Home Lawn Hydroseeding in Sarasota, FL

Home lawn hydroseeding is the most common job we do in Sarasota. A new house leaves a yard of packed fill and builder sand. An older yard may be so far gone with weeds, bare patches and old turf that repairing it makes no sense. In both cases the answer is new lawn installation from seed: we prepare the ground, then pump a mix of seed, wood fiber mulch, tackifier and water over it in one pass. The mulch shades the seed and holds moisture on the surface, which on Gulf Coast sand is the difference between a hydroseed lawn that comes up evenly and one that comes up in streaks.

Is your yard a candidate?

Hydroseeding fits best when the area is mostly bare or will be stripped, when you are happy with bahiagrass, and when you can wait a few weeks for full cover. It is the wrong choice in two cases. If you want St. Augustinegrass, the coarse, dense grass on many Sarasota lawns, it cannot be grown from seed and has to be sodded or plugged. And if you need a finished lawn by a set date, such as a home sale closing, sod is faster.

Why bahiagrass

UF/IFAS describes bahiagrass as a low-maintenance grass that persists better than other grasses in infertile, sandy soils and does not need much water or fertilizer. It forms a deep, extensive root system and is a good choice for larger lots and yards without irrigation. Argentine bahiagrass makes a denser, darker green lawn with fewer seed heads than Pensacola, which is why it is usually the better lawn variety. Pensacola holds up well and has more seed heads, so it suits roadsides, ditches and acreage. The trade-off for any bahia is a more open lawn than St. Augustine and tall seed heads in summer that need regular mowing.

Ground preparation is most of the job

UF/IFAS lists the steps for preparing a Florida lawn, and we follow them. Construction debris, roots, rocks and stumps come out. The rough grade is set so the yard falls 1 to 2 percent away from the house, which is a half foot to a foot of fall over 50 feet. We test compaction with a rod: if it cannot be pushed 6 inches into moist soil by hand, the ground needs loosening. On sand with almost no silt or clay, tilling alone does not last, so we mix in compost, typically 3 to 6 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet, worked into the top 6 inches. Then the surface is raked smooth, rocks larger than a golf ball are removed, and sidewalks and driveways end up level with or slightly above the finished grade.

No fertilizer in the first weeks

Many hydroseeding services nationwide load fertilizer into the tank. We do not, for two reasons. UF/IFAS advises against fertilizing before planting or for the first 30 to 60 days after, because seedlings without roots cannot use it and it leaches through sand. And from June 1 to September 30, Sarasota County bans fertilizer containing nitrogen or phosphorus. Your care sheet gives the date for the first feeding and the products allowed at that time of year.

Watering a new seeding on sand

The surface has to stay damp until the seed is up and rooted. In the wet season, afternoon storms often do much of that, and we set the irrigation to fill gaps rather than run on a fixed schedule. From late fall through spring, when Sarasota can go a week without rain, the irrigation does all of it: several short cycles a day at first, then fewer and longer ones as roots go down. UF/IFAS recommends running irrigation as needed rather than on automatic once a lawn is established, and we explain how to make that switch.

What it costs

Hydroseeding cost depends on area, access for the truck and hose, and how much prep the ground needs. HomeGuide's range is $0.12 to $0.35 for each square foot sprayed, and it says many companies will not roll out for less than $300 to $500 or more. Grading, compost and topsoil are priced separately, and we list each one on the quote so you can see the seed and the soil work apart. Get a free estimate