The best advice for watering new grass seed is both simple and complicated. You only have one chance to properly germinate the seeds.
- Lack of water will kill the sprouts
- The lawn germination time
- Too much water can leave less than ideal results
- The simple word is to keep it moist at all times
This can prove to be a complicated request due to the many factors that make each grass growing situation unique.
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Let’s discuss your basic goal, what it will take to achieve it, the problems that may arise, and how to solve them.
The goal of watering new grass seeds
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Just throw a ton of water on it? Is that all you need to plant a new lawn? It’s time to be smart.
The simple lawn sprinkler in this photo can pour a lot of water. It might be your worst enemy.
Watering new grass seeds exposes you to the risk of damage:
- the seeds have been washed away by the water or floated in clumps and bare spots;
- seeds sticking to muddy shoes when you move the sprinkler;
- The loose soil that flows leaves a trail of footprints on the lawn.
So go easy on the volume of water you put down. But don’t be stingy either. Plan to find a good balance between the amount and frequency that suits your soil and weather conditions.
ESSENTIAL TRUTH TO CONSIDER
All seeds need moisture and a certain temperature range before they start to germinate. Once the germination process has begun, if conditions change, the seed or new sprout is vulnerable and may die.
If the seed or sprout dries out, it dies. Your mission is to provide adequate moisture at all times. The phase before the sprouts emerge is the most critical.
Your commitment to watering new grass seeds must remain firm. The germination time for grass seeds varies from 5 to 30 days depending on the variety. It can be even longer in cooler temperatures.
That’s the time it will take to see the grass grow. Up to this point, the seed, or the soil and mulch in contact with the seed, must remain moist. It doesn’t need to be soaked or swimming, but it is moist.
Once the new grass is visible, the roots are also growing into the soil. This happens quite quickly. As the moisture in the soil underground becomes more accessible to the roots, the plant is no longer as vulnerable now. However, do not yet reduce the amount of watering on the new grass seeds.
The seeds will not all germinate at the same time. The seeds will be buried at different depths, absorb water differently, or be of different quality or maturity. Many seed mixes are blends of several varieties that will have different characteristics affecting their development.
It is important to keep the surface constantly moist until all the seeds have germinated.
Until the planted area shows dense green growth, do not let it dry out. The germination percentage of the seeds is under your control, although people often blame a thin lawn on the “bad seed that didn’t grow”!
It is possible to increase the percentage of germinating seeds. To learn more, read the article Grass Seed Germination.
Watering new grass seed: How much?
The sun and wind can dry out the soil surface. Trees, shrubs, buildings, and clouds can shade some areas but not others. Overseeded lawn grasses can provide shade to the new seeds in an inconsistent manner.
These factors make it difficult to determine a single amount of watering needed for an entire area for each day it is required. Consider how the watering requirements for new grass seeds may change in each of the following circumstances.
1. An existing lawn being overseeded
Normally, a lawn should be watered deeply but rarely. NOT NOW! Change that when you water for new grass seeds. Now, you need to water every day. Set the automatic timers for 5 to 10 minutes, early in the morning and again at noon.
Observe and adjust the time. Sprinklers have a wide range of gallons per minute output, and you need to exercise judgment here.
Watering by hand or using hose sprinklers should be done evenly and uniformly. It should provide roughly the same amount of moisture everywhere, but less in shaded areas.
Watering twice a day is essential until the new grass is up, then after another week, reduce to once a day. Adjust this pattern according to the season and temperature.
2. Bare lawn areas are being patched
If your lawn area is large or if you have several, follow the same instructions as above.
For small amounts or areas, if hand watering is practical, let the lawn follow its normal watering schedule for a single cycle per day. Supplement the bare areas once or twice a day, or as needed, to keep the new seed moist.
3. New turf areas seeded with grass seeds
A new lawn preparation done correctly will have tilled the soil to loosen it for the new grasses. This loose soil tends to retain large amounts of water. Do not overwater!
Some types of soil become spongy. If you walk on it in these conditions, you will leave severe depressions and cause compaction. Trying to fix a yard full of deep footprints is not a good idea.