3 Steps to Reseeding or over seeding your way to a Beautiful Lawn

Reseeding or over seeding a lawn, the best time of year to spend our hard-earned money on grass seed for our lawns is late August and early September. With the hot days of summer behind us, weather conditions are more favorable for planting grass seed. The warm days of late summer and early fall make this a perfect time for seeding a lawn. With soil temperatures still well above fifty degrees, required for cool season grass seeds. The grass seed we plant in our lawn will germinate at a higher rate than other times of the growing season. Establish a healthy root structure that is critical for grass plants uptake of nutrients from the soil, and life sustaining moisture from a good deep soaking watering. This as every successful landscaper and organic gardener knows is a good thing.

What is the best grass seed to use? Each region of the U.S. and the world are a bit different. The unique climate in each of these regions are the major factor we need consider before selecting the best warm or cool season grass seed for our lawn. For instance, we really should consider the length of the growing season, soil conditions and the amount of annual rainfall we should expect. After all, these factors do play a big role in providing the optimal growing conditions for both warm and cool season grasses. This really is not as complicated as it sounds.

First, we must make up our minds as to what we believe is important take for instance, the environment. Today homeowner and DIY gardeners interested in returning to the organic way of doing things in their homes and gardens. Find ourselves look for environmentally friendly methods of doing things. This has brought about the resurgence in the time-honored practice of companion planting in the lawn. Yes, I did say companion planting in the lawn.

Once upon a time, long before organic gardening was the popular gardening method it is today. Gardeners discovered planting grass seed mixed with small amounts of Clover in their yard had several positive benefits, for the grass, flowering plants and organic vegetable garden.

        1. Clover is a nitrogen producing plant and lawn grass consumes quite a bit of nitrogen.

        2. Honey bees, butterflies, Humming birds and other critters that help with pollinating flowering plants like the sweet nectar found in the Clover blossoms.

        3. Clover will fill in spaces in the lawn grass where less beneficial weeds would like to grow.

Add the benefits of planting native grasses and grass seed that will thrive in your climate with a mixture of clover seed or other companion plantings will reduce the need for additional chemical or organic lawn fertilizers.

Using the organic gardening method will also make it easier for you to take pride in going green and show your community you are committed to saving the planet, one lawn and garden at a time. Leading by example by making the environmentally friendly choice, you feel good about.

Soil composition texture and structure has everything to do with how grass and flowering plants thrive and grow in a healthy lawn and garden. The ideal soil composition that will support a healthy beautiful lawn is 40% sand, 40% clay and 20% organic material. Loam soil structure both drains excess rainwater while holding moisture and critical nutrients in the soil. Let us not forget proper oxygen levels grass and flowering plants requires.

When soil contains too much sand, water will drain away quickly carrying water-soluble nutrients grass plants need to thrive with it increasing soil acidity. Sandy soil condition creates the need for frequent irrigation, and fertilizer treatments to maintain the health of moderate to heavy feeding turf grasses and other plantings. Sandy soils also heat up and cool down rapidly with changing weather conditions stressing lawn plants.

Amending the sandy soil with good organic compost material will help improve moisture and nutrient retention.

On the other hand, many homeowners in many regions of the U.S have heavy clay soil in their lawn and garden. Clay soil is slower to react to changes in temperature, retains moisture, nutrients and oxygen levels better than sandy soil. The down side heavy clay soils are prone to compaction problems and require aeration every two to five years.

Before sewing the first seed, check the condition of the soil PH. Simply use a soil test kit easily purchased at your favorite garden center, or your local Ag extension office will do the testing for you. The dirt on the perfect soil PH, ph. is measured on a scale from 1 being highly acidic, to 14 being extremely alkaline. Turf grasses we grow in our yard thrive when the ph. of the soil is between 5.8ph & 6.5ph.

To Increase the soil ph. to above the 5.8ph threshold, amending the soil with agricultural lime will do the trick. Which by the way is finely ground limestone, and not the little green fruit that grows on trees. For the best results, pelletized lime is easier to use with a lawn spreader. The fine dust version clogs up the opening on the hopper. Apply lime in late fall or early winter, at least three months before the spring growing season to give it time to work.

When soil ph. is too high, say above the optimal range for lawn grass 6.8 to 7ph threshold, there are two basic soil amendments used to amend the soil. First, there is the fast acting aluminum sulfate that will lower soil ph., quickly. The second option is applying sulfur.  Much like agricultural lime, sulfur takes more time for the chemicals in the soil to react with one and other lowering the soil ph. to the optimal levels in our lawn and garden soils.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read this article, 3 Steps to Reseeding or over seeding your way to a Beautiful Lawn. You now have the often overlooked information you will need to create and maintain the lawn of your dreams. Now all you need do,  get busy putting into practise what your have learned, you will be glad you did.

Best of luck. Mike