# Growing grass from seed while on a water restriction



## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

I am currently mid renovation and seeded my lawn with a mix of mostly Bewitched, and a little Award and Midnight on Monday. I went out of town for a couple days (Wednesday to this afternoon) and came home to a notice in my door stating I'm breaking the water restriction in our town. I was able to get a sprinkling permit that allows me to water everyday but only from the hours of 7am-11am and 7pm-11pm. I spoke to everyone and anyone who would listen to me try to explain my situation (establishing lawn from seed) and I got absolutely nowhere. Am I completely screwed here or can I maintain a moist seed bed with those restrictions? Apparently I could incur some hefty fines by breaking the restriction.


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## NikeFace (Feb 14, 2018)

Sometimes a water restriction or ban allows for hand watering, but I'm guessing you would know if this is your situation... If not, check.

I would water at 7 am, 10:30 am, and then right at 7 pm. Not ideal but I wouldn't water much after 7 pm. You don't want it soaked, just moist, especially at night.

Then lots of rain dancing...


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## Turfguy93 (Aug 30, 2017)

I would run the sprinklers from 7am on the dot to 11am on the dot everyday. You'd be overwatering but it should be enough to keep the top wet throughout the day for germination and I would also make sure to have peat moss down to hold in moisture throughout the day


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

I can't water between 11 and 5 and it's sprouting just fine. I'd imagine another 2 hours wouldn't be a issue at all.


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## NikeFace (Feb 14, 2018)

Also, you didn't mention if you used peat or some type of cover. If not, add it ASAP.


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

I covered 10,000 square feet with (20) 3.8 cubic foot bales of peat moss. Currently expriencing a very heavy downpour so let's add seed washout to the list of reasons why this reno might not succeed. I had drainage work done (grading and drain tile put in) so we'll see how quickly everything dries back out but since there's currently a pond in my backyard I'm not getting the warm and fuzzies.


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## 20jlr (May 30, 2018)

Not too high jack but I seeded yesterday and was blessed with 1.84 inches of rain in 5 hours (it is still raining). I will be happy if I get anything germinated and not washed down the drain.


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## NikeFace (Feb 14, 2018)

Same here. However, I used m-binder for the first time so I'm hoping that pays off...


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)




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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

^ this sucks.


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

Sure does. Got about an inch and we got it pretty quickly. I put seed down Monday and rolled it in, added the peat moss, and rolled it again. I know we're getting off the original topic that I started but is there anything I should be doing over the next day or two? My gut is telling me to let it dry out a bit and then go out there and try to flatten some of the heavy spots of dirt and peat moss. Im thinking I should wait a week or two to see what germinates before adding anymore seed. I'd really like to not add anymore seed but I do have (2) 3.8 cubic foot bales of peat I can throw down.


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## iowa jim (Jan 22, 2018)

I am in the same situation, going out right now to rake out some peat moss that clumped up 2 or 3 inches deep. I am waiting for more germination to be able to see , what will need reseeding and what won't.


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

@iowa jim sounds like we have the same game plan. Good luck to you.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@KHARPS, You do what you can, and you've gotten good advice here. I don't think you're screwed unless it's 90 degrees every day and there's no rain whatsoever for 3 weeks. I've seeded partial shade areas during rainy periods with little supplemental irrigation, just sporadic light hand watering when I could...even when it hit 90 degrees. I went heavy on the paper mulch, though.

Hopefully the heavy rain didn't mess with it too much. KBG seed tends to tack down pretty well after a week or so, so unless the soil itself washes away, you should be ok.


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## Mattsbay_18 (Aug 3, 2018)

For what it's worth, this happened to me two years ago and everything turned out pretty decent. You'll have to wait until things dry out a bit to assess the situation in more depth.

I ended up raking the entire area to even out the seed and soil, threw down some more seed, then rolled down an erosion blanket to protect my assets. The erosion blanket was well worth the investment in my opinion. (Especially with a slow germinating KBG) Because 3 or 4 days later we got hit with another fast moving storm with a lot of rain in a short amount of time. Only this time the seed and soil stayed in place.

Hang in there. I know it sucks.


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## Tsmith (Aug 11, 2017)

KHARPS said:


> I am currently mid renovation and seeded my lawn with a mix of mostly Bewitched, and a little Award and Midnight on Monday. I went out of town for a couple days (Wednesday to this afternoon) and came home to a notice in my door stating I'm breaking the water restriction in our town. I was able to get a sprinkling permit that allows me to water everyday but only from the hours of 7am-11am and 7pm-11pm. I spoke to everyone and anyone who would listen to me try to explain my situation (establishing lawn from seed) and I got absolutely nowhere. Am I completely screwed here or can I maintain a moist seed bed with those restrictions? Apparently I could incur some hefty fines by breaking the restriction.


Who left the notice? Was it a neighbor, water company, township, etc? I believe there can be exceptions and I'm sure you have already tried but if not might be worth asking as whoever left note may not fully understand what ur doing and may just be complaining bc you were out of town.

As others have said water as late as you can in the morning probably little longer than you normally would but avoid puddling and as soon as you can at night to keep it as moist as possible. Id also keep some water in buckets or buy some for those spots that dry faster.


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

@Green thanks for the encouragement. We shouldn't have too many more days touching 90 from here on out. The yard is pretty much full sun except for the last 10 feet of my backyard which receives shade. I'm working 60hr weeks right now so hand watering is pretty much out of the question.

@Mattsbay_18 I'm home today and tomorrow so if it looks to be drying out I will get out there and rake the areas back smooth and possibly rent a lawn roller again. I just don't want to put too much foot traffic on the sloppy mess. I can see where the water eroded the dirt and peat moss from last nights rain. I had the kbg seed covered very well by dirt and peat moss so hopefully not much got washed away other than some mud and peat.

@Tsmith I don't remember his exact title but he works for the public works department. I spoke to him on the phone twice yesterday arguing my situation (he physically put the notice in my door so he obviously saw what's going on here). It was like talking to a brick wall. He kept repeating that we are in a green zone and I can only water during the allotted times which is actually every other day from 7-11 both am and pm. He allowed me to get a temporary sprinkling permit which I have to display in my window which states I'm allowed to water everyday but still only 7-11 am and pm.


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

So I went out this morning to run some errands and on my way home I stopped at site one to buy some starter seed mulch pellets to throw out where the peat moss had been washed away. When I got home my wife said she saw that some grass has sprouted! So would I be doing more harm than good by going out there and possibly trampling the baby grass when I'm spreading the mulch pellets?


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

@KHARPS we have water restrictions here too. at least you got the permit, they don't give them here even though legally they can. unfortunately we live in a society that sees lawns as a complete waste and they don't care. I was looking into it because my sister bought a new house that had no lawn. I called to ask what she can do because she was worried about erosion. They basically said good luck.

Meanwhile the condos and businesses in the area water once or even twice a day and nothing is down about it..

Anyways.. You will probably be OK. And yes it'd be fine to walk on just go slow and make sure you don't do any twisting motions with your feet. Baby grass is pretty resilient. I did the backyard reno and the kids were allowed to go out as normal during it, and it came in OK. (I couldn't get a permit from the wife to close down the backyard for a while lol)


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## KHARPS (Jun 21, 2018)

@GrassDaddy thanks for weighing in. I just went out and raked the front and tried to avoid trampling the visible grass. It looks better now that the peat moss clumps are broken up. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'm leaving the back untouched and will probably try to return the seed starter pellets to site one. As far as the watering restriction goes, I'll do my best to avoid watering during those times and maybe I'll do a good soaking in the morning that brings me right up to 11am and then do another one that starts right at 7pm. I'm gone 6 days a week from 5am to 5pm so I can't do any hand watering.


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