Now this is a lawn in need of overseed, indeed! I know, that’s my corny side coming out.
Why should you overseed?
Most mature plants start to slow down reproduction after several years. Blade grass only lives a short time, 45-60 days on average, and older grass can’t reproduce quick enough to keep up with die back. Young grass, however, reproduces much faster and is able to keep up with natural die back. Therefore, having young grass is one of the best secrets to a full, green lawn. That’s where overseeding comes in. (Nick Christians, PhD, Iowa State University) The practice of overseeding lawns.
When to overseed?
The best time for overseeding is late summer to early fall…late August to early September, depending of the weather conditions, you can sometimes go to the end of September. Some reasons for this timing is that using cool season grasses here in the Northeast, we have a couple of months for the seeds to germinate and grass to grow before the temperature really drops and then another 1-2 months for the roots to get established before the young grass has to deal with cold temperatures. This time of year also allows the seeds to have less summer weeds to compete with.
Also, the soil is warm and the air is getting cooler, temperatures in the 60’s is ideal for grass growth. In addition, there is the tendency toward more rain to keep the ground moist. Another benefit of late summer/early Fall seeding is that you get a second growing season in Spring that allows the grass to further establish itself before the hot, dry, summer begins.
All these conditions make it prime time to overseed and those seeds to successfully germinate and get established
