Despite popular belief, a thick, lush, green lawn does not just happen overnight without any effort. While it may be common knowledge to landscaping and gardening professionals, the secret to a thick, beautiful lawn is unknown to many. In this article I’ll explain how to overseed a lawn to improve your grass.
Growing a beautiful lawn takes more than just time and luck; it takes proper overseeding. Now you may be thinking, “what is overseeding?”
This article was last updated on by Lawn Chick Owner Sarah Jameson
Article content reviewed for accuracy by Certified Horticulturist Nicole Forsyth, M.S.
What is Overseeding?
Overseeding is the act of planting grass seed directly into an existing lawn or turf without turning over the lawn or turf.
This means that no holes are being punched in the lawn and your existing lawn turf is not being torn up as part of your seeding project.
Some people prefer to aerate and overseed their lawn at the same time, but mechanical aeration or using a slice-seeder to improve seed-to-soil contact is not required to effectively overseed your existing lawn.
Now that you know what overseeding is, you may be thinking, “why is it important?”
Why Overseed Your Lawn?
Overseeding is important because it can act as an easy way to fill in bare spots in your lawn.
These spots may have been left by a variety of factors, such as weather, stray toys, neighborhood dogs, etc.
Overseeding your lawn can also help to improve the density of your lawn grasses. This can prevent weeds from taking root.
It can also enhance the color and uniformity of your lawn’s appearance.
Overall, overseeding a lawn is important in maintaining a healthy lawn. In my view it’s one of the most important lawn care practices homeowners can undertake to transform the appearance of their yard.
While overseeding is much easier than tearing out your lawn and starting from scratch, it is also super easy to overseed incorrectly.
Making mistakes can damage your lawn instead of helping it. Also, grass seed is expensive. You want to make sure you’re getting the most value from every seed you spread on your lawn.
Here are my best tips on how to overseed a lawn the right way.
Think About What You Want to Accomplish with Overseeding
Most people, when they think about overseeding, think about doing it to help out a lawn that has thinned.
However, it can be best to think about overseeding as a preventative measure. Overseeding can help prevent weeds from taking over your lawn.
No matter why you’re overseeding your lawn, once you have your goals straight, then you can think about how to overseed properly.
With Overseeding, Timing is Everything
Overseeding, like most things in lawn care, requires proper timing. If you do it at the wrong time of year, you’ll be wasting your time and money and you’ll be disappointed with the results.
Here are some great general timing considerations for different types of grass:
- Cool-season grasses – the best time to overseed this type of grass is in the late summer or early fall. Overseeding for this type of grass happens the most successfully when the grass is already thriving and growing vigorously. The warm soil from the summer months will encourage germination, and the cool air in the fall will help to stimulate growth.
- Warm-season grasses – The best time to overseed this type of grass is in late fall or early winter. For tougher grasses, it is recommended to overseed at least 45 days before the first frost, or if you live in warmer climates, 45 days before it hits the coldest time of the year.
Related – Use this grass zone map to learn about your local growing zone.
Many people want to overseed in the spring, because this is the time of year when their lawn is top-of-mind.
While you can have success overseeding in the springtime, I don’t recommend it, because the hot summer months inevitably put stress on your young grasses, and you won’t have the same return on your investment when overseeding in the spring.
For Overseeding, Preparation is Key
When you begin to overseed your lawn, you have to prepare the area. To prepare your lawn for overseeding:
- Mow your lawn shorter than you normally would.
- Remove all of the clippings (bag them, then rake whatever the mower misses).
- Loosen the turf with a rake.
Mow your lawn shorter than usual to improve the percentage of seed that contacts the soil.
You’ll also want to delay mowing your new grass after overseeding. Mowing your lawn close will buy you some extra time before you have to mow. Mowing too early can rip your new grass out because it won’t have strong enough roots.
For normal mowing I recommend mowing 1/3 of the grass length. When overseeding, get closer to 2/3 of the grass length cut and raked.
After mowing and bagging your clippings, rake over the area to remove all excess clippings and debris and to begin to turn over the soil, so it is ready to receive the new seed.
Raking is a good way to loosen the soil in your lawn so your grass seed has good contact. Without good soil contact, your seed won’t germinate and grow.
I go over my lawn with an iron rake (like the one pictured) to loosen the turf, but you can core aerate your lawn or use a dethatcher to expose the soil and get good seed-to-soil contact as well.
Know Your Grasses
Be sure that you choose a seed that is going to work for your climate. Also choose one that will work with your existing grasses.
Likewise, you will want to choose top quality seed that you can depend on to keep growing all year long.
It is also important to consider the amount of sunlight that your lawn will be getting. Do not choose a grass seed that requires a lot of sunlight to grow if your area is heavily shaded.
If possible, use grass seed that spreads via Rhizomes. These grasses send shoots and roots out horizontally. This will naturally fill in bare spots on its own for years, giving you a very thick, dense lawn.
It’s Time to Spread the Seed.
Once you have prepared the area by mowing the grass, raking, and choosing your seed, it is time to spread the seed. Be sure to check the seed label to know the rate of overseeding.
Using a lawn spreader, available at most home improvement and gardening stores, spread the seed around your lawn.
Spreading the seed is a pretty self-explanatory process; however, it is important to do it when the air is calm. Do NOT try to spread the seed on a windy day, as you will ultimately miss your lawn and waste your seed. Likewise, working when the air is calm ensures even distribution of the seed.
Take Care of Your New Seed
Fertilizing your new seed is essential for its growth. Fertilizer delivers essential nutrients that help it to germinate and grow into the healthy lawn that you want.
All-natural fertilizer is the best option for fertilizing your new seed, as phosphorous supports rapid root growth; however, there are restrictions on certain types of fertilizer, so be sure to check restrictions in your area.
My go-to method is to broadcast a thin (1/4″ to 1/2″) layer of compost over my lawn after spreading the new seed.
Not only will this ensure good contact with your new lawn seed, it feeds your established grasses. It’s pretty cheap to order a delivery and spread it with a wheelbarrow and shovel.
Water It (the right way)
Water is one thing that new seeds need a lot of. Be sure to keep your soil constantly moist with light waterings about twice a day for the first week. After the first week, water your lawn more heavily for a week.
After the first two weeks, water as needed to prevent wilting and to promote a healthy lawn. With this watering schedule, you will be promoting healthy roots, which will lead to healthy grass and a beautiful lawn.
Regular Maintenance is Critical
After the first two or three weeks, you can return to normal lawn maintenance. You new seed should be sprouted and rooted, and your lawn should be looking healthier than ever.
How to Overseed a Lawn: Common Mistakes to Avoid
Now, at this point you may be thinking, “overseeding seems pretty easy, how can anyone mess it up?” Here are the most common mistakes to avoid when looking to overseed your lawn:
- Using the wrong type of seed. Like we mentioned before, you have to choose a seed that is compatible with your lawn, climate, and sun patterns. Likewise, choosing a cheaper seed means you are getting seeds that are older, past their planting prime, and likely filled with more weeds.
- Ignoring the recommended seeding rates. Seeding rates are not just a recommendation. By using the proper amount of seed for your project, you are increasing your chance of success. Keep in mind, growing a lawn from scratch or repairing a completely dead spot will take twice as much seed as trying to fill in a thinning area. That being said, using too much seed can harm your grass by causing excess competition for the necessary resources for proper growth.
- Ignoring proper timing. While it can be tempting to overseed your grass the moment it starts to thin, proper overseeding only occurs at the right time of the year with the right type of grass. We recommend following the above season recommendations for both warm and cold seasoned grasses.
- Using weed treatments directly after overseeding. When it can be tempting to use weed treatments to keep your new lawn healthy, it is important to avoid them. These products cannot distinguish between your brand new baby grass and the brand new baby weeds. It is best to just use an all-natural fertilizer.
Overseeding can seem like a daunting process. But, once you know how to do it and the things to avoid, overseeding can really help you create a beautiful, healthy lawn. This will have all your neighbors in envy.
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