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bgtimber75

Seeding in October (late Fall)

bgtimber75
13 years ago

So I was over my Mothers house yesterday and she had her lawn aerated and seeded last October. It looks great and she didn't water it a single time.

I want to seed myself this Fall but don't have the time to water 3 times a day. If I seed later in the season like she did will the snow and moisture of Winter generally mean I don't have to do the watering?

Comments (12)

  • bgtimber75
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Forgot to add that it's a basic over seeding, not a new lawn.

  • bpgreen
    13 years ago

    What you're describing is called dormant seeding. Around here, that approach seems to work best because there's such a short window between the heat of summer and snowfall.

    In Maryland, I'd be tempted to wait even longer before seeding. You want to wait until you're pretty sure it's too cool to germinate. I usually try to get the seed down before the first good snowfall (that's often in October, but may not be until November). Unless your lawn stays snow covered, you can probably wait even longer and seed sometime in January or February (as long as the lawn is free of snow).

  • bgtimber75
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks. So probably November/December for me would work fine. I would just have to buy the seed earlier in the Fall season since I'd be afraid I wouldn't be able to get it locally about that time.

    Are there any drawbacks to doing it this way? It seems that would be the ideal method in anyplace that has actual seasons.

  • tiemco
    13 years ago

    Actually the ideal time to seed cool season grasses is in late summer/early fall. The falling temps and dryer air aren't conducive to weed growth and/or lawn disease. Dormant seeding is OK, but your percent germination will be lower than a fall seeding and if conditions in spring aren't right you could also get no germination.

  • john_in_sc
    13 years ago

    Right -- you want to do it late summer/early fall. This gets germination going and roots into the ground before the snow hits and everything goes dormant.

    They seeded my new lawn in November with Cool season grass... about 10% of it came up over the winter... leaving me with a big, slimey, dusty dirt patch. Now, I am battling my dirt patch called a back yard -- trying to get something to grow before summer rains come and wash my yard into the creek.

    Thanks

    John

  • bgtimber75
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I would imagine Winter in SC is far milder then Winter in MD?

  • john_in_sc
    13 years ago

    It probably is colder in Maryland.

    You would have expected my grass to either germinate and grow just fine over the winter... or to wait dormant all winter and then explode into growth in the Spring

    Except it didn't do either -- I got 5 - 10% germination and a big mud-hole of a yard... I am siding with Tiemco ... because the "Dormant" way basically did exactly what he said.

    But.. Here's the page from the University of Maryland's Extension site.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Maryland Extension Turfgrass page

  • WestchesterGrower
    13 years ago

    I definitely wouldn't go the dormant route where you are at...Just doesn't make sense. The winters can sometimes have drastic thaws followed by freezes in places like SC or MD and I can see that hampering the process.

  • Billl
    13 years ago

    I guess I split the difference between MD and SC here in NC.

    The "Best" time here is September. Of course, you still need to water then, but most of the weeds are finished. The soil is still warm, so you get quick germination.

    October works too. The cooler temps mean less watering, but germination is slower. November even works most years, but if you get an early cold spell, that might delay most germination until spring.

  • bgtimber75
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I guess I'll do the traditional late Summer it just takes forever to move the hose all over the yard so doing that 2-3 times a day just isn't something I look forward to doing.

  • tiemco
    13 years ago

    Instead of lugging the hose all over, do yourself a favor and buy a few hoses, sprinklers, and a brass one to four hose manifold. Then it's just a matter of turning on each sprinkler individually for five to ten minutes. You could even get a timer system so you don't have to be there to turn it on.

  • bgtimber75
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I actually thought of that, however my yard is just such and odd shape that I won't be able to get to every area without a couple of hoses having to lay over the grass itself.

    Now that you mention it though I might pick up a couple of different sprinklers to see if I can find a model with a good enough range that I could put them at the edge of the lawn so I don't have to have the hose actually going across it. I would need some fairly strong impulse sprinkers for it to work.