Overseeding Lawn 11 tips that will ensure your success

in this video I'm going to give you 11 tips that will help you succeed in overseeding your lawn this fall before we get started though make sure to hit this the Subscribe button down below you can also like and share this channel if you like but hitting the Subscribe button gives you access to this video and the tips in the future it also gives you access to all of my videos that I currently have on my channel and the videos that I'll produce in the future the first thing you're going to want to do is choose a grass seed type that will have enough time to become established before the onset of Frost Kentucky Bluegrass can take 30 days just to germinate Fescue was 10 to 14 days and perennial rye grass could be as little as five so you can see knowing when the first Frost is going to hit approximately in your area is important if you had chosen Kentucky Bluegrass for example and you seeded on October 1st and the first Frost in your area is November 1st although seedlings would not have enough time to become established heck even even the germination of of some of those seeds may not have may not have happened yet if you've gone with perennial rye grass on the other hand at that same time October 1st by the 5th of October you may have your seedlings up by the 10th you may have gotten your first your first cut in by the four by the by the 17th you would be on your second the 21st you'd be on your your third your third cut by the 20 by the 28th you have four Cuts in that seed those seedlings that grass would be established by that point the next tip I have for you is the molo it's actually the first thing that you should be doing but you don't want to do it all at one shot what you want to do is go out cut it down to say three inches wait a couple days cut it down to two inches wait a couple days drop it down to an inch and a half and you can work with it from there you could choose to even cut it slightly lower go down to an inch that would be fine as well you want to do this so that it's easy to work the materials into and on top of your lawn in addition you don't want to have to turn around and cut your existing grass before the new grass has had time to to germinate and and require a cut of its own next is aeration aeration reduces the compaction of your soil it could also help to reduce thatch if your soil is compacted then for sure aerate your lawn grab yourself a six inch screwdriver and try to push it down into the soil struggle to even get it down a couple inches then you should be aerating your lawn if you need to level low spots in your lawn this is best done with topsoil that is purchased from a reputable supplier it should be free of weeds and nematodes this is achieved when the soil has been sterilized that is heated to a temperature of 160 degrees for an extended period of time leveling with sand is not an easy task it can be particularly hard to work with and it can introduce weed seeds and nematodes to the lawn it's large particles pull nutrients and moisture away from the new seeds leveling with sand should only be done as a finish coat on an established line when putting down grass seed apply it at the rate suggested by the supplier and listed on the bag the rate will be shown in pounds per thousand square feet too often people see the pounds per square feet and think if they double or triple that rate they will have double or triple the success unfortunately that's not how it works putting down too much grass seed will cause competition for resources and the seedlings will struggle as a result use a starter fertilizer and put it down at the same time as your seeds in a separate application of course do a soil test to know the makeup of your soil then choose fertilizer that can work with your particular conditions topping your seeds with peat moss will help to keep moisture around your seeds and seedlings as they grow can help reduce the amount of water that you need to apply it will also cover the seeds preventing birds from being able to spot them as they fly overhead and flying down for a meal water is important actually water is very important the seeds won't germinate without it but how you apply it can make a big difference too much water can cause pooling and wash seeds away what you want to do is just keep the seeds moist to do this you'll want to water only until the peat moss is wet not soaked you'll do this two to three times a day until the first cut of your grass then dial it back to once a day until your second cut from there forward all you want is 1.5 inches maybe as low as 1.25 inches of water over a seven day period for the rest of the lawn's existence for mowing of the new grass generally if you wait until that grass reaches four inches and then cut it down to three inches you're going to be fine you want to avoid mowing after a heavy rainfall also avoid making turns on that grass with your mower you don't want to rip up the new seedlings and should you mulch or should you bag those clippings I'll leave that up to you but understand that I do about 40 overseedings a year going back many years I always Mulch and have always mulched those tiny grass clippings break down very quickly and add nutrients and help to retain moisture around the new seedlings just follow best mulching practices that is mulching when the grass is dry never cutting more than one third of the height try not to cut any more than one inch off the top at any given time if you find that weeds pop up during this process be patient you want to let that grass become established and then you can apply a herbicide make sure to read the label of any herbicide that you're thinking of using to see when it can be applied to newly seated lawns generally a lawn can become established after four cuts and that's it if you have any questions put them in the comments section below seeing how you've gotten this far in the video you might as well subscribe to the channel you can like and share it as well foreign

Channel: Jeff Seeton Lawn Care

Views: 26,119

Keywords: overseeding lawn, lawn care, grass cutting machine, grass, kbg, prg, tttf, fertilizer, over seeding, over seeding lawn

Id: 8iPZJ-ss1XE

Length: 7min 17sec (437 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 16 2022