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THE BASICS
Congratulations! Your lawn is the biggest potted plant you will ever have. It needs to be fed and watered on a regular basis. If fed and watered properly your lawn will be weed free and easy to maintain. Lawn Basics: First, grass grows between the ground temperatures of about 50 and 90 degrees anything warmer or cooler and the grass becomes dormant. During the higher summer temperatures your lawn can be watered an hour a day or every other day usually in the early evening. Second, fertilization is very important to maintain the health of your lawn and keep it weed free. The rule of thumb on when to fertilize is Easter, 4th of July, and Labor Day. There are tons of different kinds of fertilizer. If your lawn is already established find something close to 24-4-16-9 with 50% slow release for your spring and summer fertilization. The fall numbers are 18-3-18-9 and 50% slow release. Now if your neighbor tells you to use a 16-16-16 all the time, that’s O.K. too. This will mean that you will need to fertilize monthly and cost wise it will end up being about the same. Third, Make sure the blade on your mower is nice and sharp. When your grass reaches 3 inches set your blade at 2 inches. That is a healthy height for your grass to be. Hydroseeding Basics: What’s in the green stuff? The hydroseeding mixture contains, fibrous material made of wood, paper, or straw, which is dyed green to look good. It also contains the seed, fertilizer and any other additives to create the best growing environment for the seed. You sprayed my lawn now what do I do? Well it needs to be watered. Keep it damp but don’t let it puddle. We usually have the sprinklers set to go off 3-4 times a day 15-20 minutes each time. This works for the first 6-8 weeks. Our usual seed mixture has fescue, rye and bluegrass. Each has a different germination period so typically you will see the fescue first within the first week or two, then the rye, and after about 3-4 weeks the bluegrass. So, if your lawn looks a little sparse for the first month then that is to be expected. You should have a well-established lawn after two months. Next you have to fertilize it with in the next 4-6 weeks. Fertilization is extremely important if you want a thick green lawn. For your first fertilization I recommend a 16-16-16 fertilizer. If your lawn was hydroseeded in the fall you need to use a 16-16-16 in the spring to get it jumpstarted again. There is a possibility that not all the seed germinated and this will get it going again. When your grass gets to 3” go ahead and cut it back to 2” even if it is a bit patchy. As you water and fertilize your lawn will fill in nice and thick. I get my fertilizer from Pineview Horticulture services. 10188 N. Taryne, Hayden. It’s behind Grizzly Glass. 772-7294 If you use this fertilization program there should be no reason to use a weed and feed fertilizer. We have had a huge problem with weeds being carried in with the topsoil. I use a seed that is certified 99% weed free. Most of the weeds that will come in with the topsoil are annuals and after the winter the weeds should be gone. If not call Pineview for some Weed Whacker. This should get you started. If you have more questions don’t hesitate to call. If we don’t have the answers we will find someone that does. We want to make sure of a positive experience starting a new lawn, but we can’t take care of problems that we don’t know about. We don’t dodge problems we take care of them.
Crystal Wren ~ Prism Hydro 208-755-1473
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