Flawless Lawn Overseed // Get Yours Right On The 1st Try

[@TurfMechanic]

►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄

[@TheLawnCareNut]

Excellent overview bro!

[@thurstonr9929]

Hey Allyn, Would love to hear your suggestions too. Watch your channel often. If you’re ever in my neck of woods, Saratoga Springs, NY stop by. By the way, that Stress Blend is some good stuff.

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks a lot Allyn! 😁

[@JM.TheComposer]

Your video is like pure protein, so much good info packed into a short time! I overseeded at the start of this month (September), but I didn't know about pre-wetting the peat moss. My results are still pretty good, considering we had an extreme washout-level thunderstorm *every week* this month. I'll have to come back to this video for next year's overseeding. Thank you!

[@TurfMechanic]

Love waking up to comments like that JM! I'm glad to add value. The pre-wetted peat moss does cause a bit of clumping on the ground which presents its own challenges, lumpy soil for a while and it may be a bit harder to spread but I've done it a few times now on small scale and it worked like a charm each time. I suspect the pre-watered soil also had a lot to with it as well though. Thanks again for watching and for your comments!

[@chrisweidmaier3619]

Perfect timing as usual! I bought peatmoss to put over the grass seed in the bare spots. Having never used it before the tip about wetting it down first is going to help immensely. Im going with TTTF/ryegrass seed mix since my yard slopes front and back as well as having 4 dogs.

[@jimshorts5970]

Scott’s Whizz! Have always just thrown it or used a hand crank spreader when overseeding but saw it at Lowe’s the other day and figured I’d give it a shot for $22. Prob get a more even distribution for my 3500 sq ft.

[@TurfMechanic]

That's it, the Whizz, id probably use one too if I was seeding anything more than a couple hundred square feet and a push spreader for areas in the 1-2000+ square foot zone.

[@jimshorts5970]

@@TurfMechanic Yeah I thought about my big spreader but I have this weird connection to my seed. Seems too impersonal:)

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, I get it. 🤣

[@DaddingAllDay]

This is really well done and informative! I've not seen the peat moss trick, very interesting!

[@djratino]

I have a pull-behind aerator for my riding mower. It's weighted with a couple of solid cinderblocks. I also have the Scotts turf master hand spreader. The cart kind throws seed in places you don't need it. I use Scotts southern gold seed mix. Everything is filling in pretty good. I also have an Orbit sprinkler system. For spot watering I use a Gilmore 360°. Some areas I just use an adjustable pattern spray nozzle. I'm probably gonna get a Sun Joe dethatcher. Do they make a 40 volt battery version? Gasoline would be alright too. 🐀🐾

[@JasonLestage]

What if the area that you need to overseed has a crab grass problem? Do you try to kill it first or just allow it to die out over the winter and the new grass will fill in?

[@TurfMechanic]

Good question, controlling crabgrass is easier done if we kill it before it seeds. Most grass types other than St Augustine Quinclorac will be the best option to kill crabgrass. Virtually all seeding can be done 7 days after quinclorac is applied. For bad crabgrass problem you would apply round one weed Kill today, then round two in 14 days time, then 7 days later you could seed. There are a few grass types that you can spray and seed on the same day, bermuda, fescue, perennial rye, zoysia. If you are running st aug then none of this matters because that grass type isn't seeded and isn't normally mixed with other grass types. Hope that helps!

[@bbtank3000]

I planted Seed Superstore's sunny mix of seed in late August. A month later, the ryegrass in it filled in nicely. The KBG (which is about 70% of the bag), sprouted, but is only about 1 inch tall. The blades are tiny, and aren't really growing beyond that. Any idea of what happened or what I can do?

[@lisah6076]

KBG is slow at germinating. It takes a while to fill out, but eventually will

[@bbtank3000]

@@lisah6076 You are right! The KBG was still small in the beginning of Spring, but within a few months, everything grew tall and thickened up nicely. I now have a lawn that can go dormant in summer, survive, and return in the Fall.

[@scruffyjohnson]

Solid info! Nice editing on this one. Great job!

[@nedg3740]

Gonna try something new this year to spread peat moss on 8000 sq ft. Five gallon buckets with 3/4 inch holes in the bottom, one in each hand.

[@TurfMechanic]

Ooo, interesting idea. I'm curious how that turns out, hope you'll give an update on how it goes.

[@nedg3740]

@@TurfMechanic ill let u know how it goes.

[@alexh8754]

@@nedg3740

[@BubbaclubbaW]

I’m excited to see how the KBG does. I bought some to overseed my lawn in a few weeks. One thing that isn’t talked about much is what type of seed to overseed with. I’ve seen and read that KBG can be tough due to sprout and pout and competition

[@TurfMechanic]

Yeah, kbg is the tough cool season grass to establish from seed but this time of year it's easiest to do it and when mixed in with rye it will naturally fill in weak spots in the rye and blend it because they look and feel similar t ok the untrained eye. It will also help develop a thin thatch layer which is healthy and desirable as opposed to bare dirt between bunch type grasses. The existing rye will actually protect some of the baby kbg seedlings and help them mature. The tricky part for me will be to grow new lawn around this patch with baby kbg and rye at the same time. So my entire flat lawn space will be nice turf by Halloween.

[@djratino]

I hate Kentucky blue grass. It's hard to get it going. Miss a day of watering can lose it. Scotts southern gold doesn't have any temporary grass in it. It's a mixture of 4 tall fescues.

[@TylerrossGarvey]

Concise information. I like it

[@TurfMechanic]

I got you Tyler 😀

[@svt7881]

Wouldn't you want to hold off on the starter fertilizer until after the grass seed has germinated? The nitrogen in the starter fert can cause the existing grass to grow quicker and outcompete and shade the new grass seedlings. The seeds don't need nutrients to germinate, but need it after germination.

[@TurfMechanic]

Yeah, the case for applying it 5-7 days after seeding is big. I omitted it for simplicity. The Shade of the existing grass however I see as a positive. The existing grass shields the baby grass and the seed, with light watering over the first 7-14 days the NPK applied shouldn't leech out, the hope is enough is reserved in the soil for the baby grass once it starts growing. The alternative is to run a spreader over sprouts on day 5-7 and potentially disturb them or the seed just starting to germinate. For me, I decided to do it all at once because I didn't want to have to deal with removing the cloth and then putting it back after a fert app. There's no right answer on this but your proposed method is probably slightly better especially for those people that don't cover their seed with crop cover.

[@amr-50]

Thanks for your efforts

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks a lot! Good luck with your lawn this summer Amr!

[@Jaker788]

I actually do have an overseeding project for the last weekend of August, and actually 2 of the biggest lawn sections I killed to do a full restart and have been slowly prepping

[@TurfMechanic]

Most people underestimate the work load to kill a section before the renovation, glad to hear you got started early on your project - good luck, I'm sure you'll love that lawn and the work you put into it by October! 😃

[@Eddie-gb3bn]

Whats the best grass type to get if I live in WA state, that can handle being cut short?

[@TurfMechanic]

I'd go for perennial rye for sure, you'll probably get plenty of moisture for it, unless you live way east and it can be maintained very short, just plan on overseeding most years around this time to keep it dense as it's a bunch type Gras and won't fill in blemishes all the way on its own.

[@kaizotrap2068]

Awesome overview! Really helped me out a lot. What is the benefit to topdressing with peat moss if Versus if I have good seed to soil contact and just use the crop cover and water regularly? Also, if I decide to spread the peat moss first and put a starter fertilizer a week from seed germination, will they fertilizer be able to get through the peat moss and into the soil?

[@TurfMechanic]

Great to hear you found the video helpful! As for your questions, the peat moss and crop cover is just redundancy protection or insurance. Both will help retain moisture and protect the seed doing one or the other will probably work too but this just makes it even more likely IMO. If you apply starter fert a week after germ it should make it into the soil just fine with normally watering. Seeds actually have all the sprouts need in them for a couple weeks, it's why they'll germinate in straight peat moss or sand and look great for a while before dying unless fertilizer is added later. Lots of people don't want to walk on the baby grass often so applying fert at time of seeding is often a good way to go but it's definitely not necessary.

[@gordoh7634]

Good video. What setting do you use on the Scotts edgeguard broadcast spreader for grass seed? With 1 being the smallest and 15 being the largest.

[@TurfMechanic]

In almost all scenarios I go with the lowest setting possible unless a bag of anything says setting two, in a case like that I'd stick to setting two. For everything I go lowest setting possible and try to get multiple passes everywhere to limit the risk for accidental lawn patterns from the spreader. Note your seed size though, for instance bermuda seed is dwarfed in size by kbg, and kbg is dwarfed in size by fescue. If your seed is too small then you need to get a dedicated seed spreader.

[@will-smith-nh]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@jimshorts5970]

Do you think there would be a problem with putting down ag lime and Ironite at the same time? Was going to apply after spike aerating in a day or two to get my PH up and get a little green up before aerating again in Oct and then reseeding. Found that here at 10k ft. it’s usually so dry that you have to seed right before the permasnow and then it will come up well in May/June with the spring thaw and “snow/melt” cycles unless you have a sprinkler system maybe.

[@TurfMechanic]

I see no problem with that combo at the same time. I'm assuming you actually have soil that is too acidic though, if it's not then the lime is unnecessary

[@juzoli]

How about one more last mowing a day or two before germination, about 5 days after seeding?

[@nedg3740]

I wouldnt. First, the seeds are probably swollen, ready for germination. You could still damage them w the weight of a lawn mower. And second you could be sucking up seeds w your mower and chopping them up.

[@TurfMechanic]

I pretty much agree with Ned, no need to risk messing with seed on the verge of germinating...and in my case ive git my seed plot covered so it would be a hassle to uncover it just to mow. On a regular schedule we don't break the 1/3 rule or let the grass get overgrown but fir situations like this grass is resilient enough to handle a short cut followed by an overgrown cut 10-14 days later. By week 3 and 4 you can easily get back into your regular mowing pattern and height.

[@justsayin7314]

Alternative Title: “I overseeded a massive 5’ x 5’ area and you can too !

[@TurfMechanic]

Lol, that was on the short list! 😅 you got it wrong though it was 5.5' x 8' - big difference 😃