After buying a house, many people purchase sod for their yard rather than grass seed. Sod is relatively cheap and easy to use, but it takes time for newly-laid sod to establish roots. Most people are eager to start enjoying their yard, but if you have never cared for a lawn before, it is best not to begin by placing new sod in your yard. If you want to care for a newly-seeded property after buying a house, here are some tips on successfully doing so.
Water the Lawn
If you have moved into a home with a lawn and want to water it, consider several things before turning on your water spigot and letting water flow over the grass. Recommendations vary depending upon the type of soil in your lawn. For example, sandy soils need more water than clay soils. Water delivery service experts can help you determine the water needs of your property based on your local climate and soil type. The experts should also calculate how much water you are using to know if you are watering too often or not enough. New lawns should be watered every day, but only if the soil is dry. If it is raining water, water one day and let nature water for you on another day. It takes about 30 days before a new lawn becomes well established and water-efficient.
Set your water timer to water for ten minutes every day if you use an automatic water sprinkler. With a lawn sprinkler installation, you need to water until the soil is wet eight inches deep, deeper in sandy soils. If you use a hose, make sure the water flows at a slow trickle. Are you watering too often? Stop watering for a few days if your lawn shows signs of stress watered every day. Then start watering again, steeping every other day for ten minutes, or until the soil is moist eight inches deep. Consider water backup to ensure your lawn stays healthy during periods of drought.
Removing Trees to Achieve the Desired Appearance
As a homeowner, taking care of your yard is important. This includes removing dangerous trees and promoting healthy lawns. It might feel like you are starting fresh when you buy a home without landscaping, but planning and executing tree removal can make it easier.
Before planting new vegetation or seeding existing lawns, removing any trees that may compete for water and nutrients in the soil is important. This will allow grass to take root successfully during the growing season so homeowners can enjoy their landscaping projects sooner rather than later.
Mowing the Lawn
In the first few weeks after landscaping freshly seeded lawns, it is best not to disturb the soil with any machinery or tools so the seed can absorb the nutrients and water needed for growth. It is okay to walk across it or take long strolls crawling, if necessary, but do not use any heavy machinery like mowers until three weeks have passed. Landscaping services experts recommend waiting at least two weeks before mowing because this allows time for growth, which has many benefits. Such as allowing nutrients from the grass to seep into the soil.
It also helps the grassroots to grow deeper and gives them a chance to spread, making the lawn stronger, thicker, and healthier overall. During this roller coaster time, landscapers recommend that inexperienced landscapers not use weed killers or other sprays that disturb the newly seeded areas. These chemicals may inhibit growth due to possible damage caused by absorbing these toxins. Mowing newly landscaped lawns is very important. Not only does it allow people and pets to walk on the grass, which gets rid of weeds and sometimes even kills them, but in most cases, landscapers call for mowing at least once a week until your new lawn is established.
Feed the Seeded Lawn
Many new homeowners take on new responsibilities after completing the new construction project. One of these new jobs is caring for the new lawn. If your new home comes with a new yard to care for, you probably wonder what to do next. Many new homeowners worry about their seed not growing or getting eaten up by insects and other problems that might arise as they do not know much about caring for a newly seeded lawn after buying a home.
The first thing you should do is feed your seeded lawn after buying a home. You can use starter fertilizer which should be applied to the entire yard. Most new properties should be fertilized every four to six weeks, especially if your new home has a large tree sale. After buying a home, another aspect of caring for a newly seeded lawn is weed and feed treatments. These will kill specific weeds such as crabgrass and other weeds without killing all the grass in your new seeded lawn.
Weed and feed treatments should be used twice per year, once during springtime, usually March through May, and again in early fall September through October. After new home construction, the newly seeded lawn will reward you for your hard work. The new property should be established in about six to 12 months, which means it should get greener and thicker every day.
Learn About Caring for Sod
After new construction, caring for the new sod is just as important as caring for new lawn seeds that will grow after being planted. The new homeowners must correctly maintain their new lawn so it can flourish with time. New sod has been produced to fill in empty spaces on your property. This fresh grass needs to be cared for by new planting or seeding of old grass, watering or refraining from watering, fertilization, and mowing new lawn turfgrass.
New users must take care according to guidelines set forth by sodding companies that produce these greeneries. To start this process correctly, one should get familiar with their newly purchased property, examine areas where new sod will be placed, and examine fresh grass for any signs of damage. It is best to get a new lawn rolled out or laid down in a new home, especially if it has been vacant. If the new sod was not installed during new construction, consider many things before seeding your new yard.
Stabilizing Soil to Manage New Seeded Lawn
Creating raised beds in your yard is another way to help ensure that new seeding will successfully grow. Raised beds add a boundary to the soil, keeping it in place and minimizing foot traffic or mowing compaction. Use a shovel or garden fork to lift grass where compaction is problematic to add soil stabilizing material before resection.
Depending on your geographical location, there are different types of stabilizers that you could use in conjunction with the seeding process. Crushed stone, pea stone, and gravel all work well across most parts of the country due to their natural size, consistency, and longevity. As an alternative, wood mulch is also effective at holding back topsoil for any area throughout the nation. However, gravel is not aesthetically pleasing, unlike crushed stone, pea stone, and wood mulch. It may also shift over time as you walk across it if the area sees more foot traffic.
Aerating Your Newly Seeded Lawn
In addition to a stabilizer, aerating your lawn helps improve soil quality for new grass seedlings by removing thick layers of thatch. Aeration allows water, air, and nutrients to reach the grassroots more efficiently. Frequent aeration improves turfgrass health by up to 35%.
Avoid using a core aerator machine which can damage lawns due to their large tines. Instead, use an aerator attachment from a wheeled tank sprayer which is much gentler on the existing turf. Before aerating, rake your lawn with a dethatcher, a light and gentle machine that loosens compacted soil and breaks up dead grass for easier seed germination. A horseshoe-shaped blade attached to an upright handle vertically shaves off old grass while leaving the inert plants below unharmed.
After you purchase a home, seeding the lawn is often one of the first things that come to mind. However, before grass seed germinates and sprouts into new blades of green, it must be the first breakthrough for an upper soil layer that may be dry and compacted from foot traffic. Before planting grass, consider installing a stabilizer beneath the seeding process to improve soil quality and functionality for weeds while helping grass seeds successfully grow. After successfully increasing new turfgrass with proper care and maintenance, you can let your lawn care or landscaping company install sod on top of the newly seeded area if desired.
Be Keen on Hydroseeding
If you practice hydroseeding, it is vital to know that a hydro seeded lawn requires care to allow for proper germination. It would be best to keep the seeded area moist until germination occurs. How long that takes depends on temperature, soil type, and sun exposure. It can take up to two weeks or longer for germination to begin.
You may be tempted to skip watering your newly-seeded lawn because of all the rain recently, but do not stop watering too soon if you are fortunate enough to have well-draining soil, water every other day. You will need to check daily by digging a small hole in one corner of the new seedbed for those whose soil does not drain well. If the ground there feels damp, it is fine to continue watering daily.
If you do not have a hose nearby, use a five-gallon bucket and a cup to slowly pour water onto the seeded area at least once each day until germination occurs. Keep the new seedbed damp for several days after planting to ensure germination occurs. It is common sense when you can see green grass growing. Take your foot and make several paths throughout the lawn to allow the blades room to grow without competition from other blades of grass.
Install a Yard Fence
When they buy a new house, many people take great pride in showing it to their friends and family. They want to ensure that everything is perfect before allowing people into the home. It is only after the house has been thoroughly cleaned and everyone has left that they realize some things need fixing. One of these items is usually a poorly maintained or completely broken-down fence surrounding their yard.
While this may not seem like a big deal, it can be for individuals who have children running around the home during playtime. The last thing you would ever wish to see happen is your child getting tangled in the fence somewhere due to falling over because of its poor condition, so instead, many homeowners try to find different ways to improve this area of the house. One of the most popular ways to fix yard fences and give it a new look or new life is for them to install a new wall in place of the old one.
Weeding the Lawn
When lawns are first installed, it can be a homeowner’s responsibility to cover the seeding and weed control. The homeowners may not know that this is part of their obligations until they move into a new home. Since weeds love to germinate in newly seeded lawns, many homeowners need to prepare to deal with these pesky plants as soon as possible.
Once the weather starts heating up, weed seeds will quickly take over a newly seeded lawn if neglected or treated too lightly. How do you weed a new lawn? There are many ways to keep weeds from taking over a new property, including pre-emergent herbicides, mulch, and hand weeding. Any mulching will prevent sunlight from reaching seeds below the soil surface, so vegetables may struggle to grow in a heavily mulched area.
Buyers interested in purchasing a home are often nervous about how much work is needed to maintain the property. Homebuyers want to ensure that they are making the right purchase, which means that any problems with the lawn should be addressed before closing on a house. Newly seeded lawns require extra care when homeowners first move into their new homes.