Winter Seeding Your Lawn

Seed in early spring or early fall spring plantings are at risk from hot and dry conditions over the summer.

Winter seeding your lawn.

Maintaining your new lawn. Dormant seeding is the practice of sowing grass in the winter months when grass seeds are inactive. Start to mow your new winter lawn when the grass reaches normal mowing height. Mow and rake the lawn.

If you missed the window for fall seeding of a cool season lawn you can still plant a lawn for spring. To do that the first step is to mow the lawn. How to overseed a lawn 1. Look for a fertilizer that contains iron or use an iron product like ironite for the best results.

Feed your ryegrass monthly with an analysis such as 21 7 14 or 22 3 9 see our fertilizer guide for more information. Your winter lawn will require feeding just like your summer lawn. Dormant seeding is the collective term for overseeding lawns in late fall and winter when soil temperatures are too cold to allow grass seed to germinate. Fine fescue can improve shady lawn areas or lawns that face very cold winters.

For average lawn conditions mixes containing some kentucky bluegrass fine fescue and small amounts of perennial ryegrass can be sown about three to four. After mowing rake the lawn to help loosen the top layer of soil and remove any dead grass and debris. Wait until late fall or early winter when the soil is too cold for the seeds to germinate. Before overseeding your thin lawn cut your grass shorter than normal and bag the clippings.

In the mid west the opportunity for dormant seeding is best from mid november through early march while soil temperatures remain below 50 degrees. When choosing the seed to use be sure to select seed mixes that are well adapted to both your site conditions and the amount of maintenance you expect to provide during the growing season. After the soil has been prepared and your lawn is ready to be seeded it s time to spread the seeds. A spreader is a machine that disperses seeds from a hopper across your lawn as you move it around.

This will give the grass seed easy access to the soil so it can root more easily after germinating. Six to eight weeks after seeding keep your winter lawn looking its best by feeding it with scotts turf builder southern lawn food. How to overseed a lawn step 1. Fertilize in early spring after a mild winter late spring or early summer after a cold winter late summer and fall.

Your lawn may not be ready for the mower but seeding the lawn now now will help your lawn get a leg up on spring growth.