Bryan and his partner Grayson have just had a new home built in Westwood, MA. “We have so many questions about the lawn,” Grayson said. “How do we go about getting grass planted? And then once the grass is planted, what do we have to do to make it grow? Does a new lawn need fertilizer? When do we schedule that?”
That is a lot of questions, but as a Westwood lawn service, we’re not surprised. So much of a home’s appeal and value has to do with the state of the landscaping. Getting a new lawn established and thriving is a priority for many homeowners. Here’s what you need to know:
Have Your Soil Tested Before You Start
Your local lawn service can help you with this. To establish a new lawn, you want to be sure that the soil can support healthy grass growth. Not all soil is equally well suited to grass growth. In the Westwood area, there’s some properties that have the challenge of sandy soil. Another common issue is heavily compacted soil.
By having your soil tested and your landscape analyzed, you’ll be able to start your new lawn strong. Your local lawn service can provide the soil amendments – this is a special type of fertilizer – needed to make your lawn an ideal environment for grass.
The next step is power seeding. This is a very cool process, in which a large machine is used to deposit the grass seed directly into the ground. The reason to do this is to maximize the amount of soil/seed contact going on. The more contact, the faster, stronger grass growth. To make things even better, the seed used is coated with a special growth-boosting formula that practically guarantees a fantastic lawn fast.
After the ground has been seeded, you’ll need to keep the site well watered. Your Westwood lawn service technician will discuss the best schedule for your unique microclimate with you. The first grass will start to appear in as little as a week – although some varieties do take a little longer – and it generally takes about a month from that point to achieve mowable grass.
Now we were asked specifically about fertilizing the new lawn. It’s absolutely critical to fertilize the new lawn, especially if you’re on a new construction site where the soil may contain a lot of sand or other impediments to growth. Because you had the soil amended during the initial planting, you’ll want to schedule your next lawn fertilization for mid-summer. After that, it’s a good idea to have the lawn fertilized again in the fall.
