Lawn Seeding Services
Homeowners who take pride in their property generally want a lush, green lawn during the spring, summer and early fall. The look and feel of healthy grass cannot be beaten, and one of the key steps to achieving a lawn that looks like it came straight out of a home and garden magazine is appropriate seeding.
Lawn seeding can be done by a homeowner, but it is more effective and successful when completed by a professional lawn care company. A professional will be able to tell more about the content of the soil and what types of grass will grow well in an individual yard, considering sunlight, shade and other factors, than a homeowner.
The first step to seeding a lawn is to determine what type of seeding is needed. Some lawns need all-over help, and others need care in patches. Lawns can become thin and patchy in places due to cold or too-hot weather, insects and diseases in the grass. These lawns can be seeded sporadically to achieve regrowth in areas where additional help is needed. Spot seeding can be used to fix areas that have been worn down by repeated traffic and patches that have died.
Many lawns have good grass in places, but need a little extra help to thicken up the growth. These lawns can be overseeded. Overseeding is the placement of grass seed over a very large area, or an entire lawn. This can be done by a professional service easily using lawn aeration.
Other lawns have been very badly damaged and must be entirely re-grown. This total lawn "renovation" starts with removal of the old sod, de-thatching of the yard or slice-seeding, which actually puts the seeds into the soil without requiring the removal of any sod. Once the base of the yard is prepared, overall seeding can be done.
A professional lawn care service will make sure that the number one rule of seeding a lawn is followed by using top quality seed. Results from cheaper or lower quality grass seed are questionable, so spending a little more time and money on a top-of-the-line brand is necessary to get desired results. A second rule to follow is to make sure the seeds make contact with the soil. Third, the seeds must get plenty of water to make sure they germinate and take root in the soil.
Seeding can be done at any point in the year, but most professional lawn care companies prefer to do the work in the late summer or early fall months. Grass seeds take root and begin to grow faster in the fall, after the soil has been warmed by the sun and has collected plenty of moisture. The seeds then have plenty of time to continue to grow and strengthen through the remaining fall and winter months before taking off in the spring. Seeding can be done in spring and summer, but is generally less successful as more water and careful attention are required.