Hydroseeding, sod and turf in Windham, Maine.

UMaine Extension recommends a minimum of four to six inches of topsoil for a lawn and up to twelve inches for a high-quality lawn, with lime applied according to a soil test to bring pH toward 6.0 to 6.2. On Windham's Hinckley and Windsor sands, which NRCS describes as excessively drained glacial outwash, that loam layer is what holds water long enough for seed to root.

We grade, loam and prep the ground before any seed or sod goes down. Over a new leach field the grading follows the system's finished contours, and heavy equipment stays off the field once it is built.

A new lawn is usually the first time a yard gets fertilized, and in Windham that yard often drains to Highland Lake, Little Sebago, Forest Lake or Sebago itself, where the stated goal is keeping phosphorus out. A soil test decides whether any phosphorus is needed at all.

Extension also advises mowing a new lawn at about three inches. Letting young grass grow tall shades the soil and helps roots reach the moisture below the sandy surface layer during its first summer.