Hello all,

I am trying to grow a new tall fescue lawn. We seeded it last fall with
less than satisfactory results. We ended up with a lot of bare spots and
grass that did not come up at all. We planted late (Oct1) gambled, and
lost.

I had a professional lawn care company come overseed it this spring with the
machine that plants the seed in the ground. That was exactly two weeks ago.
I'm getting a lot of new growth coming up now, which is good.

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should I
water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all times
as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system, so
watering is no problem.

I know I should cut back on the water once the grass sprouts, but am not
sure by how much. I don't want to give the grass that I do have a fungus or
disease by watering too much.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,

J.A. Michel

J.A. Michel wrote:
Hello all,

I am trying to grow a new tall fescue lawn. We seeded it last fall with
less than satisfactory results. We ended up with a lot of bare spots
and grass that did not come up at all. We planted late (Oct1) gambled,
and lost.

I had a professional lawn care company come overseed it this spring with
the machine that plants the seed in the ground. That was exactly two
weeks ago. I'm getting a lot of new growth coming up now, which is good.

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should
I water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all
times as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system,
so watering is no problem.

I know I should cut back on the water once the grass sprouts, but am not
sure by how much. I don't want to give the grass that I do have a
fungus or disease by watering too much.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,

J.A. Michel
1" a week

"J.A. Michel" wrote in message
...

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should I
water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all
times as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system,
so watering is no problem.

4 times a day sounds like way overkill to me. It's just not necessary. For
the first week after it germinates, once a day. After that 2 or 3 times a
week for the next couple weeks. But I don't know where you live or your
soil, so I assume it goes without saying to check with the company you
bought from, or the seed company.

"jeffc" wrote in message
...

"J.A. Michel" wrote in message
...

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should
I water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all
times as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system,
so watering is no problem.

4 times a day sounds like way overkill to me. It's just not necessary.
For the first week after it germinates, once a day. After that 2 or 3
times a week for the next couple weeks. But I don't know where you live
or your soil, so I assume it goes without saying to check with the company
you bought from, or the seed company.

4X a day may not be too much. Other than soil type and geographical
location. Depends on whether there's overcast/cloudy all day, humidity,
direct sun all day, direct sun exposure time, actual temperature, weather
aided moisture with rain/drizzle and so forth. Bare soil is difficult to
keep moist on the immediate surface in most conditions. That's where the
seed is.
Dave

"jeffc" wrote in message
...

"J.A. Michel" wrote in message
...

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should
I water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all
times as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system,
so watering is no problem.

4 times a day sounds like way overkill to me. It's just not necessary.
For the first week after it germinates, once a day. After that 2 or 3
times a week for the next couple weeks. But I don't know where you live
or your soil, so I assume it goes without saying to check with the company
you bought from, or the seed company.

When I said 4X a day, what I meant was running each station of the sprinkler
system
for 5 minutes, 4X a day. Just enough to keep the seed bed damp and and
nothing more.
We have clay soil here that doesn't absorb very much water before it runs
off. (especially if
the ground is bare) The soil dries out incredibly fast, especially with no
plant cover to hold the water.

J.A. Michel

On May 9, 6:18 am, "J.A. Michel" wrote:
"jeffc" wrote in message

...

"J.A. Michel" wrote in message
.. .

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should
I water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all
times as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system,
so watering is no problem.

4 times a day sounds like way overkill to me. It's just not necessary.
For the first week after it germinates, once a day. After that 2 or 3
times a week for the next couple weeks. But I don't know where you live
or your soil, so I assume it goes without saying to check with the company
you bought from, or the seed company.

When I said 4X a day, what I meant was running each station of the sprinkler
system
for 5 minutes, 4X a day. Just enough to keep the seed bed damp and and
nothing more.
We have clay soil here that doesn't absorb very much water before it runs
off. (especially if
the ground is bare) The soil dries out incredibly fast, especially with no
plant cover to hold the water.

J.A. Michel


4 times a day for 5 mins should be just about right for the first 2
weeks. Now you want to gradually decrease the freq, but increase the
duration. I'd go to 2X a day for 10 mins for a week, then once a day
for 20 mins for a week, then once every other day for 20 mins for a
week, then once every 3rd day for 30 mins...

Then I'd probably keep it at 30 mins every 3rd day through the summer
for the new grass, but extend every second watering to get 3/4 inch so
it goes deep for the existing grass. If you have temps over 80, I'd
increase to every 2nd day. You may need to adjust this based on sun,
wind, temps, the actual flow rate of your sprinklers, how fast the
soil appears to dry out, and how the grass is doing.

Come early fall and decreasing temps, and you can go to giving it
about 1/2" every 4 days.

On 9 May, 02:53, "J.A. Michel" wrote:
Hello all,

I am trying to grow a new tall fescue lawn. We seeded it last fall with
less than satisfactory results. We ended up with a lot of bare spots and
grass that did not come up at all. We planted late (Oct1) gambled, and
lost.

I had a professional lawn care company come overseed it this spring with the
machine that plants the seed in the ground. That was exactly two weeks ago.
I'm getting a lot of new growth coming up now, which is good.

My question is, once most or all the seed is germinated, how much should I
water? I had been watering 4X a day to keep the seed bed damp at all times
as instructed by the lawncare company. I have a sprinkler system, so
watering is no problem.

I know I should cut back on the water once the grass sprouts, but am not
sure by how much. I don't want to give the grass that I do have a fungus or
disease by watering too much.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,

J.A. Michel

Just an add-on observation - Fescue type lawns are best sown in the
Spring, for your Fescue grasses are not all that hardy in first
winter.
Regards
Data
www.gardenseeker.com