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Does overseeding work?

13K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  ggsteve 
#1 ·
My yard is now 2 years old. I do have some spotty bar spots. I plan on overseeding in the fall. Does it actually work, to make the yard thicker and fill in the bare spots? Will the seeds actually get washed down to the soil? Im skeptical....
 
#2 ·
I do it after plug aerating and it seems to work. :)
 
#5 ·
I found if you overseed and don't de-thatch/plug aerate... it's somewhat pointless. The seed needs to get in contact with the ground itself, not leaves/dead grass/debris.
 
#6 ·
:ditto: Ground contact is the key. I overseeded dead spots in my front yard one year and didn't get much out of it because the dead thatch didn't let the seed through. Now in the fall I aerate and overseed and then I try to tease the seed into the soil by running a leaf rake over the grass upsidedown. My yard is improving every year.

One other point. Last fall I took the extra step of top dressing the lawn with 10 yds of loam. What a huge difference this spring.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Spot repair
Little seed plus a little soil to barely cover.

Large scale overseed
Put your nose into the grass and take a good look.
If you can see the soil, so can the seed.

If light thatch, etc - best to aerate and then seed - consider triple aerate, tear it up, leave the plugs, they will grow too, as well as offer a home for the seed.

If heavy insulating thatch = dethatch, aerate, overseed as above.

Contact with soil required from ground surface, or from adding topdress.

do spring and fall - seed requires moist for a month - consult germination times - these vary with your seed mix of species - range is from 1 week to 3 weeks + time to establish = approx a month of moist - keep it moist not soppy wet - that's why fall is better than spring = more dew in the morning, and less evaporation

you will eventually see more new grass plants later too.

if in doubt = overseed - grass looks after itself in response to environmental conditions whether natural or imposed

overseeding puts grass where weeds would love to be - weeds require a home to grow - deny them with overseeding
investing weed spraying is a useless investment
Mow taller than most people - shades soil, moisture loss reduced from evaporation, also shades out weeds - go for 4 inches - and occasionally lower the mow height cos weed down low don't like to be mowed; return to 4 inches.
Grass likes to be mowed, weeds don't.

Do this routine every few years or as required. Thick is it. And tall is like walking on a pillow.



Gray
.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I shoveled the loam into my trailer, drove to a spot, then spread it by hand from the shovel. I did two or three trailer loads a night until I was done. Great exercise!

I don't think there's any way that a fertilizer spreader will spread loam. A manure spreader would work, but they're expensive.
 
#13 ·
I think it rules out top dressing for you. If you can get the seed in contact with the ground, especially after aerating, overseeding is still valuable even without the top dressing.
 
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