Rake, Aerate, Seed & Water Through the Dog Days
Well, it’s the dog days of summer, and your lawn and garden are probably feeling the heat. It’s been a tough year for lawns, and if you’re like me, you probably have a lot of dried-out dead spots in your lawn this time of year.
Late summer into early fall is a great time to overseed or reseed your lawn. Here at O’Toole’s, we have a wide variety of grass seed and expert lawn care advice. Days are hot, the nights are cool, and hopefully, there’s a little extra precipitation. But most importantly, the soil temperature is still warm, so the seeds will germinate quickly.
First, you want to rake out the dead areas. Next, you want to aerate. The seeds need to make contact with the soil, so you want to make as many little holes as you can. After that, it’s important to incorporate B.O.S.S. This will add a lot of great organic material for the seeds. Then you can top-dress with B.O.S.S. to protect them from the birds.
Lastly, just keep the seed watered for about 14 days. Even with watering restrictions, many cities have exemptions for new grass seed. Check with your local water district for more information.
We have the products and expert advice to keep your garden growing all summer long. Stop by and see us at O’Toole’s Garden Center.
August is when Colorado lawns look their worst, and that is exactly why it is the right time to fix them. The stretch from late summer into early fall is the best seeding window of the entire year here. The soil is still holding summer heat, so seed germinates fast, but the nights have started to cool off and the afternoon sun is not as punishing on new grass. Weeds are winding down for the season too, which means the seed you put down is not fighting crabgrass for space the way spring seeding does.
The process is straightforward. Rake the dead areas out first so you are working with bare soil rather than thatch. Aerate next — grass seed will not germinate sitting on top of the lawn, so the goal is to open up as many little holes as you can for the seed to fall into. Work in Colorado’s Choice B.O.S.S., our locally made blend of peat moss and EKO compost, to give the seedbed some organic material to work with. Spread your seed, top-dress with a little more B.O.S.S. to keep the birds from helping themselves, and then water. That last step is the one people skip: new seed needs consistent moisture for about 14 days, and short, frequent watering beats one long soak.
If you are under watering restrictions this year, do not write the project off. Most Front Range water districts write exemptions for newly seeded and newly sodded lawns — check with yours before you start, and see our water-wise seeding guide for more on getting a lawn established in a dry year. Stop by either store and our staff will help you match the right grass seed to your yard, whether that is a sunny front lawn, a shady side yard, or a low-water mix you will not have to babysit next summer.