- Irrigation Plan
The primary factor that will influence the success of your new lawn, assuming proper ground prep, is water availability. To protect your investment in sod/hydroseed, develop an irrigation plan and ensure it is operational prior to your sod or hydroseed install. For all sprinkler system installs, check and adjust coverage and spray before and after your sod/hydroseed install. Spring and fall installations will generally not require as much irrigation due to ambient weather conditions. However, for mid-summer installations, it is critical that your system coverage and output volume can keep up with the demands of your grass. Prior to your grass installation, confirm that your irrigation capacity aligns with our recommendations in our Sod/Hydroseed Guidelines. - Existing vegetation
For ideal results, all existing vegetation in the area to receive sod/hydroseed should be killed and removed. Simply scraping the surface or mowing low before your install fails to remove roots, allowing vegetation to grow back and potentially compete with your new grass. Before applying any herbicide, be careful to look up the wait time required before replanting grass seed, and confirm that your sod/hydroseed installation will occur outside of the wait time window. For best results, apply a second round of herbicide treatment one week after your first herbicide treatment. Between your first and second herbicide applications, irrigate the ground during that time to encourage germination and growth of any weeds that the first round of herbicide didn’t knock out. - Topsoil
- Short-term and long-term success of your new lawn will depend on a quality substrate. At a minimum, we recommend 4-6 inches of quality topsoil containing adequate nutrients and organic matter. If your native soil is dense clay, we recommend tilling in the topsoil to homogenize and improve your soil’s percolation ability.
- The finish grade of your soil should leave sprinkler heads level with the surface of your soil. The finish grade of your soil will end up being the final grade of your lawn so be sure it provides proper drainage away from foundations and is smooth.
- For SOD: prep soil to be compact and moist (but not spongy or soft) the day of install. It should be compact enough to allow a forklift or sod installer to drive on it without sinking in mud.
- For HYDROSEED: prep soil to be dry and textured (loosened) on the surface the day of install. Raking, or dragging a harrow rake, are recommended ways to loosen compacted and flat ground surfaces to improve adherence of hydroseed product to soil and improve soil to seed contact.
- Bringing in new topsoil? A common misconception is that new topsoil is weed free. However, dormant seeds can/will be present in topsoil waiting for the optimal conditions to germinate and begin growing. We have seen new lawns overtaken by these dormant seeds once the homeowner begins watering! One option to prevent this: prior to your hydroseed install, if time allows, water topsoil consistently for one week following its addition. This should allow many dormant weed seeds to germinate. Then, apply herbicide to kill all weeds.
Compacted soils should be loosened prior to hydroseeding.
A drag harrow is a great option to scarify the soil and add texture.
