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reseeding a northern lawn

5 years ago

what is the best time of year to reseed the lawn? i mean , laying down about 1/2'' inch of good topsoil and mixing in some seed. i would not remove any grass but rake in the new soil to even out the bad and low spots. i live in the buffalo n.y. area.

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Comments (3)

Joe BigBlue
5 years ago
Early September.
dchall_san_antonio
5 years ago
I agree for Buffalo, but for anyone else reading this, it really depends on where you live and the temps. If you live in the UP of Michigan, then August. If you live in Virginia or Tennessee, then maybe early Sept is too soon. Without looking at the calendar, the best time of year is after the summer heat breaks.

The only time you would need 1/2-inch of topsoil is when you NEED to raise your lawn by 1/2 inch for better drainage. Otherwise, leave the topsoil out and just seed into the soil you have. You can scratch the surface if you want to, but don't bury the seed. It should be on top or very near the top. Then walk on the new seed to press it down into the surface for good contact with the soil. The soil will keep it moist enough if you water several times per day for a short time.

If you have problems with your current topsoil, that can be fixed. Topsoil can "go bad" from a lack of regular watering and a lack of organic food for the soil microbes. Mulch mowing the lawn and mulch mowing the fall leaf drop are two great ways to return organic matter to the soil. If it is still not what you would like, then spraying with 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet of any clear shampoo will help water penetrate deeper into the soil and soften it. Also an organic fertilizer at least once a year will help improve tired soil. If that does not clear up your soil, then a soil chemistry test is the last resort. For many it is the first resort, but I like to try the organics first.
jerry thanked dchall_san_antonio
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I am updating this post because I see so many where the OP doesn't come back to update how it all turned out. So here goes in case anyone is interested: In the end I hired a national service that has a local franchise (not going to say the name right now) but all in all they are turning out to be pretty good, but expensive. It turns out that the offending grass was bent grass and it was taking over my yard. I used a small electric dethatching rake to pull it all up (the firm I hired fertilizes, reseeds, etc. but does not remove the dead stuff). Getting the dead thatch up was an extreme pain in the butt and it made for quite a show in the neighborhood. The firm then aerated, used a soil enhancer from Miri-michi green (we performed a soil test first) along with a few other amendments, then power-seeded. This was in the fall and we were able to get two mowings in, but the grass was still baby fine. I was pretty worried about it coming up this spring. But so far, it is all good. The grass is amazingly green and no bent grass patches. It is well rooted and thick. A few weeds but that is to be expected with new seed. I plan on conducting another soil test myself and will aerate in the fall again.
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Jon
5 years ago
@dchall - would you recommend adding additional soil if trying to fill in any low spots? Would you just pour it over the existing grass and over seed?
jerry thanked Jon

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