New Lawn Hydroseeding in Kansas City, MO

New lawn hydroseeding is our most common job in Kansas City. A builder hands over a house with a yard of bare, rutted dirt, or a homeowner gives up on a lawn that is more crabgrass than grass, and the yard needs a fresh start. We prepare the soil, spray on a hydroseed lawn mix (seed, fertilizer, wood fiber mulch and a tackifier), and hand you a plan for the weeks it takes to fill in. For most yards in the metro, it is the sensible middle ground between the price of sod and the gamble of dry seed.

Start with what is in the ground

The loess uplands around Kansas City carry some of the best natural topsoil in the country. The USDA describes the Sibley series, named in Jackson County, as very dark brown silt loam for the top 20 inches or more, over a silty clay loam subsoil that runs 30 to 35 percent clay. On an undisturbed lot, a lawn has a lot to work with. On a new build, the story can be different. Basements are dug, lots are cut and filled, and heavy equipment packs whatever is left. The dark layer may be stripped, buried under subsoil, or mixed with construction debris.

So every lawn installation starts with a shovel. We check a few spots across the yard for depth of dark topsoil, compaction and rubble. If there are a few inches of decent soil, we loosen it and fine grade. If there is only clay subsoil at the surface, we recommend bringing in topsoil, and the estimate shows that as its own line so you can see what it costs.

Prep that makes the slurry work

Hydroseed is only as good as the seedbed. Our prep usually includes:

• Removing rock, concrete chunks, roots and debris left from construction
• Breaking up compacted ruts from equipment
• Fine grading so the yard sheds water away from the foundation and does not pond
• Adding and spreading topsoil where it is missing
• Raking the surface loose so seed lands in soil, not on a crust

On a renovation, we also kill or strip the old turf and weeds so the new seed is not competing with them from day one.

Choosing the seed

The University of Missouri Extension calls turf-type tall fescue the most suitable lawn grass in Missouri, more tolerant of heat, drought, disease and insects than other cool-season grasses, and able to handle moderate shade. For most Kansas City yards we spray a tall fescue blend, often with a small share of Kentucky bluegrass, which spreads by rhizomes and helps fill thin spots. Under heavier shade we can add fine fescues, with the tradeoff that they need more water in a dry summer. The Extension specifically warns against northern mixes of red fescue, perennial ryegrass and bluegrass, which struggle in a Missouri summer. We do not use them for permanent lawns.

If you want a warm-season lawn, bermudagrass can be seeded in late spring. Zoysia, the most popular warm-season lawn in Missouri, generally is not available as seed and has to be sodded or plugged, so we will tell you that up front.

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Timing the job

Mizzou's turf specialists say spring seeding of a cool-season lawn in April or May is often a losing proposition, and that seeding around mid-September gives grass a full fall and spring to establish before summer stress. Kansas City has about 47 days a year above 90 degrees, so that advice holds here. Our preferred lawn window is late August through September. October can still work, though freezing nights typically begin around October 31. Spring jobs are possible after the last frost, around early April on average, but you will be nursing the grass through its first July.

Hydroseeding cost

Price depends on square footage, how much prep the soil needs, whether there are slopes, and how far the truck has to reach. National guides give a sense of range: HomeGuide lists $0.12-$0.35 a square foot and points out that most hydroseeding companies charge a minimum job fee, while HomeAdvisor lists a typical range of $650 to $2,200. Topsoil, grading and debris removal appear as separate lines on our estimates, so each cost stands on its own. For comparison, HomeGuide prices installed sod at $1 to $4 a square foot.

After we spray

The green color in the slurry fades over a few days. Under good conditions, seedlings show in 5 to 7 days, and you can expect the first mowing four to six weeks after seeding day. Iowa State Extension's guidance for new seed is two light waterings a day for about three weeks, more if it is hot and windy, so the mulch never dries out. We leave written instructions, and we ask that people, pets and the mower stay off the new grass until it reaches about four inches. If an area comes in thin or a storm cuts a channel, call us and we will come look.