Earliest time of the year to start overseeding patching lawn (UK)?
 

After dethatching the lawn in the autumn, its looking pretty bare in places rigth now. So i want to seed these areas as early as possible to try and get the lawn back up and running. Do we have to wait for the frosts to go?

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated

Cheers.

Earliest time of the year to start overseeding patching lawn (UK)?
 

Zarch wrote:
After dethatching the lawn in the autumn, its looking pretty bare in
places rigth now. So i want to seed these areas as early as possible
to try and get the lawn back up and running. Do we have to wait for
the frosts to go?

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated

Cheers.


--
Zarch


You don't have to wait for all danger of frost to pass. You're
planting lawn grass, not tomatoes. On the other hand, grass seed won't
germinate until soil temps are in the 50s. And getting it down earlier
can have some advantages. The frost cycles will slightly expand and
contract the soil, creating some cracks, into which the seed can drop.
On the downside, if the area is sloped and you seed earlier, then the
seed has more time to wash away.

I'd do it when you start to have days with temps in the high 50s low
60s. I'd also use a slice seeder to get good soil/seed contact.
Anytime between now and then would be a good time to get the PH checked
and adjusted if necessary.

Why didn't you seed it in the fall? Early fall is by far the best time.

It doesn’t really matter when you put the seed down other than the likely hood of birds pinching it. What really matter's is the night time soil temps. Once they come up into 60 - 70 F / 15 - 21 C then seed will grow. You should also take in to account that seeding close to a frost is not a good idea. For best results you should seed in around the top cm of your top soil (as the seed will burn energy getting to the surface) and at a time that will optimize the germination such as late September or late march.
Good luck

Turf doc