It’s Time to Reseed (or Monitor) Your Lawn
We should all know by now that it is better to replace traditional lawns with organic lawns or other ground cover. But the reality is that most people refuse to give up their lawns. If you are currently growing a fescue monoculture in your front or backyard or want to create one, I still think it is a bad idea , but regardless, the time to implement your bad idea is now. Warm weather combined with the rain that many are experiencing creates the perfect environment for grass seeds to germinate.
“Reseeding” versus “reseeding”
“Reseeding” means adding new seed to an existing lawn. While this does require some prep work on the ground underneath the grass and is beneficial, you will usually leave the existing lawn alone and simply feed it. “Repopulation” means starting over. You remove the existing grass (a notorious pain if ever there was one), re-prepare the soil, and then plant new grass seeds.
Why do people replant
Late summer/early fall is when you want to prepare your space and plant your lawn seeds for reseeding or overseeding—and you should consider why you’re choosing one direction over another. Spotted grass can be eliminated by overseeding. If the lawn appears thin or dirt is still visible underneath the lawn, overseeding can improve the lawn by increasing density. This density of new grass will improve the overall “greenness” of the space. An even better reason to overseed is to introduce new, better fescue varieties or to diversify the variety.
Why do people replant
People usually start over when the ground becomes uneven, weedy, thatched, or has a lot of roots growing through it. The other main reason people reseed is for under-lawn irrigation. In these cases, it makes sense to tear everything up and work on the ground under the grass itself. Grass sucks nutrients out of the soil and compacts it, so once the grass is gone, you will need to aerate the soil and add compost and other nutrients back into it. Pull out the roots, then level the ground well and reseed.
How to sow or reseed
To germinate, grass seeds must touch a growing medium, which is soil or compost. To achieve this on an existing lawn, you will either have to rake the grass enough to scarify the ground to leave soil for grass seed, or you can fertilize the existing lawn with a small amount of compost. Compost is not a bad idea because the soil and lawn almost certainly need it. Now you can add the grass seeds.
Additional steps must be taken to refill. Removing the lawn itself will also remove several inches of lawn depth, so when you replace it with more soil or compost, you’ll have a nice, level area.
When reseeding, I took the extra step of using a tiller to aerate the soil underneath the lawn. This reduces compaction that can occur as a result of grass growth. Next, I mulch with cardboard to drown out the remaining seeds in the ground. I then lay the compost on top of the cardboard, level it out and add grass seed.
Protect and grow your seeds
In my experience, lawn mulch ensures success whether you overseed or overseed. This is a special type of mulch that is placed over the lawn and helps provide some moisture while the seeds germinate, as well as concealing and protecting the seeds from birds and other animals.
For the first few weeks, you’ll need to keep the seeds moist at all times, which means watering them as many times a day as needed. Remember, if the soil is wet, the seeds will absorb moisture from the soil as long as they touch.
Wait to mow
You may not have a chance to exercise your mowing muscles until winter hits this year, and that’s completely okay. You need to make sure you don’t mow your lawn before it can handle it, both the mower itself and you walking on the lawn can cause damage. Mow only if the lawn is planted early enough and reaches a height of five to six inches before winter.