What is the best time of year to seed a lawn and why?

Question

Sorry....I should have mentioned that I live in the Northeast. In northern New Jersey

Answer 1

That depends on what you are going to plant. I will give you an example.
I live near Dallas. i sow Bermuda seed in may or June if there is enough rain for-casted because Bermuda takes 70 degree nights to germinate. I plant or sow Rye which I buy from Oregon in September right when the fall rain comes . Rye is not a heat tolerant grass and can not deal with warm temperatures very well. It is a winter annual grass here and is gone by June due to the heat but it feeds my livestock through winter with supplements.
So i guess My question to you is what are you going to plant? It would help to know so we can give you an honest answer.

Answer 2

You have 2 times that are best. The Spring and Fall. Both have mild temperatures and normally avoid the heat of summer that can scorch new grass. The thing to be careful of is that you don't plant too late in the Fall. You want to make sure your grass has time to be established (like a month) before you get a hard freeze. The key to starting grass from seed is water. Here in Florida you need to water new grass every day for several weeks. I used to live up north and if memory serves--you should water 4 times a week if there is no rain.

Answer 3

I expect that seeding a lawn is the same around the country. In the early spring after the freezing nights are over. You might consider aereating the lawn first (professional pokes holes so that thatch is broken up). And at the same time you seed you also need to put on a fertilizer!

Have a question exactly when? Call you local Cooperative Extention, usually part of a local Community College system.

Answer 4

Here in northern NJ where I am too, it has always been recommended that this be done for most grasses in the Fall. Don't know all the exact reasons but has something to do with the fresh seedings getting their start in the cooler weather and prevent burning out in the hot sun of late Spring and Summer. Next best seeding season would be early Spring here.

Answer 5

I am assuming you want to put new lawn (there is nothing there or you will power rack whole thing and put new lawn).

The following hold good for any existing Lawn also.

Usually early fall and early spring.

But depends on your area.

I would go to local plant nursery and talk to a knowledgeable person about what type of grass you should plant, very likely he will recommend mixture of at least 3 types of grass seed more the batter. At least one of them should be annual and most of them should be perennial.

Annual as a rule should be quick geminating-say 3 to 4 days. They last that season only and if you allow it to go thru the seeding and if you do not pick up the clipping it will reseed the ground next year. But for most part annual last one year only.

Annual will provide a quick ground cover and protect the other seeds from washing away or flying away and seed will be difficult for birds to find.

Perennial on the other end take long, to very long to germinate, but they propagate thru seeding and roots, that means even if you pick up the clipping it will spread thru the roots and lawn will get established sooner or later.

Germination:

All seeds have built in clock; it will germinate at certain times of the year only, provided right germination conditions are available.
This so call clock or window of opportunity occurs for most seeds in fall or spring. Lots of seed if they are not damage can stay dormant and germinate any time later if they miss first window of opportunity.

Answer 6

I'm in Wisconsin... We plant in Spring or Fall becuase you have cool nights, heavy dew and warm days.

You can also plant a mix of annual rye which is fast growing and perennial which is slower growing. That way you'll establish your lawn quicker but it will come back again next year too.

We watered twice a day for 2 weeks so things would remain moist and then went to once a day for a week and finally every other day for a few weeks.

Good luck to you, You might want to check with your water company. Sometimes they'll give you a break on sewer charges if they know you're doing a lawn and not just dumping it down the drain.

Answer 7

I notice by your previous questions you live in the New Jersey area. If you are planting a fescue lawn the ideal time begins about now, mid August through mid September. Labor day weekend would be an ideal time to plant or seed a lawn with fescue. As with any lawn, use a blend of grass seeds that can thrive from full sun to partial shade, unless your whole lawn will be either all sunny all day or all shady all day. I would suggest a mix of about 3 to 5 varieties from full sun type to partial shade type. Your second best choice is late spring from about mid April through mid June. The reason fall is the first choice, you are taking advantage of nature in that few weeds sprout in the fall to compete with your new lawn grass. I would go with an organic lawn, it being better on the enviroment and less expensive to care for. I have added a link I found that explains the advantage of organic over chemical lawns. A good fertilizer for your lawn is just plain corn meal, purchased in 50 pound bulk bags at your local feed store. It should run about $9. Broadcast the same way you would a 10-10-10 chemical fertilizer. Another good lawn feed is dried cane molasses, available at the same location about the same price. Either of these give your lawn needed nitrogen in a slow release natural feed that your soil organisms will love, which in turn will feed your grass too. Don't forget to mulch your seeds with straw to help with moisture retention and prevent rain from washing away the seeds until the lawn is established.
Good luck with your lawn.
...jj


http://www.njskylands.com/fmgarden.htm

Answer 8

Fall. This is what it says on the bags of lawn seed, and this is my exact experience..

If you plant in the spring, early hot summer sun and drought can kill the new, tender shoots of grass. If you seed in the fall, the new grass is more mature and can withstand nature's summer insults; it's tougher and has a better root system. It can go dormant and brown like fully established lawns do, then green back up with water and a little fertilizer.

Answer 9

Check with your local agriculture extension office. Depending on your part of the country it may be in the spring or fall. Typically if you are trying to fill in bare spots that might have been burned by this hot summer seeding between late August and mid September may work well for you.

Another option in zone 5 is to wait until November (around Thanksgiving) as long as the ground is not frozen. The seeds will sit dormant over the winter when their protective shell will be broken open and germinate in the spring. This is more like the natural process and seems to work well for my yard. Just make sure the birds have migrated or they will eat all of your seed. You may have to adjust the timing depending on your zone.

Answer 10

You want to plant when the air temperature is between 50 and 80. Too cold or too hot and the grass will not grow, so mid-to-late spring or early-to-mid fall.

Also make sure to water at least twice a day. Should take about three weeks for the grass to really start coming in, then cut back to one watering a day.