Before Planting Cutting Edge® Grass Seed:

  • Like all other cool season C-3 mixes, the ideal time to start a Cutting Edge® Grass
    Seed lawn is the early fall when nights are cool, days are moderately warm, and your
    lawn can further establish itself during the upcoming winter and spring seasons.
  • We do not advise starting a Cutting Edge® Grass Seed lawn if you will be competing
    with early germinating weeds or when there will not be adequate establishment
    time to develop sufficient root depth to tolerate dry conditions.

Important: Installing Cutting Edge® Grass Seed to replace warm-season, invasive
grasses, such as Bermuda grass, requires specialized instructions. See Customer Support
Contact Information below.

New Lawns – General Planting Instructions:

  1. If applicable, mow down the existing lawn as low as possible to prepare for
    application of new top soil.
  2. Apply at least 3/4 inch or more of loosened/raked topsoil, completely covering
    any remaining green in the intended site.
  3. Immediately after preparing soil, broadcast, hydroseed or slit seed* one lb. of
    Cutting Edge® Grass Seed per 250 sq. ft.
  4. Immediately after applying seed, fertilize with an organic lawn food or a chemical
    starter fertilizer as directed on packaging.
  5. See General Watering and Initial Mowing instructions below.

* See additional slit seeder and seed storage information below

Over-Seeding of Existing Lawn – General Planting Instructions:

  1. Mow down the existing lawn as low as possible. Lightly rake to help remove any
    dense thatch and loosen the existing soil.
  2. Immediately after preparing soil, broadcast or slit seed* one lb. of Cutting Edge®
    Grass Seed per 500 sq. ft.
  3. Immediately after applying seed, fertilize with an organic lawn food or a chemical
    starter fertilizer as directed on packaging.
  4. See General Watering and Initial Mowing instructions below.

* See additional slit seeder and seed storage information below

General Watering and Initial Mowing Instructions – New Lawns and Over-seeding:

  1. Regularly and gently water the site. Be careful not to wash seeds away. You want to keep the site lightly moist (but not soaked) until all seeds have germinated.
  2. Maintain continuous moist soil until all seeds have germinated and the lawn is ready for its initial mowing. Typically around 30 days. Local soil and weather conditions may require adjustment to these general watering instructions.
  3. Once new grass reaches a height of approximately 4 inches begin mowing as follows:
    1. Always mow with a sharp blade Mow to a height of approximately 3.5 inches. This is often the highest setting on your mower. Remember: this is meant to be a slight trimming – do not over cut.
    2. Leave the grass clippings
    3. Follow this mowing routine once a week for approximately 5 weeks.
    4. For the last mowing in this approximate 5 week cycle, leave grass at a final cut height of roughly 3½” inches. Thereafter, never mow more than 1/3 of the grass height per week and maintain a final cut height of no less than approximately 3 ½ to 4 inches.
  4. NOTE: For best Cutting Edge® low maintenance performance, see below instructions on “How to Stimulate Additional Cutting Edge® Root Growth” to optimize the low maintenance characteristics of Cutting Edge®.

How to Stimulate Additional Cutting Edge® Root Growth:

  1. Once the lawn is established as per the above instructions, begin reducing the frequency of watering, while also increasing the duration of each watering.
  2. You want to gradually put your Cutting Edge® Grass lawn under moderate moisture “stress”. This moderate moisture “stress” will encourage the Cutting Edge® roots to search for additional moisture and nutrients and therefore naturally encourage additional root growth as deep as possible.
  3. This deep groundwater-seeking natural root growth structure is what helps Cutting Edge® Grass Seed thrive with minimal watering and during dryer conditions.
  4. Important: Be sure you give your Cutting Edge® lawn enough water to survive and be healthy. However, remember: if the soil has too much moisture, the roots have no reason to grow deeper.

* Additional Slit Seeder and Seed Storage Information:

  1. Follow slit seeder manufacturers recommended operating instructions.
  2. DO NOT slit seed any deeper that 1/8 of an inch below the surface of the soil.
  3. We recommend NOT leaving any Cutting Edge® Grass Seed in slit seeders or broadcast spreaders overnight due to increased chance of exposure to moisture.
  4. As with all coated seeds, Cutting Edge® Grass Seed needs to be kept away from all sources of excess moisture:
    • Heavy dew
    • High humidity
    • Any source of condensation (a slit seeder or broadcast spreader equipment left outside overnight)
    • Any precipitation

Important Additional General Information:

  1. Use of Cutting Edge® Grass Seed in the southern US “Warm Season” zone should be carefully limited to professionally-managed temporary winter greening of dormant C-4 grasses.
  2. Installing Cutting Edge® Grass Seed to replace warm-season, invasive grasses, such as Bermuda grass, requires specialized instructions. See Customer Support Contact Information below.
  3. These instructions are meant to serve as a general guideline for planting Cutting Edge® Grass Seed. Instructions may vary based on climate, soil and geographical location.

Customer Support Contact Information:
Please feel free to contact us at 1-855-TURF123 (1-855-887-3123) or email us at [email protected] with any questions.
Also, please send us your pictures and testimonials – we really appreciate your feedback.