Frequently Asked Questions

Depending on which national guide you read, residential hydroseeding runs about $0.07 to $0.35 a square foot. HomeGuide's example of a 5,000 square foot lawn comes to $1,000 to $1,750, and it puts the usual minimum job charge at $300 to $500 or more. Slopes, heavy prep and premium seed push the number up. We quote in writing after a free site visit.

For tall fescue and other cool-season mixes, late October and November work well: the heat is easing and the winter rains are close. Bermudagrass wants warm soil, so late spring into early summer is its window. Native slope mixes go down in fall so the rains can germinate them.

For most bare yards and nearly all slopes, yes. It costs a fraction of sod, comes up faster than dry seed because the mulch holds moisture, and on a slope it is far more likely to stay put. The trade-off is time: expect the first mowing somewhere between week four and week six, and a few months before the lawn is fully filled in.

No. HomeGuide puts hydroseeding at 12 to 35 cents per square foot ($0.12 to $0.35) and sod at $1 to $4. Sod only wins on price-for-result when you need a usable lawn immediately or want St. Augustinegrass, which is not grown from seed.

Yes, as long as the area has working irrigation. From May through September San Diego gets almost no rain, so the lawn will depend completely on sprinklers, often two or three short cycles a day at first. Bermudagrass handles summer seeding best.

It holds much better than dry seed because the tackifier glues the mulch and seed to the soil. On steep canyon faces we usually step up to a bonded fiber matrix or a rolled blanket, with a silt fence or fiber roll at the bottom, and we often suggest a native mix instead of lawn grass.

Stay off the new grass until it has been mowed once, usually four to six weeks out. Seed generally shows in 5 to 14 days depending on the grass and the weather, but the roots are shallow and easy to tear in the first month.

For a 5,000 square foot lawn HomeGuide's range is $1,000 to $1,750, and its overall figure is 12 to 35 cents a square foot; other national guides run lower. Most hydroseeding companies also charge a minimum of around $300 to $500. The prep your yard needs is the biggest variable, so we quote once we have seen it.

Sprouts usually show in 5 to 14 days, the first mow comes at four to six weeks, and the lawn generally looks full after a couple of months of steady watering and mowing.

Tall fescue for a year-round green lawn with some shade; Bermudagrass for full sun, heat and heavy wear. Near the coast a fescue blend with some ryegrass or bluegrass can work. St. Augustinegrass is not seeded.

Yes, as overseeding. We mow low and open the surface so seed reaches soil, then spray. If the lawn is mostly dead or weeds, a full renovation gives a better result.

In San Diego, yes, unless you plan to hand water several times a day. From May through September there is almost no rain, and even in winter storms are too far apart to carry new seed.

The State Water Board permit kicks in at one acre of disturbed soil, and it can also cover a smaller lot that belongs to a bigger development whose total disturbance hits an acre. Your engineer or QSP makes that call; we install what the plan requires.

National guides put typical work at roughly $2,000 to $4,900 an acre, with some one-acre ranges reaching $8,700. Specification, slope, phasing and water access change the number a lot, so we bid from your plan.

Yes. Hydraulic mulch with tackifier and no seed is common on pads that will be built on soon and only need temporary cover.

It depends on the season and the queue. Fall is the busiest stretch, so the earlier you put us on the schedule the better your odds of beating the first storm.

Yes. We reseed and remulch common-area slopes and coordinate with the HOA's landscape contractor on irrigation.

Hydromulch is a lighter fiber mulch with tackifier, good on gentle slopes. Bonded fiber matrix is a heavier hydraulic product that cures into a continuous bonded layer and holds up on steep slopes where lighter mulch would wash.

Slope assessment, drainage fixes at the top of the slope, surface prep, and cover with hydromulch, bonded fiber matrix, straw blankets or coir blankets plus seed. We also install fiber rolls and silt fence where runoff needs to be slowed or filtered.

On gentle, short slopes hydroseed with good tackifier is often enough. Swales, ditch lines and steep or long slopes usually need blankets or BFM, at least until plants root in.

Ideally in October or November, before the December to March rains. That gives the mulch time to set and lets the first storms germinate the seed instead of eroding bare soil.

Yes. We run long hoses from the street for hydraulic products and hand-carry blankets. Access affects the price, so we look at it on the visit.

Removing brush takes away much of what held the surface. Leaving roots in place where allowed helps, and a hydromulch or BFM cover with a low-growing seed mix protects it through the first winter.

If your grading or building permit includes an erosion control plan, follow it. Even without one, the city's stormwater rules prohibit sending sediment into the storm drain, so any project that leaves bare soil near a street or slope should have some form of perimeter control.

The 2025 state road erosion prices list silt fence at $378 to $748 per 100 feet depending on type. Local prices depend on footage, ground conditions and maintenance, so we quote after seeing the site.

The fabric lasts through a construction season if it is maintained, but sediment buildup, traffic and wind damage it. Inspect it after every storm and repair it right away.

A filter or barrier at a storm drain inlet that traps sediment while still letting water in. Types include bag rings, silt fence barriers, gravel and mesh filters and drop-in devices.

Once the disturbed area is stabilized with established vegetation, paving or landscaping, and your inspector or plan allows it.

Most bare yards need at least fine grading: removing debris, loosening compacted soil and smoothing the surface so it drains away from the house. Seeding over a lumpy, compacted surface leads to puddles, dry spots and a rough lawn.

Lawn leveling runs about $1 to $2 a square foot according to HomeAdvisor, and Lawn Love lists residential resloping at $770 to $3,000. Access, soil, rock and haul-off are the big variables.

Yes. The crew that grades your yard also digs the trenches for French drains, buried downspout lines, area drains and swale outlets.

Only if the existing soil is thin, mostly fill or very poor. On many lots ripping and amending the native soil works as well for less. We will tell you which applies after the visit.

We avoid it. Working wet clay smears and seals the surface, which is the opposite of what you want under a new lawn.

No. Native plants here green up with the winter rains and go tan or gray in summer. That is normal and is why they survive without irrigation.

October or November, so the December to March rains can germinate it and carry it into spring. Spring seeding needs irrigation through the first summer.

Not once established, in most cases. A temporary line for the first season helps in a dry winter.

Yes. Wildflower seed mixes into the hydroseed slurry. We blend them with native grasses so the cover holds up after the first spring.

Often, if the mix is low-growing and you follow your fire agency's clearance rules. It covers bare soil without rebuilding the fuel load.