A worn out and tired looking lawn can easily be rejuvenated by simply topdressing with a quality compost product and overseeding. Topdressing improves soil structure by adding organic matter and beneficial microbes, the perfect environment for a lush and healthy lawn. Master Nursery® is happy to provide you with the information and products you need to make your lawn and garden projects easy and successful!
Eastern & Midwestern Regions
Fall is the best time to overseed a cool season lawn because days are warm, nights are cool, and moisture is abundant. If, however, you missed the Fall window of opportunity, Spring is the next best time to spruce up a thinning lawn. Early in the season, you can easily see where any bald, bare, or thin patches exist and jump on this chore straight away.
Overseeding
It is best to overseed as early in the Spring as possible if you did not get to it in the Fall. You’ll be using a cool-season turf blend that includes annual ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, red fescue, rough bluegrass. and tall fescue. You will need to get seeds germinated and growing before trees begin to leaf out, consequently blocking the sun from the ground below the canopy.
Rake your bare spots to loosen the compacted soil. Top dress these areas with a thin application, approximately ¼ to ½ inch of Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder. This unsurpassable product is a soil building blend of manure, shellfish compost, earthworm castings, kelp, peat, aged bark, and lobster. It is inoculated with endo and ecto mycorrhizal fungi to improve turf root function, and the shellfish provide Nitrogen, necessary for a healthy lawn. This product excels as a nutrient rich top dressing.
After top dressing with Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder, lay down your seed at the rate recommended on your product packaging. Keep the area moist at all times until the roots of grass seed become established. Then, you can gradually decrease the frequency of watering; however, as you water less frequently, you should water more deeply to promote deep root growth. The new grass can be mowed when it reaches a height of about 3 inches.
Western Region
Our climate in the West is extremely diversified. Where you are located will determine whether you sow warm season or cool season grasses. As a general rule of thumb, Southern and Coastal California will fare best with a sowing of warm season grasses, and Central and Northern California are best with cool season blends. It is always best to check with your local Master Nursery® Garden Center to see what their staff recommends for your particular area if you are uncertain.
Warm season turf should be overseeded in the Spring; however, they may also be overseeded with cool season grass blends in the Fall to keep them green all Winter. Cool season turf is best overseeded in the Fall but may be done in the early Spring as well.
Rake your bare spots to loosen the compacted soil. Top dress these areas with a thin application approximately ¼ to ½ inch of Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder, a premium soil amendment containing only the finest natural and organic ingredients, including: composted chicken manure, earthworm castings, bat guano, and kelp meal. This product excels as a nutrient rich top dressing.
After top dressing with Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder, lay down your seed at the rate recommended on your product packaging. Keep the area moist at all times until the roots of grass seed become established. Then, you can gradually decrease the frequency of watering; however, as you water less frequently, you should water more deeply to promote deep root growth. The new grass can be mowed when it reaches a height of about 3 inches.
A lot goes into having a lush, healthy lawn, but if you take the appropriate steps to rejuvenate your lawn with the appropriate seed, at the correct time, with the perfect compost Master Nursery® Bumper Crop® Soil Builder, you’ll be rewarded with thick, healthy, resilient turf to enjoy from early Spring until frost. See our Store Locator to find a garden center near you.
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