Lawns require a lot of inputs for you to get the quality your lawn deserves. After hydroseeding, then come to the most uphill task – caring for the lawns. Germination takes place from day 5 to 10 under optimal conditions.
Similarly, adverse conditions hamper germinations which take place after 2 to 3 weeks.
So lawn care gets more engaging after the hydroseeding part of it. And equally demanding are the various maintenance tasks that are engaging, and run after germination onwards.
When Is It Best to Fertilize A Hydroseeded Lawn?
First off, it’s advisable to help your grass seeds germinate with great vigour by hydroseeding with a fertilizer, initially.
Pro-tip:
During your lawn-site preparation phase, it’s great to consider a soil test. It’s easy; you can either have a technician come to your place and do the sampling and testing altogether.
Alternatively, pick samples and, present them to a lab for the tests.
Soil test results give you the average nutritional richness of the location of the lawn. Therefore, your initial hydroseeding is best done with a starter fertilizer.
If your soils are equally rich in the three essential nutrients, you can boost the germination by adding fertilizer with equal amounts of the most required minerals. Soil experts refer to them as 16:16:16.
In more elaborate terms- each portion of the amount of Nitrogen, Phosphates and Potassium.
If your soil tests show a deficiency in any of the three key components, you’ll get a recommendation to use a fertilizer with a higher ratio of the deficient nutrient.
On the other end, the nutritional composition gets altered as you mow the lawn.
Phosphorous is a vital component of the rooting systems of many plants. Usually, plants with tubers re best fertilized with fertilizer composing higher amounts in phosphate ratios.
Best Schedule To Follow When Applying Fertilizers To Your Lawn:
After the first mow, apply a balanced fertilizer (composing equal portions of nitrogen, phosphates and Potassium.
After your second mowing, apply a balanced fertilizer too.
Pro-Tip:
The best recommendation is to apply fertilizer on a dry day, then water the lawn thoroughly. That helps reduce the burning effect that arises from the chemical reactions from the components of the fertilizer.
When the lawn fully establishes, follow a schedule where you apply the fertilizer on a minimum of 4 times and a maximum of 6 times per year.
Lawn Fertilizing For Year One And Beyond
Starter fertilizer boosts germination when mixed with the hydroseeding slurry. For the first year of your lawn establishment, pay attention to the amounts of phosphorous. Phosphates trigger adequate growth of the rooting system.
Lawns with properly established roots have a great readiness at withstanding hardy conditions like drought.
Next, pay attention to the nitrogen in the fertilizer for a year on for your lawn. Your aim is the optimal development of stems and the leaf structure of the grass on the lawns.
Potassium helps in the blooming of plants and the formation of fruits and seeds that follows blooming.
For lawns, it may not be a very high priority. Most lawns are not left free to allow grass to flowers and produce seeds. However, in exceptional cases where seeds are the focus, potassium requirements should feature more importantly.
In the past the first year, your lawn should be more established. Tactfully, the focus of the minerals fertilizers must shift focus to ingesting more nitrogen than phosphorus into the lawns.
Grasses happen to have a significant affinity for nitrogen. Therefore, to trigger the input, consider a pure nitrogenous fertilizer. In this case, one with a 40-0-0 ratio will do an excellent job by releasing nitrogen into the lawn grass.
Caution:
Focusing on pure nitrogen fertilizers for prolonged periods is not the best for lawn grass. The rush to consume the nitrogen should balance up with subsequent inputs with phosphates.
Heavy nitrogen requires you to relieve the massive growth with root formation at the same time. So, for optimum health, do not work with fertilizer going past the ratio of a 2:1 for nitrogen and phosphates for mature lawns.
One best indicator to show that lawn requires fertilizing is when the critical greenness in color begins to fade off. From a keen look, you may notice that lawns require lesser of fertilizers as they age.
Why So?
One great pointer is the shallowness of roots of the grass on new lawns. Long and well established rooting systems are best for the wellbeing of your lawn.
On another note, look out for the amounts of exceptional rainfall on your lawn. Heavy rainfalls mean that the fertilizers you feed your lawn get diluted. In such circumstance, you need more frequent fertilizing to pay for the deficit.
So pay a keen look and count 25 to 30 days after hydroseeding, for you to fertilize again.
Consider Nitrogen Drafts
Nitrogen drafts happen when soils have significant amounts of organic material that is in the process of decomposition.
The materials have an effect of nitrogen leaching, creating a considerable deficit for the establishment of your lawn grass. Some of the materials that cause nitrogen drafts are sawdust and twigs.
In circumstances where you notice the effects of nitrogen drafts, plan to bulk up the nitrogen requirements by fertilizing.
On the other hand, expedite decomposition by adding capril or dolomite on the affected soils.
If you ignore the circumstance, prolonging nitrogen uptake causes yellowing of the grass.
What About Fertilizing On Winters?
Both rooting systems and photosynthesis are dormant in winters, and it’s, therefore, pointless to fertilize. Make plans in late fall to fertilize, tentatively before the onset of winter.
Use 1:2 ratios for nitrogen and phosphates. It helps get roots ready for the dormancy across winter.
Spraying with weed and fertilizers is advisable after a minimum of 3 mowings for an establishing lawn. It gives adequate time for the lawn to establish adequately for herbicides to distinguish between the grass and the unwanted weeds.
Watering Tips After Hydroseeding
One your lawn has been hydroseeded; keep an eye on the soil moisture. Keep your watering frequency to allow adequate moisture which favours your germinations.
Summers may require watering up to 3 to 4 times. Cold days require relatively lesser watering.
Too dry conditions may cause the germinating seedlings to dry off. Overwatering poses the risk of washouts. Also, overwatering may limit the amount of oxygen within the soil for the just establishing rooting system.
Prefer to water for less frequently, but for more extended periods to encourage the establishment of deep root-systems.
Other Significantly Helpful Tips After Hydroseeding
Your first mow is best done when grass blades are 2″ to 3″ high. It should happen within 4 to six weeks from the time of seeding.
Always mow not more than a third of the grass, where more frequent mowing will help the young lawn grass to tiller adequately(branching at the base of stems.) Good tillering ensures that grass covers the soil surface.
Smart enough to keep the mowing speed lower than moderate. Too high speeds may uproot the plants due to the very shallow and still establishing roots.
Conclusion
It’s best to initially hydroseed with a starter fertilizer. Subsequently, referring to the soil tests to help you get the fertilizers to plug into the nutrient deficits.
Utmost, four to six runs of fertilizing a lawn should fill up your annual calendar.
However, you must be on the lookout for instances where nitrogen grafts may strain your lawn grass and help fix the nitrogen deficit.
When it comes to individual fertilizer components, balance up your nitrogen with phosphorous to bring in the balance with foliage and root establishments.
