What type of grass seed comes with your slurry kits?

Our default vendor is Lesco and our default seed is their Park Sun & Shade mix.  Lesco is a professional level grass seed company and their Park Sun & Shade mix is one of their best and is composed of 1/3 Jackpot Kentucky Bluegrass, 1/3 Oracle Creeping Red Fescue, and 1/3 Virte Perennial Ryegrass.  This is an excellent mix for most applications in the region and it blends very well going from sunny to shady areas of a lawn.  However, we can also supply our slurry kits with drought tolerant or sun only seed mixes at similar prices with a few days notice.

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When Can I walk on the hydroseed?

It will need to dry completely and then you can walk on it only as necessary until the first mowing.

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Why is the grass thicker in some areas than others?

The grass is thicker because it is maintaining more moisture; you will need to increase your watering for the thinner areas.

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Can I Hydroseed in the summer?

Hydroseeding in the spring and fall requires less water than in the summer months. However, in the heat of the summer the grass will germinate more quickly. The ideal temperature for the first 6 weeks after hydroseeding is between 65 and 75 degrees though anything over 55 degrees and less than 85 degrees is very suitable. 

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What is the best time to hydroseed?

Both fall and spring are great times to hydroseed your lawn. Hydroseeding in spring is beneficial because of the moderate temperatures and the amount of precipitation.  Late summer/early fall is also excellent as the temperatures fall and the precipitation increases.  Successful hydroseeding requires steady sun and regular watering multiple times a day in order to develop and create sustainable roots.

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What is the advantage of hydroseeding?

HydroSeeding produces superior-quality results because it enables the grass roots to embed into the soil sooner and more deeply than with other methods. HydroSeed fibers interlock and create a mat that results in strong roots and green, healthy, long-lasting grass.  

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Why does hydroseeding work more quickly than spreading grass seed by hand?

Grass seed has a natural, water soluble coating on it.  This makes sure that the grass seed will not activate and start growing unless it's the rainy season.  However, when you hydroseed, the mixing action in the tank immediately washes off that coating such that the seeds are fully activated when they hit the ground thereby dramatically reducing the germination time.  You may notice that initially the grass seed will float, that's one of the affects of that water soluble seed coating.  Once the seed coating is dissolved, the seed will no longer float.

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Why does hydroseeding produce more evenly distributed grass than spreading grass seed by hand?

During the mixing process, the grass seed somewhat adheres to the hydromulch granules which also soften as it absorbs the water in the tank.  The net results is a relatively consistent slurry of seed, fertilizer, and herbicide which, when sprayed over the target area to a similar shade of green, evenly distributes the grass seed.

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How quickly after hydroseeding should I expect to see results?

Under perfect conditions, our testing has shown that you should start being able to see grass seedlings in about 5.5 days.  At first the grass seedlings can be too narrow to see with the naked eye but after about 5.5 to 10 days, the seedlings should be big enough to see.  At that point the seedlings will be half an inch to an inch in height. 

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Do I want the slurry kit with or without herbicide?

We use the herbicide Mesotrione since it's a selective, pre- and post-emergent herbicide. It typically prevents weeds from being able to grow in newly hydroseeded areas but care should be taken to not spray directly on decorative plants, flowers, and shrubs. When in doubt, use the slurry Kit N (no herbicide) near these plants and Kit H (with herbicide) everywhere else.

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Will heavy rain wash away Hydroseed?

If there is torrential rain we can not guarantee there will not be a wash out. In most cases after a heavy rain it will look like the green mulch has washed away but usually it is just the green dye that has washed out.  Also, the hydromulch has a built in tackifier component which makes it a bit sticky and thereby much harder to wash out than just manually spreading seed.

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How often and how long should I water?

Every lawn is different with variances to the consistency of the soil, the slope of the land, and the amount of sunlight it receives along with seasonal variations for humidity, temperature, etc.  We recommend watering twice each day, in the morning and in the evening.  When we set up our sprinkler kits, we usually start at about 5 or 6 minutes per sprinkler zone cycle per 1000 square feet of hydroseeded area and adjust from there.  Before the next watering time cycle, check to see if the ground is very dry or wet (damp is fine).  If it's extremely dry, increase the amount of time for each sprinkler cycle.  If the ground is wet, then reduce the time.

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We recommend an absolute minimum time to water of two weeks but three weeks is recommended.  If you're in a dry area and a dry time of year, 4 weeks isn't unreasonable  Also, if you're forecast for rain, most timers have a "rain delay" feature which allows you to stop watering for a settable period of time up to several days.

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How do I set up sprinklers?

We recommend using sprinklers connected to a multi-output hose timer (each output is called a "zone").  As soon as the lawn is dry enough to walk on, it's time to set up the sprinklers.  Most sprinklers have adjustable coverage areas.  (DIY Hydroseed rents out sprinkler kits since this can be more cost effective for our customers than spending a lot of money to buy hoses, sprinklers, and timers that you may not use again.)

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Impact type sprinklers can be set to spray in a 360 degree circle around it, or can be set to spray an arc subset of that circle. 

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Oscillating sprinklers spray a line of water back and forth from side to side.  Most oscillating sprinklers can be set to limit how far it goes back and forth.  Some modern oscillating sprinklers can actually adjust how wide the line of spray is also.

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Set each sprinkler in position that you think it'll best cover the area you want to water, turn that zone of the hose timer to manual for a minute or so to make sure it covers what you want to water and then adjust by either moving the sprinkler or adjusting the spray reach accordingly.  Do one zone at a time until you have 100% coverage.  

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There are hose sprinklers which cover 5 to 10 feet in width for 50 feet in length.  These are excellent when doing a long area such as the sides of a driveway.  Multiple sprinkler hoses can be connected to each other in order to lengthen the covered area.

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When should I mow?

Mowing can begin once the new lawn is 2" to 3" tall. Mowing stimulates growth and increases thickness. Set the mower high at first, then gradually lower. One optional tip is to cut no more than 1/3 of the grass at a time. It's important to remove grass clippings from newly hydroseeded lawns, bagging is the preferred means. Grass clippings have the potential of smothering young seedlings. A general rule for mowing is that the shorter you want to mow the more often you need to mow to maintain healthy grass.

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When should I fertilize after hydroseeding?

About one to two months after seeding you will want to fertilize your new lawn using a high nitrogen (the first of the 3 numbers on the bag) fertilizer.  The fertilizer in our slurry kits is water soluble which really helps seedlings.  However, when adding fertilizer after hydroseeding, it's recommended to use a granular fertilizer which will be absorbed into the soil over a longer period of time.  If you're still in a period of time where there's pollen in the air, you may want to use a fertilizer with a pre-emergent herbicide in it.  The fertilizer you'll want to use will have numbers similar to 14-0-7 (14 percent nitrogen, 0 percent phosphorous, and 7 percent potash (aka potassium ash).)

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