Late summer or early fall is the best time to overseed lawns. Soil and atmospheric temperatures are most favorable for optimum seed germination and growth. With adequate moisture, fertilizer and sunlight, the new seedlings will be well established before cooler fall weather sets in.
- Best Time: Late spring to early summer (May to early July) when the soil temperatures are consistently warm, which helps with germination. In general, overseeding in the fall for cool-season grasses and late spring for warm-season grasses will yield the best results.
Overseeding can help you get back to the thick, lush, green lawn you're looking to achieve. By spreading grass seed over your existing lawn, you can thicken up the thin areas and get your lawn looking terrific again. (This is different from reseeding, which is when you start over and plant a completely new lawn.)
In most regions, late summer to early fall is the ideal time for planting grass seed. During this period, the soil is still warm, which promotes seed germination, and there's typically more rainfall, reducing the need for excessive watering.
Fall is the best time to introduce new seed into an existing lawn of cool-season grasses. The ground is typically warm and moist and grass seed does not have to compete with weed germination in the spring, making it an ideal time versus the spring.
Why should you aerate before overseeding? Aerating before overseeding ensures good seed-to-soil contact and a high germination rate.
For seed or plugs, apply fertilizer with a regular lawn spreader before you plant. If you're starting a lawn with sod, fertilize after your sod is in place. With any new lawn area, avoid using crabgrass preventer fertilizers or weed & feed fertilizers within four weeks before planting time.
Very Small Patchy Areas: For tiny bare spots (think a few inches in diameter), throwing a small amount of seed and keeping the area moist might suffice. However, even in these cases, lightly raking the soil to create some seed-to-soil contact can significantly improve results.
Simply insert a long screw driver into the ground. If it pushes down 6 to 8 inches without much resistance, you have the proper water saturation. Water new grass seed for 5 to 10 minutes immediately after planting to gently moisten the first several inches of soil.
Don't overdo or cut corners. Too much grass seed causes undue competition for resources such as light, water and nutrients, and grass seedlings struggle as a result. Too little seed leaves lawns thin or bare.
While you don't want to bury the seeds deeply, they do need good soil contact. Use the back of a plastic leaf rake to gently work the seeds into the top 1/8 inch of soil. Make short, light strokes to avoid redistributing the seeds unevenly.
The biggest benefit to using toilet paper is that it's cheap, easy and quick. Additionally, the toilet paper will protect the grass seeds from scavenging birds and keep them suitably moist.
While grass clippings themselves won't sprout new grass, they can play a significant role in supporting new grass growth and even contribute to natural reseeding under certain conditions.
If you reseed during the summer, the heat causes stress to grass seedlings and makes it difficult for them to grow. Reseeding in winter presents even more challenges, as there is less rainfall and both air and soil temperatures are too cold for seed to germinate and survive.
You want to aerate the lawn when your grass is in its peak growing period so it can recover quickly—think early spring or fall for cool-season grasses, and late spring through early summer for warm-season grasses. If you have high-traffic areas or heavy clay soil, you will want to aerate every year.
The ideal temperature range for grass seed is between 55-85°F (12-29°C). Anything below 55°F (13°C) will inhibit the growth of your grass seeds, so it's important to keep an eye on the weather forecast when planting. In cooler climates, you may need to wait until spring or early summer before planting your lawn.
How Long To Stay Off Your Lawn. So, generally, once you're done seeding you should limit foot traffic for at least 3-4 weeks. Cool-weather grasses usually take a couple of weeks to sprout, but giving it a little longer to grow will help its root system to take hold.
Watering new grass seed on new lawn areas does NOT require lengthy watering times. That simply sends the water deeper than it is needed at this early stage. Be careful about watering grass late evening or at night, especially with high humidity. This creates a problem with the lawn staying damp for too long.
Remember, lawn grass seeds only need to be lightly raked into the soil, or even just scattered directly on the soil surface. Any seeds buried more than the length of the seed will have a hard time germinating successfully.
Does Putting Grass Clippings on Bare Spots Help Grass Grow? While leaving grass clippings on the lawn during mowing (grasscycling) can offer benefits like nutrient recycling and improved soil health, it's not the most effective method for directly promoting grass growth in bare spots.
The answer is that you can overseed effectively without aerating. As we've just mentioned, it's all about seed-to-soil contact.
A: I use miracle grow garden soil to plant my grass seed all the time. I first put some down on the bare spot and then sprinkle grass seed on top and press it down. I either put a little soils on top or I put peat miss on top to keep the seed moist.
While it's possible to apply topsoil over grass seed, it's crucial to ensure the roots can still reach the soil beneath the new layer. Proper preparation and seeding techniques play a vital role in the success of this process.
For the fertilizer to be effective and not harm the grass seeds, you shouldn't fertilize and seed at the same time. You need to wait until the seeds begin to sprout, which usually takes about six to eight weeks.