Seeding Advice/Timing Newsletter

With so little snow cover this winter, many of you have been looking at bare, thin, patchy and muddy areas in the lawn and many of you may be thinking of seeding.

PLEASE read below before you seed! Seeding at the wrong time can be a waste of your time, money and water.

• Many lawns suffered last year from summer stress, drought stress, fungal disease, insect damage or all of the above.

• Other lawns have seen winter damage from voles, snow mold, or plows.

• Still other lawns see yearly die back of the lawn in heavy shade areas.

For SOME lawns, now (early Spring) is a GREAT time to do seeding, but it is VERY important to know which areas AND what else to do to get the best results.

In our part of the country, there are only 2 times of year that we recommend seeding (in most cases):

For lawns with HEAVY TREE COVER (less than 5 hours of sunlight to the soil or specifically less than 8 hours of direct sunlight in July), it is best to seed in early Spring (late March to April). Grass seed germination will NOT begin until the soil warms up (which varies greatly from year to year – see below for more details on when to start watering).

Shady grass WILL generally thin out each year by August/September and need yearly seeding! You can read more about the challenges of Shady Grass here: Shady Lawn Concerns & Options Newsletter:https://conta.cc/3hElY9V

It is important to avoid crab grass prevention (pre-emergent) in the Spring, if you do spring seeding! (https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/tips_for_reseeding_lawns_in_the_spring)

(Fall seeding in heavy shade poses a problem because the leaf cover will not allow sufficient sunlight in most cases for germination AND the falling leaves can smother new seedlings.)

For MOST lawns with full sun or partial sun, the best time to seed is in SEPTEMBER ONLY

(Spring seeding is generally not recommended for sunny areas due to the risk of weeds and crabgrass).

If you have bare, thin or dead areas or patches in sunny areas NOW, what should you do??

First, please know that it is still very early in the spring. In sunny areas, you may see full recovery with no seeding. No recovery OR seed germination will happen in the Spring until the soil warms up, so waiting to see if the lawn recovers in sunny areas (except for large areas – see below) is always a good idea.

For Small patches, small bare areas or thin areas in sunny areas.

In early spring, do LIGHT raking to remove debris, leaves and dead clumps of grass and to get air circulation to the grass blades. This will encourage growth and recovery of the grass. Thin grass may fill in well during the Spring growth period with good watering, mowing and fertilization. Small bare areas (the size of a frisbee or smaller) may also fill in with good care.

For Large brown areas and dead turf in sunny areas.

If you have large brown areas or large areas of dead turf, you may need to rake out or remove the dead turf and establish new grass by seeding or sod. I recommend waiting awhile to see if you get any recovery. Agressively raking out all the grass and roots too early may get rid of dormant grass that may have recovered and grown well this year!

For Large bare areas or large areas that do not recover in early spring.

If grass does not recover or you have only dirt, your options are: wait until fall to seed, seed now with the understanding that you may have crabgrass issues, or install sod. Here are details on each of these options.

1. WAIT UNTIL FALL: If you will wait until fall to seed, make sure to apply pre-emergent and weed control in the area. Any bare area will be more prone to weeds and crabgrass.
2. SPRING SEEDING: This option is not recommended. IF you choose to seed a sunny area in the Spring, you cannot apply standard crabgrass prevention (pre-emergent), so in most cases crabgrass will take over the area before the new baby grass and you will have crabgrass struggles most of the summer until it dies off in the fall leaving new bare areas. Standard pre-emergent prevents seed germination for 3-4 months. If it is applied, seeding will not be successful. (Some pre-emergent products say that they can be used for seeding. They contain Mesotrione which is a more selective pre-emergent. It will somewhat prevent crabgrass and somewhat allow seed germination. It is more expensive than other pre-emergents.)
3. SOD: Sod can be installed once the sod farms start to cut sod in the spring. This is an option for bare areas. This will require twice daily watering for at least 4-6 weeks. Sod will be 2-4 times the cost of seeding.

Seeding method:

For the best germination, seed should be worked into the soil by cultivating the soil (This can be done easily with a heavy rake or garden weasel)

Overseeding will get only about 10-15% of the seed to germinate.

Aeration and overseeding generally gets 15-30% of the seed to germinate (the holes from aeration are too deep for good seed germination).

Slit seeding is a method that drops seed into rows cut into the soil. It will generally get a 40-45% germination rate.

Our Power Seeding is a patented process that puts the seed into the soil at a very even distribution and it generally gets a 90% germination rate.

While it is common practice to routinely overseed an entire lawn, in most cases we do not recommend it. Overseeding alone is fairly ineffective and if you are not able to water the entire lawn, it does not make sense to waste the money or time on seeding.

In most cases, we do not recommend “blankets” or “straw” covering over seeding. Straw covering is unnecessary and ineffective. It does not aid germination or prevent wildlife from eating the seed. Straw cover can also promote weed growth.

Germination:

The timing of seed germination will vary depending on soil temperature and seed type. In general if soil temperatures are warm enough for germination, you should see rye grass germinate around 1-2 weeks, fescue germinate around 2-3 weeks and blue grass germinate around 3-4 weeks. Most seedings use a mix of these 3 seed varieties.

FIRST 1-2 months

• Water 2-3 times (or more) each day approximately 15-20 minutes (or more) per area for 4- 8 weeks (or more), or as needed to keep the 1^st inch of soil moist. If the soil dries out, new seedlings die. Monitor the soil moisture daily. If the soil looks dry, water it. Adjust the watering frequency and duration in different areas of your lawn accounting for shade, soil type, and drainage properties. You need to water enough to keep all seeded areas moist, but not so much that water is pooling. If there is rain, you need to monitor the soil. In most cases the rain will count for only 1 watering for the day. The grass cannot store water. The water will drain or evaporate, so the 1^st inch of soil will dry out.

• For SPRING SEEDING, watering should NOT be started until soil temperatures are in the upper 50s. (Seeding can be done at any time and the seed will stay dormant in the soil until soil temperatures are warm enough for germination). You can check soil temperatures here: https://www.isws.illinois.edu/warm/soil/. (This is usually when air temperatures are in the 60s for 5-7 consecutive days.)

• Stay off of the area! Avoid traffic in the seeded area from mowers, walking, running and pets as much as possible from the time germination begins until it is long enough to cut. (approximately 4-8 weeks)

• Keep leaf cover and other debris off of the seeded areas so that the sun can reach the area and so that new seedlings are not smothered (it is best to use a blower to avoid rake damage to the new seedlings).

• Avoid weed control in the seeded area until the grass has been mowed at least twice.

• If the grass gets matted down (especially in shady areas), it is critical to rake the grass gently with a leaf rake to raise the grass blades to get air circulation to the grass, so that fungal disease and decay does not occur

FIRST FULL YEAR AFTER INITIAL GERMINATION PERIOD

• After the initial germination, it is critical to mow the grass at the highest setting of the mower, ideally at 4-4 ½ inch height. Mowing shorter than 3 ½ inches causes stress to the grass and may result in death of the new (and any) turf. New grass is more susceptible to disease, so it is important to minimize stress that may cause disease. Make sure that the mower blade is sharp to avoid shredding of the grass blades.

• After the initial germination, it is critical to water the newly established grass regularly for the 1^st full year. Grass needs at least 1 inch of water per week to stay green. We recommend watering 45minutes-1hour per area every 3-4 days.

• University of Illinois Extension Lawn Planting Guidelines
• University of Illinois Extension Discussion of Grass Types
• Purdue Establishing Turfgrass from seed

For more information on our patented Power Seeding process, check out the following links (due to the short seeding window AND a worldwide seed shortage, availability is limited and our Power Seeding schedule does fill up very quickly. If you are interested in Power Seeding this spring, please let us know as soon as possible):

• Lawn Doctor Power Seeding YouTube White Board Video
• Lawn Doctor Power Seeder

Liquid vs Mechanical Core Aeration: https://conta.cc/2Wg9hev

Spring (or Fall) is also a great time for Aeration

Mechanical Core aeration pulls “plugs” of soil up from the turf and leaves them on the surface. This opens holes for root growth and drainage, but also brings good soil bacteria to the thatch layer to aid in decomposition and biological balance. This can help to prevent fungal disease and help your lawn to be healthier. In general, core aeration should be avoided for shady lawns. If we have a wet Spring, liquid aeration or fall core aeration may be preferable.

Liquid aeration uses an organic liquid treatment of humic acid, kelp and organic bio-solids to create micro-fissures in the soil, creating holes for root growth and drainage. It also increases nutrient uptake, water retention and biological balance.

Liquid aeration is a great choice for those with sprinkler systems and other underground items that need to be marked for core aeration, as well as for those with thin shady turf and those who don’t like the mess of the cores.