Lawn Care Instructions

ALERT!!! The first two weeks are the most critical to the establishment of your lawn. If you don’t pay attention, problems can be set in motion that can take months to be resolved.

Watering:

Rule of Thumb:

  • First Week: keep the lawn surface moist at all times
    • Water each area of lawn for 5 minutes at a time, but do each area several times a day
    • You must balance keeping the surface moist and not watering so much that the water pools and begins to run off, otherwise the seed could get washed away
  • Second Week: water twice a day for 10-15 minutes each time
  • Third Week: water once a day. In the morning is best.
  • Fourth Week: water once every other day.
  • After This: water as needed (when lawn turns a gray, dull color)

NOTE: The best time to water is early morning and late afternoon (7A.M./4- 5P.M.) Moisture on plants at night promotes fungus growth.

Fertilization:

With your lawn, we put a starter fertilization that should last four weeks, which is long enough for the lawn to become firm enough to stand on in order to mow and fertilize further.

  • On your new lawn, we recommend two years of aggressive fertilization
    • 6-application program includes 1-2 weed control applications and 4-5 fertilizer applications.
    • We follow Purdue Doctrines: heavy fertilization in the fall to build up root development and energy and less fertilization in the spring, with enough Nitrogen to keep it green but not enough to encourage fungal problems.

NOTE: According to the latest research, the September and November fertilizations are the most important, because the energy stored through the winter helps the plant handle the stress of the following summer. Heavy fertilization in the spring causes excessive growth but does little to build up plant reserves. In fact, it can lead to severe fungus problems. Research also indicates that an October weed control is the most effective.

Mowing:

  • Begin mowing when 4-6” tall. Make sure lawn is dry first. The best height to mow to is 3 inches.

NOTE: 3” is longer than most lawns but is optimal for good health and deep roots. Weeds cannot succeed as well when grass is 3”.

  • Each mowing should be scheduled so that it doesn’t take off more than 1/3 of the blade (example: If cutting to 3”, mow when grass is 41⁄2” tall.
  • In the middle of the summer and end of the year, when the lawn is not growing as aggressively, we will break the rule of 3” and trim to 21⁄2” so the lawn looks neater.

Enjoy Your Lawn!!!

And remember, starting your lawn is like setting a ship on its course:

If it gets off course in the beginning, it takes a lot of time and effort to bring it back. However, if you set it going in the right direction from the beginning, it will glide effortlessly along its path.

If you have questions about your landscape, please call us at 260-627-8342 .