Overseeding your lawn is an essential part of keeping your lawn looking its best. It’s also known as reseeding, and helps to repair damaged areas that might have been caused by a harsh summer or winter. It’s best to overseed your lawn during the spring or autumn, when the temperature is mild but there’s still a fair amount of rainy days to help the grass seed grow. To prepare your lawn for overseeding, you should do the following things around 1-2 weeks beforehand:
- Weed the lawn by hand or using a weedkiller (make sure you leave enough time to do this according to the instructions)
- Remove stones and large twigs
- Scarify your lawn to remove moss and loosen soil
- Fertilise the soil with a quick-release fertiliser
Once you’ve taken these steps, you’re ready to start overseeding your lawn.
- Mow your lawn to around 25mm in length.
- Water the soil so it’s moist but not too damp.
- Sprinkle your new grass seed evenly over the lawn, but apply more in patchy or thin areas. Generally gardeners say to use 35g per square metre, but up to 50g on thin areas.
When you’re finished, give your lawn a final water, and do this every day until the new grass is established – particularly if it’s not rained. Just make sure you don’t overwater it. It’s also a good idea not to walk on your lawn for around 2-3 weeks after you’ve overseeded it.