Spring is the time of year when we get a lot of calls about new lawns and how to care for newly laid sod.
New lawns are a little like babies in the fact that they are much more sensitive than established lawns. It is important that you don’t treat them like a well established lawn —- you have to adjust to their needs and give them special care.
Below are my tips for how Village Green takes care of new lawns.
Weed Control in a New Lawn: New lawns are sensitive to weed control products so we skip applying any pre-emergents the first six months and only spot treat the lawn.
That means for the first six months, instead of preventing weeds, we’re treating them as they pop-up. You’ll have a few more weeds that first six months than either of us will be happy with but your lawn will be much healthier.
Fertilizing a New Lawn: We use an 18-46-0 fertilizer on our new lawns. The first number is nitrogen and that helps green up the lawn. The next number is phosphorous and it’s very high, making it the main ingredient of this fertilizer. With new lawns, we don’t really want the top to grow, we’re focused on establishing the root system and phosphorous helps with root growth.
Watering a New Lawn: The roots of sod only are about a half-inch deep which means, instead of the deep but infrequent watering we’ve been taught, we need to water in short, frequent bursts. The frequency will depend on how warm it is but typically daily or every-other-day watering works during the spring. Gradually increase the days between watering and watch the lawn to see how it reacts.
It is also important to remember if you put in a new lawn, contact your city about any variance you can get on your water restrictions to help protect your investment.
Usually after about six months your lawn is fairly established and we can begin treating it just like a more established lawn.
If you have any lawn or landscape questions give us a call at 972.495.6990 or email [email protected]. I love to answer your questions and often can share the information for our Quick Tip series that helps all Village Green customers.