Our summer weather may have done a number on some spots in your lawn. Right now is the very best time of year to fix your lawn.
Michigan’s climate is usually very favorable for having a lush green lawn. However, our rain pattern and heat pattern in summer are very erratic. Some areas ended this summer extremely dry while some areas had enough rain to make you mow every week. The slightly above normal heat along with the dryness could have killed patches of your lawn.
I usually see these dead spots on south-facing slopes in your lawn. The edges of your septic field are commonly a hot facing slope. Those areas can also be combined with the sand of your septic field, resulting in very hot, dry areas.
Overseeding grass during our Michigan fall.Mark Torregrossa
Now is the best time to fix your sparse lawn. Experts call it overseeding, meaning you are not tearing up your entire lawn. You are just going in and trying to weave new grass seed into the existing sparse lawn.
Mark Wolinski, Lawn Doctor of Mid-Michigan, gives us the procedure to overseed our lawns.
Wolinski starts with the bag of seed. We have to get the seed before we can even think about overseeding. Evaluate the amount of sun for the area you want to repair. The answers are either full hot sun, half sunny or shady. Picking seed isn’t rocket science. Just look for a bag of grass seed marked sunny mix, sun and shade mix or shade mix. It’s important because grass that loves sun won’t grow well in shade. In fact, not many grass varieties will grow in deep shade.
A grass seed label off the seed bag. You should read this to see the grass seed mix.Mark Torregrossa
The Lawn Doctor really likes “turf-type tall fescue” grass varieties. He tells us the roots go deeper and the grass is more drought and heat tolerant, while still looking good. Many grass seed mixes will now have some turf-type tall fescue varieties mixed in with bluegrass and perennial rye.
Now let’s go over the elbow grease needed to plant the grass seed. The seed should be planted very shallow, less than one-half inch deep. Wolinski says we need to loosen the soil some before planting the seed. Grass seed will not send a tiny, tender root down into hard-packed soil. I’d water the soil some a couple of times in the day before overseeding. Damp soil makes it easier for you to loosen the soil with a hard tine rake or as Wolinski suggests, a Garden Weasel. The Garden Weasel is the perfect hand tool for this job, according to Wolinski.
So we have the correct seed and the soil loosened. Now let’s plant the seed. Wolinski suggests three to four pounds of seed for every 1,000 square feet of lawn. Just keep it simple. Pace off the area and count your steps. Unless you are really tall, your step is around 2.5 feet. Remember the simple math- width times length is the square footage.
Overseeding grass during our Michigan fall.Mark Torregrossa
If the areas to repair are small spots, just grab a handful of seed and evenly sprinkle the seed on top. If it’s a larger area, use a fertilizer spreader during a light wind situation. Now you lightly work the seed into the ground with a very, very light raking only once over. You can also very lightly go over the area again with a Garden Weasel if you have one.
The grass seed will germinate well if you keep the seed just damp. That’s what makes this time of year perfect for planting grass seed. Any water you apply tends to keep the soil damp longer at this time of year. I like to water for 10 minutes around 10 a.m.,10 minutes in the afternoon and 10 minutes anytime in the evening. I feel the evening watering is crucial because the seed will stay damp all night long. The seed won’t dry out until around 10 a.m., at which time you will be hitting the seed with water again.
Give the seed a couple of weeks to visibly emerge. Don’t get too upset if you don’t see tiny grass in a week. Also I’ve found you really have to get down close to the ground to see the first blades of grass. Once the germination really accelerates you’ll wake up one morning and see a green tone across the bare soil. A few days after that, and you’ll see a solid green.
Keep the damp watering regime for another week or two after the first germination. There are still more seeds to germinate. Increase the morning watering to 30 minutes so the deeper soil starts to get moist.
Mother Nature will then likely give us a wet period for a week or two. At that time the grass will grow and get established.
Then all you have to do is enjoy the greener look next year.
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