One of the best things you can do to make your lawn look better is overseeding a lawn. This is going to make the grass thicker, more uniform in color and appearance, and also help to crowd out weeds. There are a few steps that need to happen for this to be successful.
How To Overseed a Lawn?
Measure the Lawn
The first step to overseed is to get outside and measure your lawn. You don’t know how much seed and fertilizer to buy if you don’t know how much area you’re covering. Measure your lawn area width and length to determine the square footage.
An easy way to do this is just to step it off knowing that the average stride is about three feet. Round your numbers up we just have to be close we don’t have to be exact. Make sure you write your numbers down.
Mowing
Now that you’ve picked out your grass seed you’ll want to mow your lawn nice and short. We call this the “Lo-Mow”. Adjust your mower one or two notches lower than normal being careful not to scalp your lawn.
Remove the clippings and debris by bagging them or raking them. We need the grass seed to make contact with the soil.
Dethatching/Raking
The next step to overseed is dethatching or power raking. It is ripping up a lot of junk and lawn debris getting it out of the ground and allowing your lawn to breathe. If you have never defected your lawn or power rake your lawn that is another good thing to do.
Look for any bare spots in the yard. Take a rake or a garden weasel and scratch up the surface. This will help the seed make contact with the soil and improve germination.
Seeding
We’ve got our seed to soil contact with either aeration or dethatching. It is time to plant the grass seed. So, when it comes to picking a grass seed that you’re going to put on your lawn. It all depends on where you’re at, what you already have on your lawn.
Spreader
Now grab the grass seed and pour it into the spreader. Always make sure your spreader is clean and doesn’t have any chemical residue in it. Open the spreader to about 40% open when overseeding your lawn. Run the spreader over the yard making two passes on the fan or bare areas.
All bare areas should have this much seed on them. Fill your spreader with fertilizer, and eep your spreader setting at forty percent open and make one pass through the yard.
Cover the Bare Spots
Now that we have our seed and fertilizer down. We need to cover the bare areas with a little bit of seed cover just enough to hide the seed. Remember if you can see the seed it won’t germinate.
Avoid using topsoil bagged peat moss or compost as they contain weed seeds.
Seed covers help the seeds stay consistently moist and keep the seed from blowing or washing away. Sports Field Conditioner works great on muddy spots, slopes, and areas where you can’t avoid some light foot traffic.
Watering
The next and most important step is to water the new grass seed. Keep the seed consistently moist for it to germinate. This means on hot windy days you’ll need to water several times a day for five to ten minutes.
After you see the grass seeds start to sprout reduce the watering frequency but increase the amount of water. For example, instead of watering two to three times a day for five to ten minutes, start watering two to three times per week for 20 or 30 minutes. We want to start training those roots to look deeper for water.
Mow the new grass as it reaches a height of two and a half to three inches. Mowing promotes root growth for healthy grass establishment.
Fertilizing
Four weeks after seeding it’s time to get the spreader back out and feed the new lawn. Apply the lawn fertilizer according to your grass and then apply a half-inch of water.
During late fall before the soil, freezes apply Jonathan Fall Food. This encourages root growth, promotes drought and disease tolerance, and helps with early spring green-up.
By following all these steps, you can successfully overseed your lawn.
Reference
https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/outdoor/how-to-overseed-a-lawn/
https://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/2013/OverseedLawn.shtml
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/4/38
I am Ricky Martin, a seasoned landscape designer, a passionate gardener, and a barbecue enthusiast. With 12 years of experience in building and restoring, I welcome you to my website lawnscanner.com
