4 Things To Remember When Seeding Your Lawn

Weak, bare, or damaged parts of your lawn should be tended to in early spring. Overseeding is a great way to add new grass to your lawn, but make sure you’re committed to a proper watering schedule to achieve good growth.

Seeding is a great way to freshen up the lawn, and give it a much needed minor renovation. If you're planning on seeding your lawn, here are some things to consider.

Seed-to-Soil Contact is Vital

In order to get good results with any lawn seeding project, the seed must be in contact with soil. If seed is simply sprinkled on the surface of a lawn with an excessive thatch layer, the seed may germinate, but the tiny roots of the newly germinated seed will never make it to the soil, and will die during the first hot dry period. Seed must have good seed to soil contact.

Use the Best Grass Seed Available

• Avoid saving money on grass seed.
• Buy the best seed for the environmental conditions found in the landscape.
• Use a seed mixture, as opposed to one cultivar.
• A variety of grass seed species and cultivars results in good biodiversity within the lawn.
• Good biodiversity results in a lawn better able to tolerate environmental stresses.
• Use certified seed selected to address specific disease or insect resistance, as well as environmental factors like shade or drought.

Correct Soil Compaction and Soil pH

If the soil is compacted, or suffering from an acidic pH, make sure these issues are corrected. Soil core aeration and liming must be done in order to ensure good seed establishment.

Maintain Good Topsoil Moisture - Water!

Water daily until the new grass plants is established. It generally takes about a month for new seed to germinate and get established.

A newly seeded lawn needs to be watered daily in order to ensure good establishment. The newly germinated seeds have tiny, shallow roots and will die quickly if the water supply runs out. Light irrigation (1 cm of water) daily is all that is required. Avoid heavy irrigation as this can result in pooling of the water, erosion, and leaching of valuable nutrients below the root zone.

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