QUESTION FROM READER:
“I over-seed my grass every year with a quality fescue seed. For years, I’ve maintained a beautiful lush green lawn. Recently, I noticed the heat and humidity are causing brown patches and thought it might be the seed I’m using. So, this year I had a lawn company aerate and over-seed with a different grass seed. The company suggested I try their grass seed since it is tailored more for hot, humid summer conditions.
Unfortunately, the new seed did not come up, and I now have bare, patchy areas where the grass was overturned too much during aeration. My grass looks very unhealthy and thin. I’m a stickler about my grass and will be very upset if my grass does not rebound and sprout in the spring. Is there anything I can do? Please help!”
GL365 RESPONSE:
Dear Reader,
We are very sorry to hear about your recent experience. We also love beautiful green lawns at Gardening Life 365 and understand how upsetting this can be. To help you get your grass back on track, we really need to know where you live because it depends on your climate. We are based in the United States. So except for California, Florida, and a few other southern states, most places are cooling down or very cold right now. Some areas may even have snow falling.🥶
With that said, the typical window to over-seed grass in cold climates has passed. But there is still hope. Here are a few suggestions that could help but may not totally resolve the problem.
1. If temperatures in your area will be above 60 degrees during the day for a few weeks, you could try to over-seed again. Spread a starter fertilizer with your grass seed and water your lawn for a few minutes every day. Growth will be slower if temperatures are colder. So, don’t be alarmed if you don’t see an immediate result. Also, be sure to spread a high potassium winterizer in early January.
Keep in mind, these steps are late based on the traditional over-seeding schedules (You can find our seeding and fertilizer schedule in our pro-content section). However, if temperatures are warm for a few more weeks, these additional steps should help improve your results by spring. Also, be aware that since you will spread a winterizer later in the season, your lawn will green up earlier in the spring.
2. If your temperatures are below 60 degrees, spread a high potassium fertilizer, as mentioned above and in our Final Fall Clean-up post. With colder temperatures or snow, there is not much you can do. But the winterizer will protect and feed the grass you have and hopefully help the new seed during the winter.
One quick note, the brown patching might be resolved with a fungicide. It may not be your grass seed. Look for our post on using fungicides coming this spring. Finally, update us in the spring with your results and tell us what you did. Don’t forget to send us pictures. Good luck!
— Journée