lawn care expert’s help – Spring overseeding?

I wanted to overseed my lawn last fall but never got to it. I realize that fall is best, but some say spring works almost as well. My lawn seems to have really came out of winter looking really rough. Lots of old dead grass and thatch build up. I picked up a few thatching rakes off of marketplace last fall. I went out yesterday and tried it out on a small area. It ended up pulling up way more dead turf than I liked so I stopped. It may be way more aggressive than my lawn may take. When overseeding can I just broadcast the seed and lightly rake in or do I need to try to cover the surface with a light layer of topsoil or compost over the seeds. There are some real bad dead spots but I’m thinking of overseeding the whole lawn. what time is the best time to do the overseeding? Looking for pointers from the experts here.

You should have the grass cut very short and rake it in. The seed needs to be in contact with the soil. Then water it 3 times per day (or more) depending on how much sun it will get and your soil type. (Keep it moist)

lindyrig79 wrote:

You should have the grass cut very short and rake it in. The seed needs to be in contact with the soil. Then water it 3 times per day (or more) depending on how much sun it will get and your soil type. (Keep it moist)

I read that one of the most common mistakes with grass seed is overwatering it to much. how much is to much I have no idea. 3 times per day seems like a lot but I guess it depends on how warm and windy it is

I just bought a bag from a local seed store (not a big box store) and the directions state 4-5 times a day.

You have to use some common sense. But the seed needs to make good soil contact. And get enough water.

lindyrig79 wrote:

I just bought a bag from a local seed store (not a big box store) and the directions state 4-5 times a day.

You have to use some common sense. But the seed needs to make good soil contact. And get enough water.

Sounds good. Raked a little more lawn this evening and this part didn’t tear up near as bad as the prior part. I think that area was just more damaged and dead. Once I get it all detached I’ll get some quality seed and give the overseeding a try.

You basically cannot give it too much water. Especially as it gets warmer and there’s stronger sunlight.

A downpour of heavy rain is not really going to help much either. You want smaller amounts of light rain, ideally. Or like Lindy said, watering it multiple times per day.

I over seeded part of my yard that was getting choked out by the dry summers and crabgrass. I used my dethatcher and lawn sweeper to pick up old grass. I used a bag seeder to spreader the grass seed used a chain link fence to drag the seed in and a roller to pack for good seed contact. I’ve had to water because the rain that has came to the Litchfield area just dries up.

I’m not expert but have you thought about getting a soil sample done. Your lawn may need things it’s not getting. Just adding more grass could make the problem worse.

Just my .02

You could also attempt to pre-germinate the seed before spreading. I how no clue how well it works or not as I’ve never done it

In my experience, dethatching and aerating is more important. I didn’t aerate for the first ten years of living in my home. Grass got super patchy and I couldn’t get seed to grow. I tried overseeding and because the ground underneath the new dirt was so compacted, the seed and new dirt was overtaken by moss because the water just sat in the new dirt and didn’t penetrate the old dirt.

I like overseeding a lot, but make sure your original topsoil is ready for it.

mahtofire14 wrote:

dethatching and aerating is more important

I plan on dethatching and aerating prior to overseeding.

And here I am trying to figure out how I can kill all my grass so I don’t have to mow lol

fins wrote:

And here I am trying to figure out how I can kill all my grass so I don’t have to mow lol

Have kids constantly playing in the same areas and it will turn to dirt.