How To Water After Germination
While its going to vary depending upon the weather, it usually takes about two to four weeks for your new grass to start to germinate. Following germination, you can begin to water less frequently but using more water .;
The key is to give the soil a good soaking so the water reaches a few inches into the soil where new grass roots are developing.;
You can back off on how often youre watering. Three days a week is probably enough but this also depends on how much it rains that week.
This is an important rule of thumb: In general, a Northern Virginia lawn needs around one inch of water per week.
If youre struggling to have a good sense of exactly how much water your lawn is receiving in total, you can invest in a rain gauge to measure rainfall. This will allow you to adjust your watering accordingly.
Aerating Tools: Plug Aerator Vs Spike Aerator
Two main aerating tools exist a;spike aerator;and a;plug aerator. With a spike aerator, you simply use the tool to poke holes into the ground with a solid tine, or fork. Plug aerators remove a core or plug of grass and soil from the lawn. For the best results, use an aerating tool or machine that actually removes plugs of soil. Poking holes is less effective and can actually cause additional compaction in the areas around the holes.
Look for an aerating tool or machine that removes soil plugs approximately 2 3 inches deep and 0.5 0.75 inches in diameter, and about 2 3 inches apart. These machines can be rented from lawn and garden stores or home improvement centers. Always follow the directions provided by the store. You may want to consider sharing the rental cost with a neighbor who is interested in aerating the lawn.
The Basics Of Proper Watering For New Grass
Watering your lawn may seem as easy as firing up the old sprinkler in the garage or standing over spots with a hose, but proper watering actually has a little more science behind it.
Many people are confused regarding the best time to water grass in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH;and Northern Kentucky. These misconceptions about proper watering exist both for watering an established lawn, as well as for new grass plants growing after aeration and overseeding.
New grass plants dont have the root systems of an established lawn. Therefore, new grass needs more attention until it matures, which can take anywhere from six to nine months. During this time, its critical that you water your lawn, and once you start watering, it needs to be consistently continued. If you stop watering your lawn, the new grass could dry out and die.
When it comes to proper watering techniques, always use a sprinkler system rather than standing and spraying areas with a hose. Sprinklers give slow, even amounts of water to all areas of the lawn and dont runoff as easily. As you water your lawn, stay off tender areas as much as possible, especially during the first few weeks when new shoots are germinating or when the soil is soft.
You May Like: Love My Lawn
What To Do After Aerating Your Lawn
Once your lawn has been properly aerated, it will absorb water and nutrients much more easily. Grass will grow much more vibrant blades and develop healthier root systems. Once you have completed aerating you should:
- Allow any soil plugs to break down naturally
- Overseed your lawn
- Water to feed grass roots
- Apply fertilizer
- Apply pre-emergent weed killer IF you are not overseeding
These methods will help you take full advantage of a recently aerated lawn to improve grass health, suppress weeds, and save you a lot of lawn maintenance in the long run.
You Aerate And Overseed During Dry Conditions
Aerating is easy on your turf, and you, when your soil is slightly moist. Overly dry and compact soil is harder to penetrate and requires more manual effort to push the machinery. Especially during times of drought when you grass is already stressed, its best to wait until the day after a good rainfall before aerating.
You May Like: Can You Hydroseed Over An Existing Lawn
Ignoring The Lawn After Aeration And Overseeding
This seems like a no brainer, but youd be surprised how many people go through the task of aerating and overseeding and then simply dont follow-through with watering their lawn in the weeks following.
Unfortunately, those seeds you planted are not magical. They wont grow overnight, and they wont grow without consistent water.
The good news is simply ensuring the soil covering the seeds is kept moist is a good start for driving growth. If you do that and nothing else, youll probably get good results.
A Valuable Partnership With Your Lawn Care Company
Getting the best possible lawn care results is ultimately a team effort. By providing water as its needed, you play a very important role in helping your new lawn to develop and grow. Theres no doubt that the decisions that you make for your lawn can make a huge impact on its overall success.
Of course, thats not to say that youre on your own! We are always here when you need guidance or assistance on questions like how much to water after aeration and overseeding, and/or power seedingor any other lawn care questions that you may have! At Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape, we want to set you up for success which is why we are here to help.
Are you ready to have a healthy and thriving lawn? Request your quote, choose from our 3 lawn care package options and relax as you get the royal treatment.
You May Like: How To Kill Spiders In Lawn
Complete Guide To Aerating Your Lawn: What Is Aeration
Aeration is the process of removing soil cores or plugs from your lawn by extracting little chunks of dirt from the lawn surface. These dirt clumps are ½ inch to ¾ inch in diameter. The holes are typically 1.5 to 6 inches deep and the holes are 2 to 5 inches apart. ;
So, what exactly does aeration do?;It;allows for air circulation at the root level of your lawn. This provides the optimal soil condition for healthy grass and growth. Aerating hosts a list of benefits to your lawn.;
Aerating And Fertilizing: When & How
Think of aerating and fertilizing your lawn like going to the dentist. Just like your teeth, your lawn needs daily care, like watering and sunshine. About twice a year, though, your lawn need some help from professionals. Aerating and fertilizing is that twice-a-year deep clean to ensure your lawn stays in tip-top shape.; Aeration is a lawn treatment that pulls out cores or small plugs of grass and topsoil to create a small hole. With this hole, lawns can absorb more nutrients and water, and roots have more oxygen and room to grow. This is why fertilizing typically accompanies aeration. Read on to answer more common questions about when and how to aerate and fertilize your lawn.
Read Also: Who Made The First Zero Turn Lawn Mower
Best Practices For Watering After Aeration And Overseeding In Cincinnati Or Northern Kentucky
Summer is over, and fall is upon us. As the weather cools down, you may notice some bare spots in your lawn from summer stress, disease, drought and pests. Fall is by far the best time to overseed your lawn because it allows you to fill in bare areas, increase the density of thin areas and thicken your lawn overall.
In addition to filling in these areas, overseeding has many other benefits for lawns, including those that may appear perfectly fine. Introducing the latest and best grass seed varieties helps to improve your lawns resiliency, helps lawns to be more resistant to turf diseases, and serves as a natural weed control method of preventing weeds growing in weakened turf.
Before overseeding, youll want to aerate your lawn. Aeration is the process of pulling out small soil cores to allow water, oxygen and nutrients to penetrate the root zone. Performing aeration and overseeding together provides great conditions for new seed to take root, as it this soil-to-seed contact allows new grass to emerge from aeration holes, and the plugs on the surface.
If you want to get the most of out of aeration and overseeding, its critical that you properly water your lawn. Not doing so could have negative results such as a lawn that wont grow, wasted money, or needing to re-seed all over again.
Below, well provide you with expert tips on best practices for watering your lawn after aeration and overseeding.
Should I Mow Before Or After Aeration
You should mow before aeration, and avoid mowing after aeration, especially if you overseeded. This gives your lawn time to recover before you cut off pieces. Grass seedlings are delicate and need time to grow roots before mowing.
If your grass is growing vigorously, cut the lawn much lower than you would normally, even down to 2 inches for cool-season grasses. Check beforehand that you wont cut through the crown of the grass, the little part just above the soil from which the grass blade grows, or you could permanently damage the grass.
Don’t Miss: Best Way To Kill Clover Without Killing Grass
To Achieve The Best Results From Your Seeding And Aerationwe Suggest That You Follow These Guidelines:
1. Begin watering immediately after the aeration work is complete. Light and frequent watering is preferred for seedlings. Dos Amigos Landscaping recommends watering to the point where at least 1 inch of the top of the turf is wet or light puddling is taking place. Water at least two times per day. There are certain areas that are going to need more watering; those areas include slopes, areas under large trees, turf areas beside driveways and bare areas. Continue to water at least once a day until all seed is germinated.
2. Leave the clumps of sod and dirt alone! The aerating process will leave clumps of dirt on the lawn. These clumps of dirt and the holes in the soil are seed beds and will dissolve and disappear over time.
3. Be patient and water. Germination can take up to 21 days or even longer. Do not stop watering during this period of time. Seedlings are very susceptible to drying because they have not rooted into the soil. Dry seeds die.
4. Remove any fallen leaves asap. If leaves remain on the new turf for more than 2-3 days the turf will perish. Using a leaf blower is the best method of removing the leaves as many times a rake can damage the new seedlings.
5. Once the new grass has reached 2 inches, you can cut back your watering efforts. After approximately 28 days, the new seedlings should be at least two inches tall and watering can be cut back to one time per day. Please continue to water.
How To Water After Aeration And Overseeding And/or Power Seeding
Your lawns watering needs immediately after aeration and overseeding are going to be a bit different than what you might be used to. Your lawn is going to require less water but more frequently. You need to keep the soil moist but you dont want to water for too long. This generally means watering twice a day but for a short period of time .
While you can obviously achieve this by hand-watering , we do find that homeowners who have an irrigation system are naturally able to be more effective in maintaining proper watering needs. It just takes the guesswork out of the process when you can have a set it and forget it mentality with your irrigation system.;
Todays advanced irrigation systems also have technology such as rain sensors which take into account how much water your lawn is already receiving from Mother Nature .
You May Like: Best Gnat Repellent For Yard
What To Do After Lawn Aeration To Achieve The Best Results
So, you want to know what to do after lawn aeration? Are You looking for some proven tips to get the most out of the aeration? Your lawn is like you. It grows and breathes like humans. If you want to boost the appearance of your lawn and home exterior, you need to focus on regular maintenance rather than one of treatments.
Here is where aeration comes in. I have come across many people who seem concerned about the aeration process. They do not know why it is needed and what should be the aftercare to maximize the benefits.
Aeration is a process that enables you to remove small plugs of soil from your lawn. The objective of lawn aeration is to make your lawn healthy and thicker.
When your lawn gets trampled on it can make the soil become compacted. As a result, fertilizers, water, and other nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the soil. The result is obvious. When the soil does not get the proper nutrients and other required things it needs for growth, your lawn will not look healthy.
Aeration will fix this problem. It will improve the soil quality and that will ultimately contribute to a healthier and more beautiful lawn.
In addition to aeration, you will have to take extra care when watering and seeding. After you aerate it is the best period for seeding. You must plant additional grass seeds after the aeration to enhance the look of your lawn.
Dethatching Vs Aerating: Do One Or Both
Much like compacted soil, excessive thatch buildup starves the soil of water and nutrients. A core aerator will help to break up thatch, but for best results, dethatch before aerating.
Dethatching your lawn will strip out the spongy layer of thatch on top of the soil. This will allow your core aerator to reach down to the soil more effectively. To bring life back to a failing, thin lawn, dethatch and then aerate.
Read Also: Can You Hydroseed Over An Existing Lawn
How Soon After Aerating Should You Seed
Id recommend seeding immediately after you aerate your lawn. Theres no need to wait! You dont want the holes to close up before you overseed. The seeds will go right down into the holes youve just created with your core aerator. Once they fall in, they are protected from things could potentially prevent germination. Heavy rain and birds can could both potentially disrupt the process.
Dont worry if some of the seeds dont fall into the aeration holes though
Theres a very high chance these seeds will still germinate. If you want help some of the seeds get into contact with the soil, you could always go around with a rake to try and help some of those seeds that are stuck. You could potentially improve your germination rate.
What To Do With Plugs After Aerating Lawn
After core aeration, allow the soil plugs to break down naturally over time. The purpose of aeration is to reduce soil compaction by breaking up hard soil. If you use harsh methods like lawn rolling to break down soil cores quickly, you will cause your soil to become compacted again. If you remove the soil cores and dispose of them, you are robbing your lawn of the nutrients and microbes those plugs contain. After youve aerated your yard, its a good idea to fertilize and overseed. Other than that, you can continue your mowing and watering schedule as normal.
Don’t Miss: How To Control Clover In Your Lawn
Aerate Your Lawn Before You Overseed
If you are trying to bring your lawn back to life and want a fuller and healthier turf, you probably already know about overseeding.
Still, many people dont realize that aerating the lawn prior to overseeding is a win-win. I recommend it to nearly every homeowner hoping to improve their yards appearance!
Step-by-Step
- Step 1: Provide enough water to the soil as this makes aeration easier. Rain can do the job for you. If not, water the lawn a day before you plan to aerate your yard.
- Step 2: Get to know your aeration machine and its limitations. Some will only cover portions of the lawn so you may need to pass over the same area several times.
- Step 3: Sometimes you will encounter soil plugs as you are passing the aeration machine. While it is easy to ignore these, dont. Instead, break up these clumps of soil to ensure aeration can be more uniform.
You cannot aerate your lawn properly without machinery, especially an existing large patch of turf. There are three different types of aeration machines available:
If you plan to overseed following aeration, I recommend that you mow your lawn pretty short prior to beginning these renovations. This will prevent your existing grass from growing too tall too quickly .
How To Use Aeration And Overseeding Together
While both aeration and overseeding are separate techniques to improve your lawn, they can be used together to create a rich, vibrant lawn.
Overseeding immediately after core aeration allows excellent soil contact for your new grass seed as it falls into the holes you made in your turf.
This improves germination rate, and you simultaneously strengthen existing grass plants while thickening your lawn with healthy new seedlings.
Its the perfect combination, and these projects can be completed together in a day.
Also Check: When To Put Weed Killer On Lawn
Established Grass Watering Recommendations
As time goes on, the general rule of thumb is to water your lawn so it gets approximately two inches of water each week. Even though your lawn may look green and established on top, it takes some time for the root system to mature as well. This is why its so important to continue regularly watering your lawn, and it may mean watering once or twice per week if youre not getting enough natural rainfall.
In terms of when to water, we always recommend mornings whenever possible, particularly if the night temperatures are over 65 degrees. Unfortunately, the combination of moisture, heat, and darkness can lead to fungal growth. Its okay to water on a fall evening if the temperatures will be dropping but springtime evenings are typically too warm.;
Keep in mind that air movement will also cause your lawn to dry out. If its warm and windy, the need for water increases.
