These past few months have been very hard on our turf in West Michigan. Very little rain, combined with stretches of ninety degree temperatures have left permanent drought damage in some lawns like we haven’t seen in quite awhile. If your lawn has some areas that look like this, they will need to be seeded this fall. Here are a few best practices to help with repairing your lawn this fall.
- Timing – The best time to reseed damaged areas is the first week of September. You can achieve good results into October, but an earlier seeding date will allow the turf to more fully develop this fall. Typically September and October bring cooler temperatures and more abundant rainfall to help with germination.
- Method – 2 different methods work well depending on your situation. The first is seed and compost- If your damage is smaller and more localized, it works very well to apply seed liberally to the bare areas, and cover the seed with ½” to 1” of compost. Use a light leaf compost, not manure compost. This will help provide nutrients to the new seed and more importantly hold soil moisture for the seed. You will achieve the best germination rate with this method. The second option would be slit seeding, or overseeding- If your damage is more widespread, it is not always practical to cover large areas with compost. In this situation it is best to rent a slit seeder from a local rental shop. This machine is designed to cut grooves in the soil and drop seed in those grooves. This will help improve the seed to soil contact for better germination. Make sure to slit seed when the grass is dry so the seed can fall all the way down into the soil.
- Watering – Once the seeding is completed, the most important thing you can do to aid in germination is regular watering. The new seed needs to stay damp all day to germinate or it will die. If you have an irrigation system, this means you will set the rotor zones for 10 minutes per zone and the spray zones for 4 minutes per zone. Run those zones 3 times per day (6am, noon, and 3pm.) Your goal is to keep the soil damp from 6am to 6pm. These times are only a guide, so make adjustments up or down as needed. If watering by hand, you will need to do the best you can- at least water morning and evening.
- Inform Us – Once you seed, send us an email to office@myturfllc.com to let us know when and where you seeded. We will record this information so we can adjust our applications as necessary to help your new seed cover the bare areas.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call 616-813-3135 or email office@myturfllc.com. We are happy to help walk you through any situation you might have.
“We treat your turf like it’s My Turf”