GOLFGREEN

All Golfgreen Grass Seed products are considered “Apply & Play” products. This simply means that it's best to keep people, children and pets away from the area while you are applying it to a dry lawn. Be sure to achieve the recommended coverage, and always apply it with a spreader. Once applied, it will be completely safe for all to return to the area. That being said, as this product contains grass seed it is essential that all traffic on the seeded area be kept to an absolute minimum. This will allow the seeds to germinate and establish themselves. With constant disturbance it will void the seedlings as they begin to germinate, thus giving you less than ideal results, if any.

There are several common reasons for the failure of grass seed to germinate. These include providing insufficient moisture throughout the germination period, seeding at the wrong time of year, consumption of the seed itself by birds and animals, poor quality soil as in too acidic or alkaline, inadequate weather conditions, previous chemical treatment of the area with herbicides or insecticides, and using an insufficient quantity of seed. If you are experiencing a delay in germination, keep in mind that different varieties of grass seeds will germinate at different rates, when optimum growing conditions are present: rye grasses take 4 to 10 days, fescues take 7 to 14 days, and Kentucky Bluegrasses take 14 to 30 days. Therefore, it could take up to 1 month for complete germination of your grass seed blend.

The best time to establish a lawn from seed is late summer and early fall (mid-August to mid-September) in southern Ontario. During this period, soil moisture and temperature conditions are optimal for germination and establishment. There is also less competition from germinating weeds in the fall. Make sure that seeding is done early in the fall so that the grass is well established before winter. The plants are then well rooted and more drought and heat tolerant the following summer. Seed the shady areas in the fall for best results. Trees will have shed their leaves by then, so plenty of light is available for the new growth. The grass also gets off to an early start in the spring before the trees leaf out. 

Mow a newly seeded lawn when the grass is approximately 1-2 cm higher than the intended mowing height. Make sure that the mower blades are sharp, or the grass seedlings will be pulled out of the soil. Mowing is important, as it stimulates tillering and rhizome production, thickening the establishing turf. A light application of fertilizer can be applied to the new seeding approximately 4-6 weeks after germination to encourage turf density.

Spring seeding should be done as soon as the ground can be worked. Slow, irregular germination may result if the seed is sown when the soil is too cold and damp. There is also strong competition from germinating weeds during the spring. When practical, wait until weed seeds germinate, work the land to kill them and then sow the grass seed. In the Spring, grass seeds blends will generally germinate only once the soil temperature has reach a minimum of 10 degree Celsius.  

Establishing turfgrass by seeding during midsummer is difficult due to high temperatures and stress conditions. Seeding can only be done successfully in midsummer if irrigation is available to keep the seeded areas well supplied with moisture. As it is very difficult to get grass seed to germinate in the Summer, because the conditions are too warm, we generally recommend waiting until late Summer, early Fall to renovate a lawn. You may use either sod, or grass seed. With grass seed being the more economical. Grass seed germinates best when the daily temperatures are sitting between 15 and 22 degrees Celsius. So, application timing can vary considerably across Canada, and will be dependent on the province and zone you are living in. 

Why did I get weeds after planting your grass seed?

Our grass seed products go through a comprehensive seed quality process to maintain our extremely high seed viability standards. All ingredient seed lots are tested in a seed laboratory to establish purity and viability specifications prior to blending, and file samples of all mixtures are retained. There is a common misconception about grass seed and weed seeds. Primarily weeds in a newly renovated area come from several sources:

1. Weeds seeds can remain viable in the soil for many years, some for as long as 20 years. Once any existing plant life dies off, and the soil is exposed to the elements, or when you prepare the soil and bring buried seeds closer to the surface, they quickly begin to germinate.

2. Weed plants from local common areas will produce thousands of seeds in a season, which once released will easily be blown in. In a freshly tilled soil, they quickly begin to germinate, actually much quicker than grass seed germinates. It is much easier for weed seeds to find a footing in freshly tilled soil, than in an area that has not been renovated, thus giving the appearance that they came in a grass seed. 

3. Most top soil comes from fields that have remained empty for years awaiting cultivation, or construction. This type of soil is usually very rich in nutrients, but it will contain all types of seeds – some that have been buried for years. This is why your lawn may be growing plants that are more prevalent on a farm, or rural area, than in an urban area. 

When grass seed is stored correctly in a cool dry location, away from excessive heat, direct sunlight, and moist, it should stay viable for years. Grass seed may freeze but it should not be over-heated. Over-heating and seed will cause the small amount of moisture inside the seed to dissipated, and thus voiding seed. Nevertheless, we still recommend using you grass seed within 3 years of purchase to ensure optimum germination results. 

Please see the spreader setting information declared on our packaging as this may vary depending on the product. 

Our fertilizers are considered an “Apply & Play” products and are safe for pets and children to go on after applying. We recommend that you keep other people, children, and pets off the area while you are applying it, but once it is down it is completely safe for all to return to the area.

We recommend that you keep other people, children, and pets off the area while you are applying it, but once it is down it is completely safe for all to return to the area.

All of our fertilizers are guaranteed not to burn when applied as directed on the label. The only way that a fertilizer can burn a lawn is if it has been over-applied, applied when the daily temperatures are sitting above 27 degrees Celsius, or if the actual fertilizer inside the bag has somehow become wet, which would clump the prills of fertilizer together causing hot spots that will burn the lawn We never recommend that you use a fertilizer that has become wet or are clumped together. The spreader settings listed on the bag are only for the spreaders that are listed there. As there is no standardization in the manufacturing of spreaders, therefore all other spreaders will have a different spreader setting. Including Scott's spreaders. Please contact us for more information. 

The best thing that can been done for a lawn that has had fertilizer over-applied to it is to water it heavily for several days, turning your sprinkler on for a 24 hours is the minimum recommendation. This will take the nitrogen down into the soil, away from the grass plants where it is burning. With enough water your lawn may bounce back in a few weeks, if the fertilizer has not been over-applied to the point of killing the grass roots. 

We do not chemically, or artificially heat, our soils to sterilize them. Whenever compost is used, we insist that our suppliers naturally heat the soil through composting. Composting will, when done correctly, naturally heat the decaying organic materials to a range of 135o to 165o Fahrenheit. When maintained throughout the entire 5 month process it will completely break down the organic materials, kill off seeds and pathogens, but still allow the microflora, that are essential for nutrient transfer, to flourish. A soil that has been chemically or artificially heat treated can be barren, and have little ability in breaking down nutrients, making them readily available for plant roots. Ingredients like peat moss, perlite, sand, limestone, and coir are naturally weed free, and insect resistant.

No, they do not contain any Bio-Solids.

We would not recommend using it in a vegetable garden as it tends to remove nitrogen from the soil when it first begins to break down. Most vegetables require high amounts of nitrogen to grow properly and will suffer if they have to compete for this essential nutrient. Also, as your vegetable garden is constantly in flux, replant can be hindered by the cedar mulch. Cedar mulch can take up to 10 years to completely break down, therefore also posing the problem of tilling the garden bed every spring. 

No, the product does not expire.

*Answer is dependent on the product. 

Yes.

There is no shelf life provided the product is stored in a cool dry environment in a tightly sealed container. 

Yes. We recommend keeping pets away while watering in or applying the fertilizer and working it in the soil. But once applied it is safe. 

We do not recommend altering the suggested application rates on the label. We stringently test our fertilizer and the label recommendations are for the best results.

*Answer will depend on the product.