Frequently Asked Questions

For cool-season fescue lawns, late September through October is usually best: the soil is warm, nights are cooler and the rains are close. Bermudagrass goes in from late spring into early summer, once the soil has warmed. Spring and summer fescue seeding works too, but it takes more careful watering.

Depending on which national cost guide you read, residential hydroseeding runs between $0.07 and $0.35 a square foot, and HomeGuide puts a lawn of roughly 5,000 square feet at $1,000 to $1,750. Many hydroseeding companies also set a minimum job charge. Grading, topsoil and slope work come on top, and the number written down after we walk your lot is the one we bill.

In warm weather, sprouts usually show in about a week. Plan the first mow somewhere around week four to six, when the blades reach roughly 4 inches. Keep foot traffic, pets and kids off it until after the second or third mowing.

In summer, plan on several short cycles a day for the first two to three weeks so the mulch never dries out, then fewer, longer waterings as roots go deeper. In fall the weather does some of the work, and once the rains start you may only need to water between storms.

Yes. Warm-season Bermudagrass handles heat and dry spells far better than fescue, though it goes tan in winter. On slopes and open ground that will not be mowed, we can spray erosion and native grass mixes that need little or no summer water once established.

A light rain after the mulch has had a day to set usually helps. A heavy storm on fresh slurry, especially on a slope, can move it, which is why we try to spray at least 24 hours before forecast rain and use bonded fiber matrix or blankets on steeper ground.

For most backyards over a few thousand square feet, hydroseed costs far less and roots straight into your soil. Sod makes sense when you need a finished lawn right away or the area is small and high-traffic. Both need good grading and irrigation to survive July.

National cost guides land between $0.07 and $0.35 a square foot, and HomeGuide's figure for a 5,000-square-foot lawn is $1,000 to $1,750. Grading, topsoil and slopes add to that. Once we have walked the yard, you get an itemized estimate in writing.

Fescue stays green all year but needs regular summer water and fall seeding. Bermudagrass handles heat, drought and heavy use but goes tan from late fall to spring. Shade usually rules Bermudagrass out.

Hold pets off the new grass until it has had two or three mowings, which usually lands six to eight weeks after seeding. Earlier traffic pulls seedlings out and leaves bare paths.

If it is mostly weeds or Bermudagrass you no longer want, yes, or the old grass will outcompete the new seed. A lawn that is just thin can often be overseeded instead.

Bare patches usually trace back to a sprinkler gap, a wet low spot or traffic. Call us and we will look at the cause and the fix.

In California, a project that disturbs an acre or more needs coverage under the State Water Board's Construction General Permit, and so does a smaller piece of a larger plan that crosses that line. Your engineer or stormwater consultant handles the filing; we install the seeding and erosion measures the plan calls for.

If the lot will be dug up within a season or two, a fast cover mix with mulch is usually enough. Areas that will stay open, like basins and slopes, should get the permanent mix the plans specify.

Yes, if there is water. A water truck or temporary irrigation keeps the mulch damp; without it, seed often waits until the fall rains to germinate.

We work from the specs on your plans when they exist. If there are none, we recommend a mix and mulch rate for the slope and soil and put it in writing.

On grades gentler than about 4 to 1, hydromulch with seed usually holds. Steeper ground, up to about 2 to 1, calls for bonded fiber matrix or blankets, and channels or very steep banks usually need blankets.

Early fall, so the seed and cover are in place before the November to April rains. Seeding in late spring leaves a slope relying entirely on irrigation through summer.

No. Straw and coir fibers rot away in place while new growth comes through them. Some products are made with plastic netting, so where wildlife or a mower could get caught in it we pick netting that biodegrades.

No. Most native and dryland mixes go golden in the dry months like the surrounding hills, then green up with the fall rains. Their roots keep holding soil while they are dormant.

A hydraulically sprayed mulch mixed with a binder; once it cures it forms one unbroken, porous layer. It grips steeper ground better than standard hydromulch, and seedlings still push up through it.

If the work involves grading or exposes soil that could wash to the street, some sediment control is expected, and permitted grading usually requires it. Small jobs can often use fiber rolls and inlet protection instead of full perimeter fence.

It can last through a season or more if it is maintained. Equipment damage and sediment buildup are what usually take it out of service, so we inspect and repair it around storms.

Silt fence works well along flat perimeters where it can be trenched in. Fiber rolls suit slopes, hard surfaces and tight spots where trenching is not practical. Many sites use both.

We do, once the site is paved or vegetated. The trapped sediment is spread or hauled and the fence line seeded.

Not always. If the yard has a few inches of workable loam, loosening and amending it is enough. Scraped builder lots and heavy clay usually do better with imported topsoil blended into the surface.

Usually, if there is somewhere for the water to go. Where the grade cannot reach the street, a swale or drain line carries it out. Hardpan soil can make low spots worse, so we look at both the surface and what is below it.

Small regrades usually do not. In the City of Sacramento a permit applies at 50 cubic yards or cuts and fills over 2 feet; in unincorporated Sacramento County, at 350 cubic yards or an acre of clearing. We tell you if a job comes close.

Often the same day or the next. We try to keep the gap short so rain or wind do not undo the fine grade.

Early fall is best for fescue lawns, roughly late September through October. The soil is warm, nights are cooler and the seedlings have the winter to root before summer heat.

Not successfully for the long term. Bermudagrass spreads from underground stems and will take back over. To switch to fescue, the Bermudagrass has to be removed first as part of a renovation.

Usually, yes, because it skips turf removal and most of the soil work. National guides price overseeding at roughly $0.07 to $0.23 a square foot, and the written quote we give you sets the actual figure.

Shade and root competition for water. A shade-tolerant fescue blend and raised tree limbs help; in very deep shade a mulched bed may be the better long-term answer.