Overseeding is spreading grass seeds over an existing lawn. When your lawn is worn and thin, overseeding is the secret solution to achieve the vigorous, thick, and lush lawn you’ve always wanted. Therefore, learn when and how to overseed a lawn with our handy guide.
Remember that by overseeding, you can fix bare spots, creating a thick and thriving lawn. As the grass grows densely, it will prevent weeds from taking root.
Learn How to Overseed a Lawn Correctly!
With these steps, you’ll succeed with your project.
- Choose the ideal time to overseed
- Mow low and rake the lawn
- Choose the grass seed
- Improve the soil for better results
- Start spreading grass seed in bare spots
- Apply fertilizer to aid seed germination
- Water the lawn for healthy growth
How to Overseed a Lawn? Follow the Pros Advice to Succeed!
Choose the Ideal Time to Overseed
Like other things in lawn care, overseeding requires proper timing. If you do it at the wrong time of year, you’ll waste your money and time because you’ll be disappointed with the results.
Depending on your type of grass, you must consider the following timing considerations:
Cool-Season Grasses
Cool-season grasses are the only type that can thrive in Washington State. For instance, you can successfully grow species like tall fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, rough bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescue.
The best time to overseed this type of grass is in late summer or early fall. Indeed, warm soil temperatures from the summer months encourage seed germination and aid root growth.
Warm-Season Grasses
On the other hand, warm-season grasses come from tropical regions. So that is why these grass species thrive in the scorching sun and high temperatures of the Southern U.S.
Warm-season grasses include species such as Bermuda grass, St. Augustine grass, centipede grass, zoysiagrass, bahiagrass, and carpetgrass.
Click the following link to learn some tips to make Bermuda grass thicker!
The best time to overseed this type of grass is in late fall or early winter. We recommend that you overseed your lawn at least 45 days before the first frost. We don’t recommend overseeding warm-season grasses in spring since hot summer temperatures will inevitably stress your young grass.
Mow Low and Rake the Lawn
Although it is usually not advisable to cut the grass so low, you must cut your grass shorter than usual before overseeding your thin lawn.
Then, it would be best if you raked the lawn and bagged the clippings. Doing a good yard clean-up will make room to spread the grass seeds later and fill up the gap, literally.
It is advisable to remove the clippings so that the grass seed can make good seed-soil contact for faster germination.
Choose the Grass Seed
The type of grass seed you’ll choose depends on your existing grass species. Of course, when buying seeds, you need to select a product specially designed to thicken thin lawns.
If you have cool-season grass, there are solutions combining grass seed, fertilizer, and soil improver. Best of all is that it’s an easy-to-use product because you can apply it with any seed spreader.
Improve the Soil for Better Results
Inspect your lawn for dead or parched grass. If so, the first thing to do is remove this grass and check for trash or dry leaf litter from nearby trees.
Although you know that this organic debris can do good for your lawn at the time of reseeding, it is best to keep the area clear. After mowing, rake the yard to remove debris and thatch and to loosen the topsoil.
Start Spreading Grass Seed in Bare Spots
After you have chosen the correct seeds for the type of soil you have on your property and the grass that already exists on your land, you can start spreading them.
To perform this step, you must have considered the problems you have detected; if you want to reseed to cover small spaces with no grass, you can do the work manually.
If you want to reseed to increase the foliage of your grass, you should consider using a tool to optimize your time; however, you can do it with your hands if it is an activity you enjoy.
Apply Fertilizer to Aid Seed Germination
For fertilizers, you should only choose one that provides nutrients for the seeds to germinate; you must be careful to use products such as herbicides that can block the growth of new seeds.
If you want a piece of personalized advice, do not hesitate to contact us.
Water the Lawn for Healthy Growth
After the reseeding process, your lawn will need a higher moisture level than the one you had before on your land. You can make constant and not so abundant watering so as not to overwater.
Some experts recommend doing it two or three times a day depending on the amount of water during the first days; in the following days, you can do it twice with a little more water, until you reach the level you had before with the same watering frequency.
When you finish the process of overseeding your lawn, you should return to regular maintenance. If you don’t have a schedule for your lawn maintenance, you can choose one day of the week to do it, and also you can get advice from a trustworthy company like us.
Overseeded Lawns Are Destined to Succeed!
Overseeding is without a doubt a vital part of the comprehensive, proactive plan to achieve a vigorous lawn.
After reading our handy guide, we are confident that you learned how to overseed a lawn correctly. Don’t let thin lawn or bare patches ruin the look of your landscape and home.
Click the following link to take advantage of our lawn care tips for beginners. You can also use overseeding as your straightforward way to fill in bare spots on your lawn.
Remember, overseeding is the secret to having a thick, lush, green, and healthy lawn! Call us today and get a free estimate for your next project!
