Autumn is the Time to Overseed
What does your autumn yard work to-do list look like? If you're a savvy Burlington homeowner, aerating and overseeding should be two of the most important tasks waiting for you to tackle. This is because the cool nights and mild, short days of autumn provide the ideal conditions for grass seed germination. With proper Burlington sprinkler system irrigation and a little TLC, your grass seed will have no trouble establishing a stable root system prior to the winter dormancy period.
Method to Your Overseeding Madness
The lawn care experts at Nutri-Lawn understand overseeding to be more of an art than a science. Like splashing paint on a blank canvas, or arranging words on an empty screen, planting seeds takes patience and persistence. With that being said, there are a few important things that you should make note of before attempting to overseed your lawn on your own:
1. How Hard is Your Soil?
New lawns have a hard enough time getting established without having to struggle to put down roots in hard, dense soil. If your yard has become compacted over the summer months thanks to heavy traffic and usage, make sure that you call and book a core aeration treatment prior to laying your seed. Aerating your soil will help loosen it up, ensuring that your new seed has the right amount of oxygen, moisture, and nutrients needed to sustain new growth.
2. Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold
Cool season grasses, like the ones that grow in Burlington, require air temperatures of roughly 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit to germinate. Soil temperatures, on the other hand, should be between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If you choose to overseed when it's warmer or colder, you run the risk of the seeds not germinating at all.
3. Mow Before You Sow
Ask any of our Burlington sprinkler system experts what the secret to overseeding is and they'll tell you it's all about the mow. Before you sow any seeds, it's important that you give your existing lawn a good, low cutting. This will ensure that the new seeds have access to plenty of light once they're in the ground. Don't worry about browning or burning; your existing grass will grow very quickly during the weeks following your overseeding thanks to the ongoing use of your Burlington sprinkler system.
4. Go For a Different Variety
When it comes time to select the seed for your lawn, consider spicing things up and going for a cool season variety that's slightly different than the one currently growing in your yard. Introducing a new variety will improve your lawn's tolerance to drought, heat stress, pests, and diseases. When looking for seed, try and find a variety that has a high pure live seed rate, a high germination rate, and no weed or fillers.
5. Don't Forget to Rake
Your grass seeds won't germinate unless they have good soil-to-seed contact. As such, it's important that you rake your lawn lightly following your overseeding application. You may also wish to add some nutrient-rich topsoil on some of the patchier areas of your lawn in order to speed up the germination process.
6. The Importance of Irrigation
Your new grass seed is going to require quite a bit of moisture during their first few weeks of life. As such, remember to turn your Burlington sprinkler system on frequently, if only for a brief amount of time. Once the grass has taken root, you can switch your system back to deeper, more infrequent waterings.
The process of overseeding is undertaken in the fall months in order to ensure a thick and healthy lawn come spring. Ensure that your new grass seed takes hold quickly and easily with the help of a Burlington automatic sprinkler system. Contact the sprinkler technicians at Nutri-Lawn today to learn more about the benefits associated with automatic irrigation.