Hydroseeded Lawn Advice?

[dmccar12]

Hi everyone,

Long time forum reader person, first time forum poster person. If this is the wrong section, sorry, I will move it accordingly. If this post is long and full of too much info, again, my mistake. However....

We had a part of our lawn graded back in late May, the company brought in 10 dump trucks of sandy loam fill, and then topped that off with 5 dump trucks of top soil/loam, which was then hydro-seeded on Wednesday, May 24 of this year. The total area that was renovated/seeded was approximately 10,000 sq ft.

Following that, I watered, we have a 10 zone irrigation system with 51 heads, and all but 2 zones cover/touch the area that received the work, and watered 3x a day for the first month with each zone running between 20-30 minutes each time. The primary area is full sun, at least what I believe to be full sun, all day. We have no trees and the sun just beats down.

After 3 weeks, I mowed it to 2.5 inches and bagged the clippings. I used a 21" push mower as suggested by the guy who did the hydroseed work. After that I put down Scotts Turf Builder Starter Food for New Grass Lawn Starter Fertilizer which is 24-25-4.

It is pretty weedy, which does not bother me, the area is more level than before (no fear of tipping over on the riding mower now) and green, which are both pluses. However, there are some patches that look dead and/or red, and I am not sure if I over applied the fertilizer or if it is something else (too much watering? not enough fertilizer? cursed soil? (joking on the last one)). I did apply the fertilizer at the bag rate and with a Scotts spreader, so hoping I did not directly cause the issue. Anyways, I have added some pictures, and thank you all for taking the time to read this and for any advice/suggestions that would help improve the situation, or maybe it is just typical for a hydroseeded area. Anyways, thank you again for your time.

Dave

[ezael]

Part of the downside to seeding in spring is that your grass might not ready for these hot summer days, especially if its all sun all day like you say. Either way looks pretty good for only being 6 weeks in a spring seeding.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Tough position to be in.

You've been watering 3 times a day for a month - and it's about to get hot. Those roots are pretty shallow right now and probably struggling. You're going to have to find a way to limp it through the summer as it's going to be very heat stressed and probably show it. That's what I'm guessing is going on more than anything. Looking at the grass blades, they don't look very mature (wide and thick with tillering).

Forget about the weeds for now, you can hit those when the heat breaks mid August. Focus on getting the stuff you want to survive.

Normally you want to water an inch a week all at once. I'd start training it that direction, but don't go fast or all the way until it's mature enough -probably. this fall. I also wouldn't fertilize it heavily. Maybe some light applications of milorganite.

And if you want to get on it this fall, do a soil test from Logan Labs and post in the forum for a more robust feeding.

Look into the triangle approach weed treatment article here for the fall - but don't apply any herbicides this summer - your turf isn't even 60 days old yet, and temperatures are headed into the warning zone for application on turf.

[dmccar12]

Part of the downside to seeding in spring is that your grass might not ready for these hot summer days, especially if its all sun all day like you say. Either way looks pretty good for only being 6 weeks in a spring seeding.

Yeah, so the area is, honestly, sun all day and everyday. We took down 7 mature oak trees prior to putting in the pool and then grading/hydroseeding the lawn, so it is very different now than before.

I will plan on changing up the frequent waterings daily, to more along the lines of a deep soaking this weekend.

Thank you for your help on this.

[Marinegrunt]

I helped our neighbor seed a sloped area on the side of his yard in May. The lower half gets 75% more shade than the upper half. The upper half gets beat on by the sun and looks worse than yours. The lower half looks great with no brown or dead patches. The really hoy temps came early this year. I have seen others come on here that have had the same issue. I think it was mainly the kbg that died off in my neighbors lawn because it takes longer to get established so the heat cooked it.

I would just plan on a fall overseed.

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

I'm jumping the gun with this information, because this watering plan is only for mature lawns. Yours is not there yet and won't be until next spring; however, here it is.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

So that's where you're headed. Are you in the central part of MA that has sandy soil or the part with more of a solid soil? It seems you're having a warmer summer than usual and the fescue, even mature fescue, is suffering. You can back off on the frequency a little but it needs more water this season.

It might not be criminal to seed northern grasses in late spring, but it is borderline. Northern grasses will do much better when seeded after summer ends and the heat breaks.