Early spring is a great time to get your cool season grass into shape
In March, it’s still too early to do much with warm season grasses like Bermuda, Zoysia, Centipede, and St. Augustine. However, if you have a cool season grass, like Fescue or Kentucky bluegrass, now is the second best time to overseed. Here are my suggested steps for getting your cool season lawn in top shape.
Assuming at least 50% of your lawn is still grass and not weeds, then proceed with my plan. Otherwise, you might want to consider starting over from scratch. First, get a soil analysis done through your county extension service. You’ll learn all you need to know about what nutrients you’ll need to provide to give your lawn the best chance of performing. Be sure to follow the application rates listed on your analysis. Do this right away. You need time to add the amendments before you do some of the following suggestions for best results.
On the day you are ready to spread the seed, first mow the grass a bit on the low side. Next rake or blow any leaf or grass debris from your turf area. You want to start with as clean a slate as possible. Then, aerate your lawn with a core aerator. The term core refers to the plugs of soil that are removed from your lawn as the machine does the work. Although the cores may be unsightly, don’t worry. They’ll wash back into the soil quickly. In the mean time, the voids left by the cores allow oxygen deeper into the root zone, and generally creates a more favorable environment for grass roots to grow by relieving compaction. The voids will also be filled in with new organic matter, as well as lime or fertilizers that you might be adding.
Based on the results of your soil analysis, you may need to add supplemental nutrients or adjust the soil pH. Add those ingredients now, while the voids are still open. This gives s the best chance of the amendments making their way quickly below the surface where they can be most effective.
Next, add grass seed. Distribute the seed in a back and forth pattern. Once complete, go over the same area again but this time, cross the original pattern at a 90-degree angle. Think of a checkerboard pattern. This ensures the best coverage. Resist the temptation to cover the lawn area with so much seed that it looks like a new carpet. Cool season grasses do best when you apply at a rate of no more than five pounds per 1000 square feet. This is much less than you intuitively are inclined to do. Trust me on this. If you add too much seed now, you will have a beautiful stand of grass until summer. As soon as the heat and drought kick in, a heavily seeded lawn will suffer from water needs, disease, and decline. In just a matter of months, your lawn problems will be back.
Once the seed is down, use a water-filled roller to go over the entire lawn area. This ensures the best seed to soil contact; a very important point for good germination.
For cool season grass to germinate quickly, it must stay constantly moist. Until the seed germinates, irrigate your lawn several times a day for very short intervals. You are only attempting to keep the seed moist, not water your lawn. Four very brief sessions of only a few minutes should be adequate. You may even want to apply a light layer of straw mulch to assist in retaining moisture. Once you have good overall germination, you can back off on the watering. Ultimately, an inch of water per week is your goal. Ease into getting to that goal.
Finally, mow your lawn once the grass roots have become well established and the blades are tall. A lawnmower can do a lot of damage to newly sprouted grass. I usually wait about two to three weeks before making the first cut. Although cool season grasses can suffer and decline in the heat of summer, following the above guidelines will give your lawn the best chance of not only surviving, but looking good.
About Joe Lamp'l
Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter
What is one of the better grass types to use for my lawn? I live in Southern Ontario (Kitchener)
I have a pup that LOVE’S nothing more than to run back and forth & bark at everything that moves. Needless to say that he has turned my pretty heads yard into a sand pit at the fence line.
I read your post about testing the soul & planting seeds.
It is Nov. & of course not sure which way the weather will go. I have worn short ‘ s for Christmas many times.
How should I approach this?
I HAD beautiful thick St. Augustine grass in my back yard, now it’s just sparaticlly located through out the yard.
What can I do to revive it again?
Thank you so much for offering your time this way. I’m certain your time is valuable.
Sincerely,
Tina Martin
Hi Tina. I admire your desire to provide your dogs with a great please to run while hoping for an attractive lawn as well. No doubt, your pups take a toll on the lawn. Fortunately, St. Augustine grass spreads quickly from plugs and roots firmly. Having grown up in Miami, I helped my dad cut many small sections of this grass and replant them throughout the yard where our dogs had work the area bare.
Find areas in your grass where you can remove small squares or plugs (about six inches would be ideal), and place as much of these as you can over the area you are trying to fill.
Keep it watered and the dogs off while it establishes. St. Augustine grass is fast-growing and in a sunny spot, should grow back quickly. Now, it is very possible your dogs will wear out this and other areas again. But just know, your grass is very good at rooting from small sections and then sending out runners to fill in the bare spots.
But above all, you have got to find a way to keep your four-legged friends off this area until the new patches have fully rooted in. Good luck!
Hi Joe,
Thank you for this article. Should we follow this plan in Michigan right now (3/27) when the weather is still in the 20s-30s and the snow banks aren’t yet melted or does the ground have to be a certain temperature? Also with the soil testing we have a sunny front yard and a very shaded back yard with forest like tree cover. Should we soil test both the front yard and back yard? I’m guess there might be different decomposition going on in both areas.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Danielle. A soil test is always a good idea for different growing environments. And I think you still have time to make adjustments in MI. As for timing, I would suspect you are more like May then here in the south. But I suggest you contact your county extension service or Agent. They are dialed into the local weather conditions and temperature. They can give you just the right information. Good luck.
With established Centipede grass in lower SC what should be the sequence in the spring for area ting, placing a preemergence weed control , sanding ? Thanks
Hi Randy. I suggest this website from my colleague Water Reeves. He’s a retired UGA Extension Agent who has a radio show in Atlanta that he’s been doing now for over 20 years. You’ll find what you’re looking for on his website by searching for Centipede grass: http://www.WalterReeves.com.
I have st.augustine grass and my problem is that I have poor soil drainage .I have too much clay and my grass seems to get full on the spring thru summer and then it gets real low to the bare ground as to where I can see the the soil. I am thinking of aeroating my yard and throw some gypsum and some compost to try to help my yard from going thru this process every year.Is this normal or should my grass stay fairly thick during dormant stage.