Massachusetts here. As you can see, one half of the lawn looks pretty good. Other half, not so much.
Fertilized the whole lawn with Milorganite.
Raked out the bad area last weekend and added a mix of Scott’s LawnSoil and topsoil to it.
Is it too late to seed? Any advice on what best to do in that area to prep for spring?
Thanks.
by tonyperkis3
49 Comments
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I would, why not cant do nothing but not grow.
I’m gonna say no. But you’ll get more yes. We have run aerations quite late into the season and still got great results. I think if you question it, it’s still a full send.
It’s never too late to hope.
If you’re on a budget, no. If you have money to throw out, then go for it.
If you already have the seed, I’d say go for it. I overseeded mid October last year in Michigan and I’m happy with the results.
If u start right now u just might make it but it’s getting colder by the day
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Mind you, at this point you might only make 1%…..but, those are pretty cheap shots to take.
I had success seeding perennial Ryegrass in mid October a couple years ago. Definitely will need some luck. Cold mornings could kill the seedlings but still worth a shot
Worst case you only get $20 of grass from $100 of seed. It doesn’t hurt anything but your wallet.
No as long as you get sun which it looks like an unshaded portion you’re fine. The nights might dip but it’s going to warm up during the days. In ct and I seed into late October. If 50% makes it thats half the work you gotta do next year.
If you have a bunch of time, energy and are stalking the weather and avoiding frost sure why not. If not it’s a waste of time and money and it’s better to wait till spring
You’re probably fine. This place overstates the importance of timing. I’ve seeded in later October 6a before with decent results
You may lose some germination 1020% at the most if you seated now just depending on your zone and what the temperatures get like early into the fall. If it stays warmer longer, it’ll be closer to that 10%. If it gets cold quickly, it could be more than 20%but it’s still a good idea to put some seed down.
I live in the Merrimack Valley and have had success putting down new seed as late as this week, in years past. However don’t wait much longer… wet seed if it freezes may split and never germinate. Make sure you heavily core aerate, or heavily de-thatch before applying seed so there’s excellent seed-soil contact. May want to apply thin top dressing too. Good luck!
Depends on your weather outlook the next week or so. If it’s going to frost, then you probably can’t. If not then I would give it a shot. Try to use something that germinates fast.
Weather has been great for late seeding this year but the minute you do it, snow will appear in the forecast for the next week
If you are ok with 20-30% success rate, go for it. Some seeds will germinate,some will not. Out of the germinted ones, majority won’t survive. But if youhave money and time. Give it a go..
You typically want to do it about 45 days before your first freeze. If you have a freeze coming up within the next couple weeks than id probably shoot for early spring.
I’ve done seeding last year around this time of the year . I was disappointed with the growth of the grass but come spring this year it took off and filled in nicely. So the timing is tricky but can work. I’m in zone 7b by the way.
Freeze warning tonight in the Boston area. Going down to 34°. I think the seeding window has passed for you to expect great results. Could you? Yes. I feel like you might be wasting time and money though.
You could try dormant seeding.
Not at all. I’m in Wisconsin and doing it this weekend. But I wouldn’t seed KBG since it takes longer to germinate, only PRG or TTF. You could put a mix down in the hopes that PRG/TTF germinates now and KBG is basically a dormant.
I drop seed in november, it goes dormant and will wake up next year. Blue grass I planted last year was not grown. I dropped more seed after my last cut and it was ready to go in April, my first cut in May had a lot of new grass
Sure hope not, just threw down some in CT this afternoon. Was a rough fall for seeding so far as it was in the 80s until last week and 40s suddenly this week
When *is* the best time to seed? I have some areas that need it too.
Id personally wait but there isnt harm in trying. Only wasting some seed and time, if thats not an issue go for it. But you’d need to throw it down tomorrow… Germinate in 7 to 14 days depending on your blend and then go a good two weeks after germinating to get a decent root structure and a mow or two in before the first Hard frost. Do you think it’ll be more than 4 weeks until the first Hard frost? Thats the question
For cool season grass? Nah, even if it frosts within a week most of it will still sprout.
Now if it really freezes before it gets big enough, then you may have issues but then you can just seed in the spring too. Or if you get a weird warm spell for a week or two.
I just seeded 2 days ago, but I’m averaging 65-70 highs here. Dropped in the cool season grass with some generic 13-13-13 fertilizer and keeping it watered morning and afternoon, it will grow great before frosts hit, it gets full sun. For you, I would still go for it if you have the money, anything that dies is free fertilizer, anything that grows helps in the spring, any seed that doesn’t germinate still has a chance to go dormant and germinate next spring.
Depends on your location. Some parts of CA can seed up to Nov 15. SoCal can seed all year long.
Yes but no pre- M in spring
The monthly forecast from AccuWeather is looking decent. It’s not going to be as accurate as their marketing team would like you to believe, but it’s better than nothing…
https://preview.redd.it/2xldaf4wi6uf1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e11aeb952675bbdaa2b0ee1ed8de9e1d70ffa538
I would also be concerned about the noreaster coming our way late Sunday through Tuesday. It looks like we could get up to 2-3 inches of rain. So that means putting seed down in the next 5 days would basically be a wash.
You also want to prep the lawn… Scalp it/mow and bag as low as you can, dethatch, then mow over what the dethatcher pulled up and bag it. Then either 1. slice seed or 2. broadcast and spread starter fertilizer, lightly rake the seed into the soil, roll it, and cover the seed with a topdressing of peat or compost. Then you need to keep the entire area moist for 2 weeks for TTTF (it’s definitely too late for KBG. Takes way too long to germinate) by watering ~4x a day for 5-10 minutes, depending on your sprinkler setup.
If you are able to spray mesotrione & azoxystrobin right after you seed and fertilize it would be ideal (meso=pre-emergent to stop new weeds competing with the new grass for nutrients & azoxy=fungicide)
If you’re prepared to do that, and you either have seed already or are willing to lose the money if the weather doesn’t cooperate, you do have a chance. It’s late, but there’s a chance it could work.
I seeded yesterday in Nebraska. Figure it was just sitting in mgarage…
I mean I think after tonight the weather looks decent for October. I seeded in MA last weekend fingers crossed for both of us
We are in a frost advisory in MA followed by a monsoon of a week starting Sunday. I would wait til spring.
Depends. Here, North of Chicago it’s been unseasonably warm. I’m now overseeding a round two for this fall. My problem is the healthy grass is growing abnormally fast for this time of year so going three weeks without mowing is hurting my pride every time I come home. I’m not it’s ever grown better though, it’s been fantastic for the last six weeks or so for growing grass if you water the seed.
I say you’re 5-6 weeks too late. Noreaster is gonna wash your seed into puddles.
Since you put down some new lawn soil, you are prepped for seed right now and the weather is not going to be too cold the next 2-3 weeks, so I would do it but take care not to do it before a large rain storm as that could wash away the seeds.
Yes too late to start now
Where in Massachusetts are you? I’m down on the Cape and I have done hundreds of new lawns and renovations in October. As long as the soil is around 50 seed will germinate, perennial rye will go a little under 50. I would wait until the storm passes Sunday thru Monday. The areas you are concerned about should be rough raked, aerated and add a 1/4″ layer of compost. The compost will hold moisture and retain warmth for the seed. Hell I’ve hydro seeded the week of thanksgiving and didn’t need to touch up the lawn the next spring. I had one customer that insisted on being done every October, 60k sqft I would aerate, seed and blow in 75 yards of compost at a cost of 17.5k. I did this for 4 years in a row, if it was unsuccessful he wouldn’t have had me do it. The only thing is your location western mass i would worry but Eastern mass I would definitely go for it.
Here’s a small one from a few years ago done in October.
https://imgur.com/a/Kcvpkv9
I seeded 8 days ago in interior of BC. Good germination as of yesterday. Lows down to 4c overnight
I found this website the other day with soil temps. Just enter your zip code. I know nothing other than if the soil temp get to 50 the seed won’t germinate.
https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature
It’s late. Might be too late, might not.
Not at all. It’s prime temps to seed.
I seed October because local shops have it 60% off for local blends. I can seed my entire 3/4 acre for like 45 bucks. Some years I get lucky and it all comes up, sometimes not. Still looks great.
Fellow MA here. We have a frost warning tonight but after that we shouldn’t see freezing temps in the next 10 days. I wouldn’t overseed the whole lawn because we have several days in the forecast that won’t reach 60, but you’ll get some germination so I’d attempt to clean up some bad patches specifically.
I would seed. It’s not too late for some to germinate
Massachusetts Lawn tech here. You should figure out why that area died off first before worrying about seed. It’ll be frustrating to have it just die again next season because you didn’t fix the reason it died in the first place.
I got like 9 days of rain coming up, I’m gonna throw down and hope for the best