What happens if you overseed your lawn

Need Help? Call Looking to overseed your lawn? Learn how and when to overseed your grass with this handy guide. Check out our Overseeding Lawn Care Guide for more. What is Overseeding? Why Overseed Your Lawn? When to Overseed Your Lawn The best time to overseed your lawn depends on where you live. Step One: Prep Seed germination and establishment requires good contact of seed with soil.

Step Two: Seed When choosing seed, be sure to select the right seed for your region of the country and for your yard conditions, and follow the package directions on your chosen grass seed. Step Three: Watering and Maintenance Watering is one of the most important aspects of successful overseeding.

Tools to Overseed Your Lawn Most homeowners only need a lawn mower, rake, and seed spreader to overseed the lawn. DIY or Hire Professionals?

November 13, Read More. Mow your lawn extra short and remove the clippings, so new seed contacts soil and gets sunlight and water. Set your mower at two inches or less for regular overseeding. For southern lawns and winter color, set the blade as low as it goes, and cut just above the soil—what's known as scalping. Rake the soil with a metal thatch rake to remove thatch , clippings and debris.

This loosens and exposes soil to receive seed. For troubles beyond normal thinning, test your soil and make corrections before overseeding. Follow test recommendations for using soil amendments and repairing bare lawn spots. If needed, take time to dethatch and core aerate compacted lawns so air, moisture and seed can get to the soil.

Pennington One Step Complete products combine premium seed with a stabilized-release fertilizer and wood mulch to simplify lawn repairs. Better seed yields better lawns. Always use grasses recommended for your regional climate and choose top-quality grass seed you can depend on. Pennington Smart Seed products provide premium grass seed appropriate for sun, shade or high-traffic areas in lawns in northern or southern regions.

Three-in-one Pennington Lawn Booster combines superior Smart Seed varieties with premium-grade fertilizer and soil enhancer. Apply seed at label-recommended overseeding rates, using the lawn spreader that suits the job. Use drop or broadcast spreaders for large lawns and handheld spreaders for smaller areas. For small spots, simply seed from your hand.

Work when the air is calm, so seed distributes evenly. Starter fertilizer, such as Pennington Ultragreen Starter Fertilizer , delivers essential nutrients for new grass. Using a garden fork, spike the lawn to a depth of approx. If your lawn has not been fed in the last 4 months we recommend feeding the lawn before overseeding. Check the instructions on the product for this. A pre-seeding fertiliser is ideal and can be applied up to a few days before overseeding.

Sow the seed evenly across the lawn. The seed can be mixed with Lawn Topdressing and applied to the lawn jointly. This will save a bit of time and effort working the topdressing and seed into the surface. The seeded area must be kept moist, therefore, water your lawn after 2 or 3 days if no rain has fallen. Specific bare patches can be reseeded without treating the whole lawn.

To protect specific areas from birds consider covering with netting or garden fleece. Planting grass varieties appropriate to your growing region gives your seed a natural advantage.

Even with similar seed types, all grass seed isn't equal. Learn what's actually inside the seed bags you or your lawn professional buy. By understanding the seed tags on grass seed products, you can be sure you invest in quality seed. Cheaper price tags can mean less seed versus fillers, old seeds past their prime, more weed seeds and lower germination rates.

Getting seed right from the start benefits your lawn and budget. Seeding success depends on an environment conducive to good grass growth. Knowing how your soil measures up on certain essentials, such as soil pH and plant nutrients, allows you to provide the foundation an outstanding lawn needs. Soil testing processed through a reputable soil laboratory eliminates guesswork and reveals changes you need to make.

Without knowing where your soil stands, well-intended soil amendments and fertilizers can harm grass instead of help — or simply go to waste.

Incorporating your specific soil lab recommendations helps circumvent potential problems and unnecessary setbacks. That's one reason turf professionals emphasize regular soil testing to start seed right and keep lawns healthy and vibrant. Your local county extension office can help with testing kits and lab referrals. Many homeowners think lime is a lawn care necessity, but that doesn't hold true across the board.

Normal lawn care can naturally cause soil pH to drop lower over time, and lime applications benefit lawns that need pH raised. But in some cases, soil pH may already be high.