Power Seeding Agreement & Power Seeding Instructions for Success

Power Seeding Agreement

 

Scheduling

Your reservation for our Power Seeding services will not be confirmed until you have enrolled in Autopay or have submitted payment for the Power Seeding in full. Please see the Financial section of this agreement for further details. 

Kill Off services and Weed Control services will be completed one to two weeks prior to your Power Seeding if this service is required as indicated in the proposal of services.

Power Seeding Spring services are completed within a two week window in May. Power Seeding Fall services are completed within a three week window in the September/October months. These dates will be communicated with you at least one week prior to the scheduling date of the service to provide notice of the coming service. We do not schedule these any further in advance than one week and are unable to provide specific dates of service until that time. 

Any corresponding Starter Fertilizer services will occur at the time of Power Seeding. If more than one Starter Fertilizer service is scheduled as stated by the proposal of services, they will be serviced no sooner than 2 weeks after the last application of Starter Fertilizer. 

Weather does actively impact our services. We will do our best to work with the forecast and notify you if there is a need for a change in schedule. Please refrain from rescheduling due to weather, we will notify you if circumstances are extreme enough to impact the success of the service and need to be moved to another day.

When having preparation work or seeding done, major weather instances may cause erosion, Lawn Doctor is not liable for impacts on the lawn produced by extreme weather. Erosion is a common problem with any area that has a steep grade or incline. Erosion concerns should be addressed and resolved prior to the Power Seeding service, as it may impact the success of the seeding in the impacted areas. 

Power Seeding services require a great amount of attention for successful completion. Your Lawn Care Consultant will have maps, detailed notes, and instructions that are actively communicated with our Power Seeding Specialist. With that stated, your presence at the time of service is not required for successful completion. Please be flexible with us as our window of time is limited. Rescheduling because you will not be available, may not be possible due to limited openings within our window of seeding. We welcome any questions, comments or concerns that you may experience before, during or after the service.

Financial

For Power Seeding services, Lawn Doctor requires one of the below methods of payment set up on the account prior to the services being activated and booked on your account.

1. Autopay - a card will be placed on file to be processed the day of service after the services have been completed.

2. Prepayment - Payment in full prior to the services being completed.

Refunds are available when necessary if a service is activated and booked, but then canceled a refund may be given. The refund of the prepayment minus a 15% restocking fee will be issued. If autopay was the selected billing method, a 15% restocking fee will be issued to the account, due at the time of cancellation. Product is ordered in advance and based upon the services that you have scheduled, if you foresee a change of circumstances, please notify us urgently. 

Under the circumstances where the Power Seeding services are activated and scheduled and the Power Seeding Specialist is turned down on the job site due to the customer's request, a $50.00 rescheduling fee will be assessed for the cost to send a technician to the jobs site a second time to complete the service entirely. 

Touch Up Seeding

We have limited control of what takes place on the lawn after completing the Power Seeding service; we are unable to guarantee seedings for that reason. Areas that do not receive adequate sunlight or water may need touch up seeding. Areas of the lawn where traffic occurs frequently will likely need touch up seeding. With these factors in mind, it is of the most importance that the Power Seeding Instructions are followed with the most care and concern possible.

If there are areas that need a reseed or a touch up, they will be quoted off square footage starting at only $150.00 and a 10% discount off of our current market pricing for any square footage over 3,000 sqft. This pricing applies for a total of 1 year after the seeding. 

 

 

Power Seeding Instructions for Success

At Lawn Doctor, we operate heavily on providing our customers with the most transparent seeding process possible so you know what to expect, and what to do while taking care of your lawn. Below we will go over the seeding process from before the seeding happens to after and what to expect throughout the entire process.

Before Power Seeding

Prior to the Power Seeding service, to make sure no damage occurs, we ask that you please mark your sprinkler heads, any shallow buried lines like irrigation systems or invisible pet fences, pop up drains, downspouts, and anything else that could be damaged by our equipment. Please know that it is your responsibility to mark these areas. Lawn Doctor is not liable for any damage incurred from not marking hidden objects. We do not know what is under your lawn and rely on you marking those areas for successful completion without any complications.

Preparation work should be completed prior to the Power Seeding services. This includes any work being done such as top dressing or spreading, rock removal, leveling ect. 

If you will be receiving Weed Control services or Kill Off services to eliminate existing vegetation, please make sure you have mowed prior to us applying these control products. 

During the Power Seeding

A Power Seeding Specialist will visit your property and utilize our Power Seeder to inject seed into the soil. The ground will look relatively agitated due to the injection of seed. It is important to keep off of these areas. The soil will level back out with proper watering, no raking is necessary. Scheduled Starter Fertilizer services will occur at this time as agreed upon in the proposal of services. 

After the Power Seeding

The timing of germination will vary depending on soil temperature and seed type. In general, if soil temperatures are warm enough for germination, you should see ryegrass germinate around 1-2 weeks, fescue germinates around 2-3 weeks and bluegrass germinates around 4-6 weeks. Most seedings use a mix of these 3 seed varieties. 

It is important to note that in dense-shade areas, typically the special “dense shade” blend of seed will germinate, but after 4-6 months the turf will thin out again because the turf is not receiving adequate direct sunlight.  In densely shaded areas, seeding often needs to be redone every year. Seeding of these shade areas is best done in early spring. 

 

First 4-8 weeks:

Grass growth and maturity in the first 4-8 weeks after seeding depends largely on your ability to keep the first inch of soil moist. The soil should always be moist but never muddy. If the soil dries out, new seedlings die. It is your responsibility to monitor the soil moisture daily. Please review our instructions on care below and note that you may need to increase or decrease watering in cases where the 1st inch of soil may be over saturated or under saturated. It is your responsibility to adjust the watering frequency and duration in different areas of your lawn accounting for shade, soil type, and evaporation & drainage properties.

1. Water 2-3 times each day (less or more depending on saturation levels)
2. Water each zone approximately 15-20 minutes (less or more depending on saturation levels)
3. If there is rain, you need to monitor the soil. In most cases the rain will count for only 1 watering for the day.
4. Do NOT water at night if you can avoid it. This can lead to more fungal disease. Watering just before evening to allow for your grass blades to dry before sunset is best. 
5. New grass must be fertilized to survive and grow. 
6. Avoid traffic in the seeded area from mowers, walking, running and pets entirely.
7. Keep leaf cover and other debris clear so sunlight can reach the area and to insure seedlings are not smothered (it is best to use a blower to avoid rake damage to the new seedlings). This is mainly a concern in fall. 
8. Avoid weed control in the seeded area until the grass has been mowed at least twice. We will do the same if you are utilizing our fertilization and weed control services.
9. Mowing may only occur once the newly germinated grass has reached 4 inches in length. At that time, the mower blades should be raised as much as possible and only take the tip of the blade off. Cutting too short can damage the grass blades and cause stunted growth. 
10. Ideally, the first 2 mowing cycles should be completed with a small, push mower to limit potential damage to the new grass.
11. Keeping mower blades sharp ensures your mower is cutting the grass blades and not tearing them.

If underground irrigation is not available, we recommend use of a sprinkler timer, hoses, and sprinklers. By presetting your zones, and scheduling your watering with a timer, your germination results will not be impacted by any inconsistencies in your personal availability to water.

Please note: New grass cannot store water. The water will drain or evaporate, so the 1st inch of soil will dry out quickly with sun and heat.  WATERING IS CRUCIAL TO A SUCCESSFUL SEEDING.

After initial germination period (9+ weeks):

1. Entering into a normal watering schedule after seeding: Water in the morning, DEEPLY and infrequently, every other day for 30-45 minutes per zone.
2. Do NOT water at night if you can avoid it. This can lead to more fungal disease.
3. Normal traffic should not return on the lawn until after the 2nd to 3rd mowing cycle. 
4. Avoid heavy traffic on the lawn for at least 3-6 months to allow for the roots and grass to mature to be able to sustain potential damage. 
5. New grass must be fertilized to survive and grow
6. New grass is more susceptible to disease, so it is important to minimize stress that may cause disease. 
7. Mowing should continue as normal with the mower deck raised as high as possible, making sure your blades remain sharp so they are cutting the grass blades and not tearing them.

We recommend using a water timer if morning is a difficult time to water. Short watering of 15 to 20 minutes is generally more damaging than not watering at all. It is the equivalent of licking your lips on a hot windy day. It does not quench your thirst and it chaps your lips. Short watering does not reach the root zone and stresses the grass.

Thank You

It is important that we are working together as a team to establish new grass. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at any time.