You can walk on the grass. I just planted new seed Labor Day weekend and walked out once a day to move the sprinkler hoses so those covered areas would get sunlight. I haven't seen any issues with stunted or no growth where I walked.

Where do you live?

What grass seed did you use?

As far as the locust tree pods, at worst you'll have a forest of locust trees sometime in the future.

I live in Central Indiana- its a mix of tall fescue (sun and shade mix)- it's the contractors who laid the grass seed- I don't know exactly what kind. I will ask.

Man you are scaring me with locust trees comment. I mowed the pods that were laying on my existing lawn yesterday- what should I do now? Do you have any advice?

:-(

The pods are unlikley to be a significant problem, although they could lead to some seedlings. But black locusts are notorious for sending up root shoots or suckers: "Root suckers are an important method of local reproduction of this tree. The roots may grow suckers after damage (by being hit with a lawn mower or otherwise damaged) or after no damage at all. The suckers are stems which grow from the roots, directly into the air and may grow into full trees. The main trunk also has the capability to grow sprouts and will do so after being cut down.[12] This makes removal of black locust difficult as the suckers need to be continually removed from both the trunk and roots or the tree will regrow. This is considered an asexual form or reproduction."

Cool thank you. I also got an advice from someone who is supposedly an expert in Black Locust trees and he said the same thing that this is not a problem, suckers is a bigger problem.

Anybody else has any advice on my first question around what to do with leaves and pods dropped on my new grass?

Thanks

Give it a few days without rain or watering to let the ground dry out a little and mow. As long as you are careful and have good sharp blades it won't hurt a thing. This will chop the leaves up into small enough pieces that they won't hurt the grass.

For mowing though, I thought the grass has to reach certain height. I have new grass growing height anywhere between 1 inch to 2 to 3 inch. If I take mower in the grass- I am afraid that grass that is not tall enough/ too young may get all squished and die. Not sure how long it will take for the grass to grow a good height for mowing. I planed this grass on Sept 23. So almost 3 weeks ago.... and now have stopped watering because of constant rains for past week or so.

Also, I have leaves from the trees falling on this grass + pods from Black Locust tree... lots of these pods.

Mow. For new grass it's good anyway to mow it down to 2 inches when it reaches 3 inches to help encourage tillering. If you let it get too long before mowing, it will flop over and be a mess. Just be careful in making turns, as a twisting motion can disturb the new grass. Make turns on hard surfaces or adjacent areas if possible. The ground is probably soft from the watering you've been doing. It will be better if you can let the soil dry out a bit before mowing.