A beautiful green lawn transforms the property into a feel-good place. Once you have spread lawn seed, proper watering is important. Our guide tells you how to properly water a freshly seeded lawn.
Table of Contents
Sow and water the lawn
Lawn seeds cannot sprout without water. They need lots of moisture. If the surface dries out, germination will be disrupted and the growth process will be halted. If you don’t remedy the situation quickly enough, the sensitive seedling can die. This results in different growth heights and gaps in the lawn.
Keimprozess
Various phases have to be gone through before the first stalks of grass sprout from the grass seed. Water plays a crucial role in this.
- Seed absorbs water
- swelling begins
- Enzymes are activated
- nutrients are formed
- Seed shell bursts open
- Radicle is formed
- cotyledons form
- Photosynthesis begins
Germination time of popular grasses:
- Perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ): 8 to 15 days
- Rotschwingel ( Festuca rubra ): 10 to 18 days
- Tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea ): 10 to 18 days
manual
- Thoroughly loosen the area. Collect rocks and roots. Remove the weeds.
- Prepare the soil for sowing: loosening by adding compost or organic fertilizer (regular garden soil), adding quartz sand and compost (heavy soil)
- Rake the loosened soil smooth.
- Let the soil sit for three days.
- Spread the lawn seed evenly with a spreader or by hand.
- Rake in the seed and lightly roll the soil.
- Water the area.
- Water the lawn four times a day. The plants need regular watering before the first stalks can be seen after two to three weeks.
- When the blades of grass have reached a height of about ten centimetres, you can reduce the watering. Then water only two to three times a week. Of course, if it rains, you can do without it.
- After eight to ten weeks, a dense carpet of grass has formed.
Fingerprobe
If you have freshly sown lawn seed, it is not enough that the surface is damp. The water should penetrate at least five centimeters deep so that the seed can open and the small plants can develop optimally. On dry days, watering may not be able to meet the high demand. With the finger test you can check whether the watering is sufficient and the moisture penetrates far enough.
Influences on required amount of water
How much water a freshly seeded lawn needs depends on several factors:
- Precipitation frequency and intensity
- soil permeability
- soil and air temperature
- Sun
- Wind
frequently asked Questions
When the stems are eight to ten centimeters high, the plants have achieved good stability. Reduce watering so the plants are “forced” to develop deeper roots. The roots then reach further into the ground and mowing the lawn is well tolerated.
The duration depends on the location. With an open lawn, you can use the water glass trick. Place an ordinary water glass on the lawn. Run the sprinkler at least until the jar is full. If large trees and bushes grow on the surface and also remove moisture from the lawn, it takes longer. The guideline is 2.5 liters of water per square meter. No puddles may form on the lawn!
Water in the morning or afternoon in spring and autumn. In summer, early mornings or late evenings are good times. On dry days it has to be watered several times.
So that the germination process can begin, the soil must have a temperature of at least eight to ten degrees Celsius. Otherwise the development of the seeds will be delayed or will not start.
