What is Overseeding?
Have you even been strolling around your local park in the middle of January and wondered how the grass is still green? How come one of your neighbors has a yellow lawn in March but the other neighbor is growing green grass? What can you do to beef up your own lawn?
The trick to maintaining lush green grass throughout the year is overseeding. Overseeding is a common landscaping practice that’s been used for decades, but what can overseeding do for your Colorado lawn? Let’s answer the question, “What is overseeding?” and learn what it can accomplish, and how to overseed your lawn.
With a little research and time, you can enjoy the benefits that overseeding brings to your turf without a ton of elbow grease. If elbow grease isn’t your thing, you can at least talk to your custom landscaping company about overseeding during your next landscape project.
Overseeding Basics
What is overseeding? It’s in the phrase. Overseeding is the process of spreading grass seed over existing turf. Overseeding is used for two primary reasons – to supplement patchy areas of poor growth and to add weeks of continued green color.
When Should You Overseed Lawns?
For More Color – Overseeding can help extend the green life of your lawn by several months. You can add a cold season variety to a similar warm season variety for a lush, green lawn that looks great well into winter while your neighbor’s grass withers for the season.
For Thin Spots – Where one type of grass might struggle, another might thrive. You can supplement thin spots in your lawn with varied grasses for a better chance of success. A blend of different grasses compared to a single variety will help fill in any unsightly or bare spots.
For More Variety – One type of grass is boring. You’ll only get one texture and one color. Overseeding lets you supplement your lawn with other textures and colors for a varied and more aesthetic appeal.
What Types of Grass are Used for Overseeding in Colorado?
Cold climate grasses work best for overseeding. The most popular types of grasses in Colorado are bluegrasses, rye grasses, fescue, gama, buffalo, and more. At JS Enterprises we can help you determine the best seed choice for your unique lawn or match the current grass type you’re already growing.
When Do You Overseed in Colorado?
For the best results you want to overseed when the weather isn’t too hot or too cold, there’s plenty of moisture to encourage new growth, and the lawn doesn’t receive as much foot traffic. For Colorado that means mid to late spring and early to mid-fall. April and September are ideal months for overseeding in Colorado.
How to Overseed in Colorado
Remove all debris – Remove all branches, organic debris, or anything else that would limit the seeds’ contact with soil.
Mow Your Lawn – Mow the entire lawn. You can set your mower deck to lower than you normally would.
Dethatch the lawn – Thatch is dead grass that accumulates on top of the dirt. Thatch can block seed to soil contact so dethatch your lawn for overseeding. You can rent a gas-powered dethatcher for big lawns or purchase a hand dethatcher for smaller lawns.
Further Preparation – Use this time to introduce fresh, enriched soil over your topsoil. Fresh soil will make a better growing environment for both your current and new grass.
Spreading the Seed – Load your seed into a hand or walking seed distributor. Use the directions on the seed package directions for ideal distribution.
Fertilize and Water – Give your new seeds a soaking in liquid-based fertilizer. Avoid letting your lawn dry completely out over the next week.
Enjoy – Enjoy your lush new turf in a few weeks.
Tips on Overseeding Your Lawn
You can’t overseed any lawn with any type of grass and expect a beautiful lawn. The idea is to match your existing lawn with overseeding for best results. Generally, this means mixing similar style grasses, like overseeing bluegrass with other style of bluegrass or mixing a supplemental bluegrass into your existing ryegrass.
Using a Professional to Overseed
Overseeding isn’t too complicated but there’s a lot of work that goes into choosing the appropriate seed, prepping the lawn, and spreading seed over your property. You can avoid all the grunt work by hiring a professional landscaper to overseed your lawn.
A Colorado landscaper knows the best grass that will mix and thrive on your unique lawn and how to expertly prepare your turf for overseeding. If you want to take the guess work out, use a landscaping professional to overseed your lawn.
Overseed for Better Grass
Whether you want a thicker lawn, longer periods of green grass, or want to patch bare spots – overseeding is the way to do it. Do your homework for a DIY overseed or talk to a local landscaper and get your lawn overseeded this season.