How to Overseed a Lawn

About 81 percent of Americans have a lawn or garden at home. And for 79 percent of the population, green spaces are one of the most important factors to consider when choosing their housing. 

Since we value our lawns so much, we want them to look their best at all times. Yet, lawn issues, such as thinning or dying grass, can seriously affect your home’s appearance. 

Thankfully, you can plant grass seed overtop your thin lawn without punching holes or tearing up your turf. This process, called overseeding, seems quite simple, but you’ll need to learn a few lawn overseeding tips for best results. 

So, keep reading as we share how to overseed a lawn! 

Benefits of Overseeding

Before learning how to overseed a lawn, you’ll want to know why it is so beneficial. So, here are a few reasons:

• Fills in bare spots
• Improve density of the lawn
• Prevents weeds from springing up
• Contributes to a uniform lawn

In addition to all these benefits, overseeding is easier than tearing up your lawn and starting from scratch.

Get the Timing Right

Lawn overseeding requires proper timing because you’ll waste your money and time if you do it in the wrong season.

If you live in the northern United States, it’s best to overseed grass in the late summer or fall since the ground is still warm, but the air is cooler. There are also fewer weeds for the seeds to compete against. Moreover, your lawn receives more sunlight as the trees drop their leaves. 

In the southern United States, the best time for overseeding is late spring or early summer because warm-season grass needs warm soil to germinate. 

Prepare Your Lawn

Before you spread the seed, you’ll need to prepare the lawn by moving it shorter than usual. After, remove all the clippings and loosen the ground with a rake. All of these steps encourage the seeds to take root and improve your chances of successful overseeding. 

Spreading the Seed

You will need a lawn spreader for this step, which you can purchase at most gardening stores. Using this tool is pretty self-explanatory, but it is important to avoid using it on a windy day since you will get seed everywhere and have poor results. So make sure the air is calm to spread the seed evenly.  

Other Lawn Overseeding Tips

After spreading the seed, you should fertilize the lawn to have all the nutrients it needs to grow into healthy grass. The best choice is a natural fertilizer, such as phosphorus and compost mixture.

No doubt, your seeds will also need plenty of water to germinate, so be sure to keep the ground evenly moist. And after overseeding a lawn, you should avoid mowing for a couple of weeks since the new grass won’t have strong roots yet. 

Of course, if all of this seems like a lot of work, you can hire a lawn company to take care of it for you. If that interests you, visit this website for an example of lawn companies’ services. 

Now You Know How to Overseed a Lawn

After reading this brief lawn overseeding guide, you are ready to restore your grass to a beautiful state. Whether you decide to do it yourself or hire a lawn company, be sure to follow these tips for overseeding preparation and aftercare for best results.

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