Overseeding your lawn in the fall is a great way to thicken it up, and improve its overall appearance. There are several benefits of overseeding your lawn. It will fill in any areas that were damaged by traffic, heat, disease, or insects. It will thicken your lawn overall. And it will enhance your lawn’s ability to fight disease and insects. Plus, overseeding with newer, hardier types of grass can help make it more drought and disease resistant.
Get Even Better Results by Combining Aeration and Overseeding
Here in Kansas City, we have some of the worst soil. Unfortunately, our soil contains high amounts of clay. Clay is a very dense soil that compacts easily. That’s why we recommend aerating before overseeding. When your soil gets packed too tightly, water and nutrients cannot reach the roots of the grass as easily. Plus, the roots need room to breathe and grow. Aeration allows them to do just that because it removes small plugs of dirt and grass depositing them on the top of the soil and leaving room below for growth. It also allows water and nutrients to reach the roots more easily. Luckily, this is a fairly easy fix. Once your lawn is aerated, it will respond very well, and should be greener and healthier next summer.
Benefits of Aeration
Aeration is recommended every year. Some of the benefits of aeration include a better root system, less water runoff, better germination when overseeding, better water and fertilizer uptake, improved air exchange, enhanced thatch breakdown, and better tolerance to heat and drought. If you’ve noticed your lawn browning early in the summer, water running off rather than soaking in, and fertilizing doesn’t seem to be helping, it probably needs aeration.
A Handy Tip for Buying Grass Seed
So, back to our seedy little story, once you’ve aerated, you want to make sure you sow the best grass seed. Here are a few tips for buying the best grass. Not all grass seed is created equal. Many brands contain a certain percentage of weed seeds mixed in. Before you buy grass seed, check the label. Look for seed that says 0% weed seed and 0% other crop. You have enough trouble with keeping weeds out. Don’t accidentally add them yourself.
If you need help with lawn seeding and aeration, call Custom Lawn and Landscape at 913-782-8315 for professional aeration services.
