Everything You Need Know About Overseeding
Because the best thing you can do for your lawn this autumn is aeration and overseeding…
Some things in life are just prone to tiredness, like new parents, NHS nurses, long haul truckers and trance DJs to name a few. But there’s also something a little closer to home (unless you live with either a new parent, NHS nurse, trucker or trance DJ) that is super-prone to tiredness and that is your lawn.
That’s because summer can seriously take its toll on your turf. The weather is hot, the conditions are dry, thoses shaded spots don’t get the rain they seriously need, your dog is out there peeing all over the place and, if you’re being honest with yourself, you’ve been mowing it a little too low so that you don’t have to mow it so often. It’s all normal wear n’ tear stuff but this stuff can lead to disease and pests and that just makes matters worse. And if you’ve got kids, you’ve probably got bare patches of exposed soil to deal with too. Like we said, summer really knows how to make a lawn tired.
The answer: TLC. The more TLC you can give your lawn the more you will reap the benefits and, in this case, the best kind of TLC you can give your lawn is overseeding. Think of it as a spa day after months of stress and abuse and being overworked; not to mention something that will help your lawn survive the winter and thrive come the spring.
In that spirit, here’s everything you need to know about overseeding:
What Is This Overseeding thing?
There’s a lot of confusing lawn care terms out there and overseeding is one of them, but it basically just means reseeding and it’s a seriously good way to repair your damaged lawn before winter sets in. How so? Because you’re essentially thickening up any bare bits and crowding out the chance for weeds or diseases to make an entrance.
That said, it’s not just stressed-out lawns that can benefit from this lawn care strategy. A lot of older lawns are also pining for a bit of overseeding because it’ll introduce some new genetics to your current grass that will result in a) a lush appearance and b) a healthier plant. A bit like when you perform a software update on your phone, updating your grass seeds will give your lawn more resistance against disease, not to mention a much-improved turf quality.
When Should You Overseed?
A lot of things in life are up for debate, but this is not one of them because early autumn is absolutely 100% the best time to overseed your lawn. It’s what you would call the sweet spot, when the temperatures during the day are still warm enough to get your grass growing and the nights are nice and damp, which will give your new seed a break from the heat. Oh and, let’s not forget, the temperature of your soil will be bang on the money too, which is great for quick germination.
And here’s the best bit: unlike a 1980s cricket bat where the sweet spot was the size of a shrivelled raisin, overseeding can be done anytime between September and mid-October in the UK. This is because weeds have almost stopped being youknowwhats and the rain isn’t hard or consistent enough to wash away your efforts in an instant. In short, the conditions are ideal to start overseeding your lawn.
Top Tips For Maintaining Your Lawn After Overseeding
Most grass seed takes between 1 to 3 weeks to germinate, but there are certain things you can do to get the ball rolling and watering your lawn is the best of the bunch. You don’t want to oak your lawn but you want your soil to be moist — and don’t stop just because you’ve noticed your seedlings popping up. These little beauties need a lot of TLC during their first eight weeks of life because their lack of any mature roots means they can very easily dry out and, ummmm, die.
It’s also important to hold off on using any starter fertiliser when you’re overseeding because this can cause unnecessary competition between your new seedlings and your existing grass, making it a lot harder for your new grass to grow.
One thing we absolutely recommend, though, is aerating your lawn a week or so before you begin overseeding as this lawn care powerhouse knows just how to help your new seedlings grow into lusher-than-lush grass.
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