Early spring and late fall are the perfect times to reseed a worn-out lawn, and it’s not very difficult to do. Hop to action as soon as the forsythia blooms, or wait until around Labor Day before taking any turf action.
This weed-laden lawn could use a good reseeding!
Photo Credit: Lynn Means
It takes a bit of work and patience, but just look at the lush, green grass you can grow by reseeding and watering right!
Photo Credit: Lynn Means
For best results, rent an aerator to use on your soil before seeding.
Photo Credit: Lynn Means
Metal impulse sprinklers like this one make manual watering a breeze.
Photo Credit: Lynn Means
No matter the season, the process is the same, and it’s simple, inexpensive and a fraction of the cost of sod. First, measure your yard: length x width = square footage. You have to know this number to be able to purchase the right amount of soil amendments and seed products. Also, if you’re hiring a professional to do all or a portion of the job, it’s the first thing they’ll ask. If you’ve calculated a consistent measurement for them, it’ll make comparing prices a lot easier.
Since the plan here is to reseed your lawn (not over-seed it), the first step is to get rid of all the old grass and weeds. You can do it yourself by mixing an all-purpose herbicide into your garden sprayer (just don’t use it on your garden again or you’ll kill the plants). Start by spraying in a horizontal direction, followed with another pass over the area in a vertical direction to saturate everything evenly. Wait 14 days, then mow – low and slow. Be sure to bag those clippings – do not compost them. (You may have to spray twice to ensure you’ve got a clean slate to work with.)
Your dying lawn can be a bit dramatic to deal with, but rest assured you’re building the base for a beautiful lawn. To distract you from the mess, head out to buy your seed and amendments. Quantities vary according to square footage. Here in North Carolina, I use one 20-pound bag of palletized lime per 1,000 square feet. (The store I buy it from does my soil testing – testing is always a good idea). When it comes to starter fertilizer, I need about 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet, and 5-7 pounds of lawn seed per 1,000 square feet.
The most important decision you’ll make is what seed to buy. For me, high-quality fescue seed is worth any additional costs. You should look for a grass seed ideal for your particular climate. I’m in the Southeast and like a tall turf fescue that’s a cool-season grass. I want my lawn to hold up well under Southern heat and drought, and I want it to be disease-resistant (including to brown patch). I like my grass to stay green practically year-round with a bluegrass color that takes my breath away. And I want a seed that’ll grow evenly in shade or sun. No matter what seed you choose, these are exactly the kind of qualities you’ll want to look for, too.
Before you put anything down on your yard, core/plug or aerate the soil to give your seed the best contact with its new environment. Aeration is also one of the most effective methods to get seed implanted on a slope where rain can wash out the most sincere efforts to grow grass. You can rent the equipment or hire a lawn/landscape professional to aerate, apply your soil amendments and seed evenly all at once.
In a perfect world, Mother Nature would cooperate with your seeding efforts, and it would start to rain just as your seeds are sown. Then it would drizzle continuously as your grass explodes through the soil. Unfortunately, that probably won’t happen, but you can give Mother Nature a boost with some extra irrigation. Here’s a terrific system that’s simple to follow, uses less water and best of all – it works! You just need a metal impulse sprinkler and enough garden hose to reach your various watering points in your yard.
An impulse sprinkler has a rotating head that sprays water while it moves in either a clockwise or counterclockwise movement on the top of its metal stake base. It makes a ticking sound as the water pulses through it, so it’s easy to think of it as a clock with a 60-minute timer. If you wanted to water your seed properly on a round lawn, the sprinkler would run in a full circle for one hour (on days it doesn’t rain) to give the grass enough moisture to grow.
But most lawns aren’t circles – they’ve got corners and edges, and you can adjust the sprinkler to irrigate a specific angle. You can also adjust the watering time accordingly. For example, if you set the sprinkler on a sidewalk edge to cover a 180-degree area (half of a circle), the sprinkler would only need to run for 30 minutes. If you set it up in a corner to water a 90-degree area, it would need to run 15 minutes. That’s all you need to germinate your seeds and supplement natural rainfall.
This technique keeps consistent water on your new seeds until they germinate in 2½-3 weeks. As soon as your new grass reaches a height of 4 inches, you can mow. Be sure to set your blade to a height no less than 3-3½ inches.
And that’s all there is to it. Nothing looks finer than a gorgeous, green lawn. It defines the landscape and makes your home stand out – and you’ll never think the grass is greener on the other side again!
