After Care

Growing Strong

Watering Instructions

Germinating Seeds

Ground temperatures greatly determine the length of time required for grass seeds to germinate (sprout). Seeds will germinate in optimal soil temperatures after 1–2 weeks.

  • Sun Exposure: Temperatures become optimal in April–May.

  • Shade Exposure: Temperatures become optimal in May–June.

Watering for Germination

Germination requires available moisture for 10 days, but only after optimal temperatures are reached (15°C+ at night).

  • Sunny Areas: These areas must be watered every 2 hours until sprouts are visible. This can be difficult for working households; we offer temporary automatic watering zones that attach to your outdoor faucet—ask us for details.

  • Shady Areas: These only require watering once per week to keep existing grass lush. Because shady areas stay cooler, germination often doesn’t begin until after local watering restrictions start.

  • British Columbia Residents: Sunny areas must sprout before water restrictions begin. If not, the next available time to germinate seeds is September–November.

Rule of Thumb: During the first 10 days of watering, keep the top-dressing black in color once temperatures are suitable. Check thin or bare areas regularly.

Important Growth Notes

New sprouts do not represent the lawn’s final density. A lawn takes a full year to fully establish and may appear thin or patchy until then. Never add more seeds yourself. Additional seeds are provided without charge after each growing season (3x per year).

Mowing & Maintenance

Proper mowing is essential for a healthy, deep-rooted lawn.

  • Height: Set your cutting height to a minimum of 3 inches. Never cut the grass short.

    • Note for Alberta: Only cut short in mid-to-late November.

  • Frequency: Mow every week the grass grows. During summer drought, reduce mowing to every 2 weeks.

  • Method: Mowing without a bag (mulching) is encouraged to hold in moisture and recycle nutrients back into the soil.

Weekly Watering Requirements

To maintain a healthy lawn, you need to apply 1.5 inches of water every week before the sun comes out, especially during the summer.

  • Using an Oscillating Sprinkler: Run for 2 hours per area. (These sprinklers move back and forth).

  • Using Alternative Sprinklers: Run for 30 minutes per area. (For sprinklers with constant water distribution).

If you are watering more than one area simultaneously using oscillating sprinklers, ensure you run at least two sprinklers at the same time for the full 2-hour weekly timeslot.

Summer Dormancy

The lawn may brown and slow down during summer heat. This is a natural defense mechanism that allows the lawn to conserve nutrients and stretch root depth. As long as you water every week during your allocated period, the lawn will resume growth when cooler fall temperatures arrive. Grass typically takes 4 weeks without water to die completely; if you miss a week, just water the following weekend.

Support & Updates

We provide customized watering instructions and advice for every home we service. These can be found on your overseeding invoice or in your email.

  • Need an update? Ask us for updated instructions anytime.

  • Not seeing our emails? Please check your spam folder to ensure you are receiving our updates.

Oscillating Sprinkler Setup

Easy steps to do it yourself

Hardware store checklist:

1 Oscillating Lawn Sprinkler: We recommend the standard design only. See figure 1. Don’t cheap out on this item, it will be used quite a bit. Do not purchase any model that includes an integrated timer.

2 Watering Timer: Make sure the timer can be set for at least 4 sessions per day, 7 days a week. If you’ve had your front and back yard serviced, you will require your timer to have at least two ports. Batteries may not be included. See figure 2.

3 Additional Hose: If needed. Traditional rubber/poly only.

4 Camping Pegs: As short and sharp as possible. You’ll need to hammer them into the ground to secure your sprinkler.

5 Plumber’s Tape: To repair possible leaks.

6 Hammer/Pliers: If you don’t already own both.

Setup:

1 Follow the instructions included with your timer purchase and install the timer directly to your outdoor faucet. Turn on the water to check for leaks. Repair any leaks by tightly wrapping plumber’s tape around any male end thread. There should be no water escaping the timer even while the faucet is on its max setting. Use pliers to ensure all connections are snug. Your timer now controls when water is dispensed.

2Connect your hose to the male end port located on the timer and the female end of hose to your oscillating sprinkler. Make sure all connections are snug and leak free.

3 Place the oscillating sprinkler in a desired area where you feel it will cover the most grass with it’s watering pattern.

4Program the current time into the timer and start a manual watering session, for 10-15 minutes, using the zone you’ve just set up.

5Follow the sprinkler’s instruction manual and configure the sprinkler so that it’s watering as much grass area as possible during its pattern. Turn off manual setting. Peg sprinkler in place.

6 Program the timer to follow our watering instructions exactly.

Recommended Mowing

Mowing is the most important task for the homeowner to get right. Even more so than watering because nature isn’t going to help you with it. The overall health and longevity of your lawn depends on these basic mowing recommendations.

Mow Sharp — Sharpen mower blades at the start of every season, except winter of course.

Mow High — 3-4 inches from ground to tip.

Mow Weekly — Mowing every week keeps your grass blades vertical, strong and dense. This helps prevent any weeds from seeding/spreading and promotes a thick lawn to choke them out entirely.

Mulch — No bag, no discharge chute. Just recycle the clippings right back into the lawn.

If you miss a week, use a bag as the clippings will be to heavy to recycle and will smother the grass. This is how your lawn gets fed between topdressing applications.

The last cut of the year should always be done shorter, roughly 2.5 inches from ground to tip. This prevents mould buildup and minimizes appeal to rodents that prefer to burrow in matted grass under the snow.