very little water and loves the sunlight so it typically does well in the middle of a hot stretch. But don’t worry – we have ways to get rid of it. Read on for details —
Lawn renovation may sound like a complete overhaul, but it can be modified for each properties needs and for each budget. We can provide a complete renovation, or provide touch ups. We’ll start with our full program and it can certainly be taylored as needed.
– First, we have a machine call a ‘Slice Seeder’. What this does is it cuts thin grooves into the soil, less than an inch deep, and it also pushes seed into those grooves. Soil to seed contact is important and the lack of it is probably one of the biggest failures when trying to revive a lawn. Throwing grass seed down can help, but it is not nearly as effective as slice seeding.
– Second, using the proper seed is critical. We mostly use a blend – given the different environments on a property and perhaps the different activity, you want to make sure the grass is strong everywhere. A blend consists of kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass and also fescues. This allows for grass to grow in the shade and sun and also has different tolerances to traffic, disease, heat etc. And depending on the need of the lawn, we adjust the application rate. We typically apply between 3-5 pounds per 1,000 sqft. We’ll apply on the lower end if the lawn is fairly healthy, and on the higher end if the lawn is bare.
HOME DEPOT —-> SEED PRICING (just for comparison)
– Third, critical step to this process, – apply the right products to the newly slice seeded lawn. A starter fertilizer is a must, and should be applied at the right rate. We commonly use a 19-19-19 fertilizer – nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. The middle number is important for seed growth – phosphorous. 
– And finally, we’ll apply a product called AMP XC – which is a lime treatment with plenty of benefits to help the lawn. In particular, it increases ‘nutrient uptake and absorption’ – meaning that the starter fertilizer becomes even more effective. The fertilizer and this AMP treatment are almost a must after spending the time and money doing the slice seeding.
Here’s the process in list form
- Slice seed (two directions)
- Use plenty of proper seed
- Starter fertilizer
- AMP XC (lime product)
If the lawn is in need, and if the budget allows, we repeat this process twice about 30 days apart. If that is out of the budget, we strongly recommend another visit 30 days after the initial work is done to apply a second treatment and throw down some more seed. We’ll touch up areas with an over seeding at no charge with this visit, and make sure the seed has plenty of food.
It is incredibly important to keep the grass seed wet. It would be a waste of money if time can’t be spent to keep this area wet. The fall helps with the cool days and wet nights, but the seed needs consistent watering.
Let us know if you have any questions or would like a price. This program works great and you will see results!! Thank you for taking the time to read.