Choose the Appropriate Season – The planting season has a direct effect on the success of grass seed. Timing ensures that your grass seed will germinate properly, grow rapidly, and remain healthy as new seedlings establish themselves. The optimal time to plant grass seed depends on your grass-growing region and the type of grass you cultivate.
Cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, and perennial ryegrass are commonly found in lawns throughout the northern United States. Planting during cool weather in the fall and spring coincides with these grasses’ most active growth periods. In Massachusetts, for instance, planting grass seed in early autumn is optimal.1 This time of year, the soil is still warm enough to promote germination, but the days are cool and occasionally rainy.
This mixture helps prevent newly planted seeds from drying out. There is also enough daylight in early autumn for new grass to flourish and become established prior to winter. The second-best method for planting cool-season grasses is in the spring. Aim to sow seeds early in the season, but only when daytime temperatures are between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- This roughly corresponds to the optimal soil temperature for the germination of cool-season grass seeds.
- Springtime sunlight and precipitation both contribute to robust grass growth.
- Warm-season lawn grasses such as Bermudagrass, Zoysia grass, Bahiagrass, and Centipede grass dominate the southern half of the United States.
These grasses should be planted in the spring and early summer, not in the fall, during their optimal growth period. Plant warm-season grasses when daytime temperatures remain at or above 80 degrees Fahrenheit and all risk of a late spring frost has passed in your area.
How is grass planted in March?
– March is too soon to plant the majority of grass seeds. This time of year, temperatures will be too low unless you live in a warm region. Plant grass only when the average daily temperature is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is too late to plant cool-season grass seed when daytime air temperatures fall below 55 degrees and frost is imminent. Cool season grasses thrive at daytime air temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, when soil temperatures range between 50 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Even though germination may occur at colder temperatures, frost can damage or kill seedlings. It is possible to lay sod at any time of year; however, it is best to plant according to the active growing period of the grass species — mid-to-late spring for warm-season grasses and early spring or early fall for cool-season grasses — and to avoid laying sod in extremely hot or cold temperatures.
When the ground is frozen, it is too late to plant sod because frozen soil cannot be prepared and leveled. Warm-season grasses that cannot be planted from seed are sodded or established with plugs or sprigs, also known as stolons. Plugs are small, interspersed pieces of sod.
- Also planted at intervals, sprigs or stolons are pieces of above- or below-ground grass stems for species of creeping grass.
- It is too late to plant warm-season plugs or sprigs if the soil temperature will not exceed 55 degrees for the three to six weeks required for their establishment.
- They will not produce roots below that temperature, and frost can harm or kill young seedlings.
Hydroseeding is a method in which seed is combined with a mulch-like substance and broadcast using a high-pressure hose. The hydroseeding of cool-season and some warm-season grasses. Hydroseeding warm- and cool-season grasses is subject to the same seeding deadline as other methods: When Is It Too Late for Grass Planting?
What do you apply to your lawn first in the spring?
Apply fertilizer, pre-emergence herbicide, and herbicide. Utilize a combination of fertilizer, which nourishes your grass, and pre-emergent, a herbicide used to prevent crabgrass, in early spring. Then, apply both products along with a broadleaf weed killer six to eight weeks later.
