One of the most common issues that concern our customers in the spring is once the snow melts; the lawn appears to be brown and thin. The Ottawa area’s harsh winter weather often wreaks havoc on our lawns. Older grass plants die off, rodents such as voles make paths on the lawn under the snow and foot and pet traffic over the snow damages the turf below.
Overseeding is a great way to recover from winter. It will green up your lawn, thicken the turf and introduce new varieties of grass to your existing turf to help crowd out weeds. Our licensed technicians aerate the lawn to break up the thatch and compaction to prepare for excellent seed-soil contact. The seed is then applied using a broadcast spreader at rates above the manufacturer’s recom- mended rates.
At Nutri-Lawn we use a mixture of sun and shade seed that is suitable for Ottawa area lawns. Our ryegrass seed is “endophytic” – insect resistant. You’ll see shoots of ryegrass in about 4 to 7 days, bluegrass in about 21 days and fescue somewhere in the middle.
Points to consider:
• Corn gluten meal will inhibit seed germination.
• You must keep the soil moist daily for 2-3 weeks, until establishment.
• Don’t mow new seed until the new blades are 2½ - 3”.Keep the lawn at 2½ - 3 inches in height. Don’t cut more than 1/3 of the leaf blade. (unless it was just seeded)
