Aeration & Seeding Preparation & Aftercare

September and October are the best months to have fall aeration and seeding completed on your lawn. You will receive a notification from our office about a week ahead of your targeted date to give you a heads-up that we will be on your lawn to get this completed for you.

Preparation

Here are the steps you can take to be prepared for us to provide you with the best possible results:

Mowing the yard

If possible, mow the lawn one or two days before the aeration and seeding are to be done – and make it lower than usual. We recommend you set the mowing height to 1 ½ inches. This will get the lawn low enough without scalping it.
Mowing low makes both aeration and seeding even more effective.
This will allow the seed to germinate before needing to cut the yard and sucking the seed up into the mower.

Flagging the yard

Flag sprinkler heads, in-ground lights, invisible fences, valve box covers, etc. Weed Man can not be responsible for accidental damage to hard-to-see objects in the lawn that are left unmarked.
If irrigation pipes or cables/wires are shallow in the ground (less than 6 inches deep), mark them as well.
Landscaping flags can be purchased at any home improvement store or online and are inexpensive. Other acceptable marking tools include spray paint, wire hangers, bright-colored or white plastic utensils, and anything that is bright and easily visible above the grass.

After Care

On the day of your service, we will aerate, overseed, and apply a starter fertilizer to your fescue turf. If watered properly, over the next few weeks your seed should germinate and grow into healthy, thick, green turf. Here are the steps you can take to properly care for your newly seeded lawn and get the best results:

Water twice daily for the next 2– 2 ½ weeks. Once in the early morning and once mid-day. The seed needs to stay damp to germinate. If the seed dries out, it will not germinate properly or at all. Keep in mind, that watering may also cause the seed to “rot” and yield minimal results.
For pop-up mist sprinkler heads, water for approximately 15 minutes each time. For rotating heads, water for approximately 30 minutes each time. The mid-day watering time can be reduced in half.
Once you have reached the 2 ½ week point, you can reduce the watering frequency to just once a day (early morning).
As the season continues and your new grass matures you can taper off watering to just every other day and then as we approach the winter you can shut down your watering system and rely on the good ‘ole rain – hopefully.
Allow the new growth to grow to approximately 4 inches. This should take about 2 to 3 weeks for your grass to reach this height. Once your new turf has reached 4 – 5 inches, it is okay to mow your newly renovated lawn with a sharp blade on your lawn mower.
After the 2nd mowing, we will be able to continue with weed control on your lawn.
In addition to proper watering, it will be important to keep leaves from building up and “matting down” on the new grass. Use a blower to remove the leaves from the grassy areas. If a blower is not available, lightly use a leaf rake, being very careful not to rake too hard and disturb the new grass seedlings.
You may contact us at any time with any concerns. We have left a small bag of extra grass seed so that you if desired, may conveniently touch up any small areas that may wash out due to rain, heavy winds, etc.
Your new fescue turf should look good through the winter and into next spring.
Next summer, we highly recommend a preventative fungicide program to help reduce the chance for disease during the high temperatures of the summer months.