Do-it-Yourself: Lawn Overseeding

[Music] hi i'm tony if your lawn is starting to look thin or worn out if it has bare spots or if it isn't quite as drought or weed resistant as it once was it might be time to overseed overseeding involves applying grass seed over an existing lawn to make it fuller and thicker it's an important part of a good overall lawn care strategy early fall is an ideal time of year for overseeding in many parts of the country although spring can also work in the next few minutes we'll share some tips for overseeding success to help ensure good results on an overseeding project there are a couple things you'll want to check before you sow the grass seed one thing to keep in mind is that if you've recently used a weed control or prevention product on your lawn you may need to wait a certain length of time before overseeding so follow the guidelines on the packaging another thing to check before overseeding is the amount of thatch buildup on the lawn thatches the layer of dead grass and other organic material on top of the soil having some thatch is normal and beneficial but having more than about a half an inch can interfere with your lawn's health too much thatch can also adversely affect overseeding efforts because grass seed needs to contact the soil to germinate if the thatch layer isn't much more than a half inch thick and it's not all that difficult to push through with your finger aerating the lawn which we'll talk about more in a minute may be enough to break it up if you have a really thick layer of thatch or if it's tough to get through you may need to remove it with a dethatching rake or a bow rake or with a power dethatcher before proceeding further if so mow the lawn and collect the clippings first also keep in mind that dethatching can be tough on grass especially if you use a machine so it's important to time it appropriately you wouldn't want to do it during a drought or a heat wave for example one more thing you may need to do before you overseed is aerate your lawn if you have it done so recently air raiding breaks up compacted soil helps air water and nutrients penetrate and helps facilitate strong root development it can also aid in breaking up thatch as i mentioned periodic aerating can help improve the health of mature lawns and aerating before you overseed is a great way to help grass seeds settle in and get off to a good start you wouldn't want to aerate new grass though to avoid tearing out delicate roots the best way to aerate a lawn is with a core aerator a core aerator removes narrow cores of soil a couple inches long these cores tend to fill in more slowly than holes punched into the soil with a spike aerator both manual and powered core aerators are available although as you can imagine covering a large area manually takes a while for large areas you may prefer to use a power aerator aerating is easiest on moist soil so you may need to water the lawn a day or two beforehand you'll also want to mow before you aerate and flag the locations of sprinkler heads underground lines or other obstacles in your lawn the idea is to end up with holes spaced roughly three or four inches apart so depending on your aerator you may need to go over the lawn a couple of times in different directions the soil cores will break down naturally over time so you don't have to pick them up to do the actual overseeding you'll need a bow rake enough grass seed to cover your lawn in a formula appropriate for your area in a broadcast or rotary spreader unless you have an in-ground sprinkler system you'll also need one or more sprinklers and enough garden hose to reach the entire area you're over seeding first mow the lawn to the shortest recommended height for your grass and collect the clippings if the lawn has bare spots use the rake to loosen the soil surface in those areas using a broadcast a rotary spreader to apply the grass seed will give you a more precise application than sewing by hand check the grass seed package to determine the recommended application rate and spreader setting then apply the seed to the lawn after sowing the grass seed go over the lawn gently with the rake to help the seeds settle in then give the lawn a thorough watering the seeds need moisture to germinate so don't let them dry out keep the lawn moist watering a couple times a day if necessary until the seedlings are about two inches high follow the grass seed manufacturer's mowing and fertilizing instructions for best results and if you apply fertilizer be sure to select a formula that's appropriate for new grass i'm tony and i'll see you next time

Channel: DoitBest

Views: 2,922,949

Keywords: lawn care, lawn, scotts, spring, seeding, overseeding, mole, Garden, Green, Flower, Flowers, Spring (Risk Factor), Eco, Environment, nature, Flowers (Musical Album), Green (Musical Group), scotts lawn care, scotts lawn, Scotts LawnService (Business Operation), diy, doityourself, do it yourself, grass, grass seed, seed

Id: 7LYMaH4TjrI

Length: 4min 35sec (275 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 26 2013