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Grass Seeding

lupi

lupi

Lifer
Question for the experts, I want to do some overseeding before the temps get too high and noticed that we're supposed to be getting heavy rain Friday and Saturday. Would it be good to put down before the friday rain or is too much rain that early into new seed bad? Also how long should you wait until mowing after an overseed?.
 
It would be good to overseed before a rain. If your expecting a couple of inches you may want to rethink it. Just remember, water is like crack to seeds. Once they get some they have to get their fix regularly.

On mowing, wait until it roots, if you can try to wait 4 weeks. It may not be possible with the rest of your yard.
 
Pretty sure heavy rain is good for overseeding, unless you are worried it will wash away. I don't think it's usually a problem though unless you have really bare patches and it rains so hard you get standing water or actual runoff.
 
Tobolo said:
It would be good to overseed before a rain. If your expecting a couple of inches you may want to rethink it. Just remember, water is like crack to seeds. Once they get some they have to get their fix regularly.

On mowing, wait until it roots, if you can try to wait 4 weeks. It may not be possible with the rest of your yard.
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Yeah that's why most people overseed much earlier in the year. Waiting 4 weeks to mow this time of year is going to be a disaster.
 
dank69 said:
Yeah that's why most people overseed much earlier in the year. Waiting 4 weeks to mow this time of year is going to be a disaster.
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My grass is seeding on its own this time of year. Put your mower on the tallest setting and mulch all that seed back to the ground.
 
I had already put down patch repair seed stuff on the bare/thinnest areas (so I've already been watering), so just wondered how strong placed down seed would stay in place on its own sans flood like rain.
 
I did overseed at the end of last year, but after a good pass over the yard with weed/crabgrass killer several sections have thinned out a bit, which is bad enough on its own, but some type of pale green rye like grass is growing quickest in those spots which I would like to prevent.

Don't mulch as if I go a full 7 days between cuts I'd end up leaving way too thick of a coat of dead grass on top.
 
you are probably too late... but I guess it depends on where you live. this should be done in early spring and the fall.
 
I usually do it in late february/early march before the last snow. weight of the snow seems to push the seeds into the ground. Then throw some hey on top to keep it from washing/blowing away.
 
I've been told that it's best to seed in the fall. or very very early spring. I think it's too late for this season.
 
lupi said:
I did overseed at the end of last year, but after a good pass over the yard with weed/crabgrass killer several sections have thinned out a bit, which is bad enough on its own, but some type of pale green rye like grass is growing quickest in those spots which I would like to prevent.

Don't mulch as if I go a full 7 days between cuts I'd end up leaving way too thick of a coat of dead grass on top.
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When did you put down the weed and crabgrass killer? Those often don't mix well with new grass seeds and you may need to wait till the effectiveness wears off before seeding. I'd also question why what you used cleared out your grass. I am speculating but maybe it was too thick of an application or the grass seed was cheap, fragile 'contractors mix' type of seed.

Honestly - at this point its probably better to wait until the fall. Some debate that spring is better to seed but I've heard it repeated many times on the professional lawn care forums that fall is better. If you need a lot of new grass you may want to look into renting a slit seeder for better results than just a regular spreader
 
Weed w/crabgrass done about 2 months ago. Regular weed stuff about 2 weeks ago.

Nory it'd probably be too hot to try it this late, but except for 1 week we've had an extremely mild early summer. And since I'm already watering to grow the bare spots, doing some full lawn watering not that much more involved.
 
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Just wait until fall. There are a ton of spots in my lawn that I tried to seed and the 5 days of rain we had washed everything away in the spring. Now I gotta wait until Sept/Oct to seed it. Kinda sucks, but that is life.

If it is a large patch, just pick up some sod and keep it wet for a week or 2.
 
lupi said:
Weed w/crabgrass done about 2 months ago. Regular weed stuff about 2 weeks ago.
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In that case don't even bother overseeding, it's a waste.

You have to overseed in early spring/or fall or don't do it at all. Weed prevented etc will prevent the seeds from growing anyways.

Your best bet, cut the grass twice a week and leave the clippings down. Heck that's probably better than fertilizing.....
 
Bad idea, it will wash away unless you aerate (spike) the shit out of it and blow straw. That's usually the work needing a pro.
 
lupi said:
Question for the experts, I want to do some overseeding before the temps get too high and noticed that we're supposed to be getting heavy rain Friday and Saturday. Would it be good to put down before the friday rain or is too much rain that early into new seed bad? Also how long should you wait until mowing after an overseed?.
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Ideal overseeding conditions are when its warm enough to germinate, but not too hot to dry out your seed...which is a big problem when you put down seed without a protective, moisture holding mulch (traditionally, peatmoss) covering.

In a nutshell, high 50's to 60's + 2 weeks of moist weather and/or supplimental water = ideal. Anything under ~55 degrees and your seed will rot (assuming its moist) before it germinates. Anything above ~70 is going to require special attention to watering. You cannot let the seed dry out once it starts germinating or it will die. One warm afternoon without water will kill it.

If you can apply a small amount of peatmoss to cover the seed but not cover the existing grass you will increase your germination rate and your upper temperature tolerance since the moisture will hold down surface temps.
 
Seed is cheap. Throw some down.

If you want to increase your germination rate, put the seed in a garbage can, fill it with water, leave it overnight, and then strain it the next day.

If you can, mix it with some sand in a wheelbarrow, then spread it out over your lawn.

Ideally you do this in the spring and fall, but you can do it in the middle of summer so long as you can keep the seed moist. If you have a sprinkler system, you're set. If not, give it a good spray early in the morning and again at night.

If you want, see if you can find some starter fertilizer. Something like 13-26-6 works well. Mix a little of that in with the sand and seed mix before spreading it out on the lawn.
 
Tobolo said:
It would be good to overseed before a rain. If your expecting a couple of inches you may want to rethink it. Just remember, water is like crack to seeds. Once they get some they have to get their fix regularly.

On mowing, wait until it roots, if you can try to wait 4 weeks. It may not be possible with the rest of your yard.
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unless you have a huge property, just use a trimmer/edger and wave it over the rest of the lawn to "mow" it.

BTW, the problem with overseeding early spring is that's the time you're supposed to put down crabgrass control (which is a big deal) with feed and for 2 months following it prevents all seed germination. I was actually going to wait another few weeks to try overseeding... I bought the grass stitcher which even landscapers say is a good tool. It allows for seed to go deeper and then they always say to use peat moss on top of seeds. I did this to some degree of success in a huge bare spot last fall, but I gotta fill it in even more. If it doesn't work, not a big deal... will try again after summer.
 
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sunzt said:
how soon can i overseed after i fertilize?
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Depends on the chemicals used. There are a couple of crabgrass and weed killers (Siduron I believe) that you are able to use at the time of seeding but those are pretty expensive. Dimension you can use a week after the grass emerges so I would think 4-6 weeks in reverse. Scotts usually uses Pendimethalin which carries a general recommendation of 3-4 mowings before planting new seed (Its not as persistent as Dimension)
 
Exterous said:
Depends on the chemicals used. There are a couple of crabgrass and weed (Siduron I believe) killers that you are able to use pretty close to the time of seeding but those are pretty expensive. Dimension you can use a week after the grass emerges so I would think 4-6 weeks in reverse. Scotts uses Pendimethalin IIRC which carries a general recommendation of 3-4 mowings before planting new seed (Its not as persistent as Dimension)
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He said fertilize not weed killer. Id let the fertilizer get in about a week before I laid seed down. Pre-emergent fertilizers will kill all seeds.
 
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