Why You Should Overseed Your Yard
With summer in the air, now is the time to begin thinking about your lawn. If your grass is dry, patchy and brown, you’re not alone. Fortunately, complete turf renovation is not as hard as you might think. By following these three steps, you will be well on your way to having beautiful, green, golf course quality grass.
- Dethatching
- Aerating
- Overseeding
Last week, we talked about the importance of aerating your yard. Once your yard is properly aerated, then the third and final step in achieving a beautiful, green lawn is overseeding. In this article, we’ll talk about what overseeding is, how it can help your lawn, and how to properly overseed.
What is Overseeding?
If your lawn is patchy, brown and dry, it might be because the grass has actually died out. When you overseed, you plant grass seed directly over your existing turf. Overseeding is a simple way to fill in dead or thin spots of grass, giving you a thicker, more green lawn. Overseeding can be done with either a spreader or an overseeder.
The Benefits of Overseeding
Many types of grass (especially cool season grasses) typically lie dormant or can even die in hot weather or when exposed to excess sunlight. Because of this state of dormancy, grass turns a brown, unhealthy shade.
Overseeding is the easiest and most effective way to allow that rich, green color to be returned to your yard. Overseeding will also make your turf thicker, healthier, and less prone to weeds.
How to Overseed your Yard
If your yard has spots of discoloration or poor growth, you could probably benefit from overseeding. In order to grow thick, healthy grass, and get the most out of your grass seed, seed to soil contact is key. Because of this, the best time for overseeding is right after your yard has been aerated. Aerating before overseeding will help the grass take root and germinate more quickly.
Before you overseed, you have to choose which type of grass you would like to grow. The most important factor in choosing the right grass is climate zone. The map below breaks the country down into three groups: cool-season zone, transitional zone, and warm-season zone.
Check out the map, and whichever zone you are in will help you determine which grass is best for your region. If you’re in the cool season region, popular choices are Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Fescues. However, if you’re in a warm season region, Zoysia and Bermudagrass are both great choices.
When planting grass seed, one common practice is to use a blend of two or three different types of grass. For example, bluegrass is a great grass for cool season zones, but it can take up to three weeks to germinate. Because of this, adding some fescue in your bluegrass can help the growing process because fescues only take about a week to germinate. The fescue will protect the sensitive bluegrass seeds from the elements until they get a chance to germinate.
Once you choose the perfect grass combination, it’s time to overseed. Go over your lawn thoroughly with a spreader or an overseeder. After you overseed, gently go over your yard with a rake in order to allow the seeds to settle in. After you have done both of these steps, then you can begin to water your lawn.
Well, that about does it for our turf renovation series. Thanks for reading, and hopefully after you follow these simple steps you will be on your way to having the greatest looking lawn on the block! Feel free to share some pictures of your newly beautiful lawn!
Around the Lawn 
One comment