This year has been a challenging year for lawn care because of the weather here in Tennessee. I am sure you are wondering “When is the best time to get seeding done?” or “Is it too late this season to seed?”. In this blog, we will be discussing several late fall seeding myths.
It’s too late in the year to do seeding:
Seeding results have to do with a whole host of factors. The date on your calendar is not one of them. Factors that DO affect seeding are things like soil temperature, moisture in the soil, nutrient availability, soil profile, the amount of available sunlight, and the amount of moisture given to the new seed. Over the last few years, we’ve had great soil temperatures for germination well into November. We have no reason to suspect that this trend will not continue this year.
You can’t seed once there’s been a frost:
An early-season frost may affect a seed that has already germinated, but should not affect the seed still in its casing. Also, a single frost doesn’t mean that soil temperatures will not continue to be favorable to germination later in the Fall. Seeds that are still in their casing are relatively unaffected by freezing temperatures. They can lay dormant for a long time, and just “wait it out” until conditions are favorable for germination. This is why you may have grass types pop up on your lawn that you don’t recognize.
Once conditions are right, the grass will grow. The same holds true for the healthy seed you’re trying to introduce late in the season! If your lawn was recently seeded, and the seeds have germinated but are still very immature, there’s a chance those seedlings will die with an early frost. In these cases, there’s often a seed that hasn’t germinated yet lying alongside that new seed. When Spring arrives, you’ll likely get continued growth from seeds sown the prior Fall.
If you do a late Fall seeding, you can’t apply crabgrass control:
Many people believe if you seed so late in the season that you are going to have to deal with crabgrass next summer, or risk killing that seed. There are other options for control products that do not interfere with your seeding. In recent years, lawn care technology has come a long way. Lawn care professionals now have a few different options to selectively target grassy weeds. This means your late Fall seeding will still have a chance to germinate in the Spring, while still controlling the crabgrass.
If your lawn doesn’t look filled in by Winter, your seeding didn’t work:
Cool-season grasses take a long time to mature. Most of them germinate in a moderate amount of time (10-14 days). Once the germination process has begun, cool-season grasses have a maturation process they go through. They often look like a single “hair” growing out of the ground for a number of months. These seedlings then go through a process called “tillering” where they fill out and you will have several blades of grass on a single plant. Tillering often takes about six months for cool-season grasses, regardless of species. It’s going to be mid-to-late Spring before that tillering happens.
When you are ready to overseed your lawn, LawnPro of Murfreesboro will help you achieve the nicest lawn on the block! Give us a call at 615-653-3871 for any questions or to set up your appointment today!