Green Thumb Guru: September is for seeding

Are you still looking at those bare spots in the yard? Maybe you had some damage from last winter, did a little work in your yard over the summer, or built a new house and need to start a yard. Well, you’re in luck because September is for seeding. Whether starting a new lawn or over seeding some thin spots, this time of year is optimal for grass seed because the ground temp is warm, the days and nights are a little cooler and we usually get some nice all-day rains and not as many downpours as in the spring and summer.

When seeding a lawn there are a few things to think about. The first is try to eliminate as many weeds as possible in the area to be seeded. If you’ve let things go, spray the area to be seeded with Roundup and give it about a week or so to kill off everything in the area. This will help with weed control in the future.

The next would be to lightly till or rake the area to be seeded. This will help give the seed a good bed to germinate in. Be careful not to till too deep, and too soft of an area can cause settling and excess erosion, which can lead to a rough lawn. An inch of loose soil is plenty for the seed to take hold.

The third thing to consider is what type of seed to use. Different seed mixes are available to fit your specific needs, such as high use, irrigated or not, and sun or shade areas. Not all grass seed is the same. When purchasing seed, you need to look at the percentage of inert matter in the seed. This is the amount of waste material in the seed, so if you have one, 20-pound bag of seed with 2 percent inert matter and a bag with 6 percent inert matter, you are getting more seed with the bag of 2 percent than the other.

Last, but not least, is fertilizer. For newly-seeded areas use a starter fertilizer at the same time of seeding. This will give the seed a little boost once it germinates. For existing lawns, try to use a fertilizer with low nitrogen this time of year. You want the grass to start slowing down for the winter and do not want to promote a lot of new growth this time of year.

So, get out the rakes and get that seed down soon and you should have a lush green yard next summer. And, as always, if you have questions contact your local nursery professional for help.