Our Best Overseeding Tips for Your Missouri Lawn
There’s a lot that goes into maintaining a lush, healthy lawn in Missouri. One key task that homeowners should always keep on schedule is aeration and overseeding. Cool-season grasses like tall fescue need annual seeding in the fall to repair areas that have become thin or stressed throughout the year. To see the best results from your lawn overseeding, the right preparation and aftercare maintenance is essential.
The Best Time for Overseeding in St. Louis
A crucial part of a successful overseeding on your lawn is doing it at the most ideal time of year. The best time for fescue overseeding in Missouri is in the early fall months, starting around mid-August through November. The cool weather during fall gives the new grass seed the best chance for healthy germination and new growth. Soil temperatures are still warm enough from summer while air temperatures have cooled down, making it the best time to overseed a tall fescue lawn.
How to Prepare Your Lawn for Fall Seeding
Preparing your existing lawn for new grass seed starts with the right prep. The first step is giving your lawn a fresh clean slate with mowing and core aeration. Mow the lawn and bag your grass clippings to avoid adding excess debris to the top layer of the lawn. Before overseeding, aeration is the best way to prepare the soil for new grass seed. Core aeration is the process of perforating holes in the soil that encourage root systems to grow and spread out. It also helps improve the seed-to-soil contact when spreading the grass seed. Aeration helps break down compaction and thatch in your lawn, giving your lawn a breath of fresh air after a long summer. It’s the best way to give your overseeding an ideal place to grow and thrive. After aerating, you’re ready to apply the new seed with a broadcast spreader.
Our Best Lawn Care Tips After Overseeding
After the overseeding is when the real work and attention to detail begins. New grass seed should be handled with delicate care to ensure you see the best results. When the seed is still in a juvenile state, limit foot traffic on your lawn as much as possible. It’s also important to pay attention to the amount of leaves falling on your newly seeded lawn. Leaf coverage can be okay in small doses, but a heavy layer on your lawn will block much-needed sunlight, water, and nutrients from reaching the grass seed, hindering germination. Additionally, avoid weed control or pre-emergent herbicides in the early stages of growth. Weed control can damage the seedlings and spoil your results.
Watering New Grass Seed
The most important step in caring for your grass seed is watering. You do not want to let your new grass seed dry out. In the first few weeks, keep the soil moist, but not waterlogged, with daily watering in multiple sessions if necessary. The goal is to keep the soil saturated until germination occurs. After a few weeks when seed germination has reached 2 inches, you can cut back on watering frequency to 2-3 times per week. Watering in the early mornings is best. Even the best grass seed won’t succeed without the right watering regimen so make sure those sprinklers are ready!
How Soon to Resume Mowing After Overseeding
Mowing too soon after overseeding can stunt your new grass. A mower can put a lot of stress on a lawn, the root systems, and especially new grass seeds. It’s best to wait until the seedlings have grown to a height of about 3-4 inches. When you do resume mowing, never cut more than one-third of the grass blade in one session to avoid stressing out the lawn. Once the lawn has grown enough to start mowing again, resume watering in deep, infrequent watering to encourage deeper roots.
The Best Lawn Overseeding in St. Louis, Missouri
To see the best overseeding results, you need the best grass seed, prep, and aftercare. There’s a lot to consider when planning your fall lawn overseeding and Loyalty Lawn Care is here to help. We’ve been providing St. Louis homeowners with high-quality lawn care and fescue overseeding since 1998. Our lawn care services include weed control and fertilization, tree and shrub care, mosquito control, outdoor pest control, and more. Contact us today for a free quote!