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We bought a new home in mid July. We are located in new england. The builder did hydroseeding for lawn.
It is now August and lawn is not growing uniformly at all. It is dense in some areas, completely bare in some others and different degrees of sparse all over. We have been watering it regularly every day except when it rains heavily.
Please help us. We are first time home owners and are not quite educated on how to get the grass to set. Should we be adding any fertilizers? mowing already when the grass is not quite there? Any specific products for this type?
Depending upon what the contract with the builder specified, your first option should be to go to them with your concerns. There are all kinds of things that could cause the poor quality you see. The first among these is normally poor quality soil, followed closely by shallow topsoil over construction trash. Now is the time to raise the concern, in your geographical area the prime time to reseed a new lawn is approaching.
When did they seed? June or July isn't generally a favorable time to start grass so that could be an issue as well if that's when they did it. It's good that you're paying attention to watering but there is such a thing as over watering. Most lawns need about one inch per week including any rain you might have.
As Rtom45 mentioned, the time to reseed is approaching. The second half of August, first couple of weeks in September are best. Most grass seed germinates and will show signs of growing within two weeks. You should have cool season grasses in NE and they thrive more in the spring/early summer and late summer/early fall when temperatures aren't as harsh. Sowing in that time frame allows the grass to establish roots before cold weather sets in. Even when you start getting frosts, the ground is still warm enough for the roots.
You can sow seed in early/mid-spring as well but you have a chance of late frosts or freezes and young cool season grass roots can be vulnerable to heat in months like June or July when it can get hot enough to damage them.
If your seed hasn't germinated by now it probably isn't going to so has it has been suggested, you could go to your builder. I obviously don't know if you have any sort of "warranty" on your lawn but review your contract and see if there are any provisions for it. I kind of doubt it because there are too many intangibles involved a lawn. Weather, heat, damage by insects such as grubs, things that a builder couldn't be responsible for such as a window being incorrectly installed or something like that.
Yards can indeed be hodgepodge of materials. We have good soil but I've found all manner of materials with plantings that required deeper holes. Aggregate, rocks, sand, etc. When I took down a sick maple a couple of years ago I had to dig down to remove some of the roots. There was a 3 foot section of temporary fence post about a foot down that had probably been there since the house was built over 40 years ago.
If the builder shrugs his shoulders and says "Oh well", just come on back here. There are plenty of good people here that can help you out.
Contractors that did the building of the house are not famous for doing good landscaping. My daughter moved into a new house that the builder put in the lawn and it was awful. They didn't put down enough loam to support good healthy grass. A few years later they redid it themselves by rotortilling the whole front and incorporating a richer loam and reseeding it. Good luck - without a good foundations no grass will ever look good.
If the builder refuses to help, or is unable to help, your best option may be to contact a local professional landscaping company and get an opinion (and estimate) from them. There are no shortcuts for a properly installed lawn and if you don't deal with the issues now, they won't go away.
Thank you all for your responses. The builders warranty, does not cover lawn. We have contacted a professional to come out and asses and possibly seed in the sparse patches. He said the lawn probably needs aeration and seeding for fall being that it was hydroseeded so late in the season. We will wait and see how it goes.
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