Re-sowing lawns: the right approach

Your lawn looks thinned out and you notice that the grass is no longer growing back? Then it is high time for an overseeding. In our article, you can find out which grass re-sowing is best and how to re-sow your lawn correctly.

The re-sowing of the lawn is a measure for renewing the lawn without creating a completely new one. On an existing lawn, the lawn seeds of a certain grass reseed mixture are spread evenly, which ensures that the lawn becomes dense and regenerative again. Reseeding can be necessary for various reasons. We'll tell you below why you shouldn't forget overseeding, when it should ideally be carried out and how to do it.

Why is overseeding so important?

Do you want a beautiful and lush green lawn? Then reseeding is indispensable after some time on most of the areas. Reseeding can make sense just a few years after a completely new lawn has been planted. Lawn grasses are quite delicate plants that are exposed to extreme temperature fluctuations in our latitudes. As a result, they lose their strength over time and no longer grow as strongly. Then the appearance of the thinned lawn arises. If more and more gaps appear in the previously dense lawn, moss and weeds can quickly gain the upper hand. To prevent this from happening, reseeding is a maintenance measure that you should do regularly.

What makes a grass seed special?

A grass reseed is a special mixture for the repair of existing lawns. A reseeding mixture is not suitable for creating new lawns. Above all, good reseeding consists of German ryegrass (Lolium perenne). This is most often missing on older, thinned lawns, because it is troubled by cold, frosty winters and dry summers.

The German ryegrass grows extremely quickly and in small groups, the so-called clumps. However, some varieties are also able to shoot many runners - the variety Lolium perenne 'New Orleans', for example, has this property. Due to these runners and its overall persistent growth, the ryegrass is in good conditions in the Able to close gaps in the sward quickly - so it increases the ability to regenerate Lawn. For this reason we also use the 'New Orleans' variety in ours Plantura grass reseed.

Tip: The thinning of the lawn due to drought and cold can be prevented by a sufficient supply of potassium in the late summer or early autumn, so that the lawn does not need to be reseeded as often. Use a lawn fertilizer with a high concentration of potassium such as our Plantura Organic autumn lawn fertilizer.

When should you re-sow your lawn?

The right time for re-sowing the lawn is between April and October, but late spring is ideal (Late April, May) or early autumn, as there is sufficient moisture and moderate temperatures here are. It is very important that the temperatures are above 12 ° C even at night so that the seeds germinate ideally.

As stated earlier, if your lawn looks light, if you are after one, your lawn should be re-sown Noticing cold or wet winter bare patches in the lawn or after you have scarified your lawn to have. It may be necessary to reseed the lawn just a few years after it has been planted. It does not matter whether the lawn was sown in the traditional way or laid as a turf, because a patchy lawn offers weeds and moss space to grow. Reseeding is an indispensable maintenance measure so that weeds and moss don't stand a chance.

Tip: Is your lawn dense, but hardly vital or plagued by diseases and hardly growing? Then it is better to use the scarifier and fertilize regularly, for example with our Plantura Organic lawn fertilizer. If, on the other hand, the lawn has very large, extensive gaps, it is not an overseeding, but an Lawn repair appropriate.

What is the best approach to re-sowing the lawn?

Lawn care is often not trivial - there are also a few things to consider when re-sowing. You will therefore find all the important steps in our video instructions.

So that you will soon have a nice, dense lawn in your garden again, you will find step-by-step instructions for re-sowing lawns to read below.

1. Use your overseeding in late spring or early fall if possible. The soil temperature should be consistently above 12 ° C so that germination runs smoothly.
2. Mow your lawn briefly. You will achieve the best results if you scarify your lawn before reseeding or if you hook up the sward. Remove weeds, moss and lawn thatch as completely as possible from the entire area and fertilize the area with an organic lawn fertilizer such as our Plantura Organic lawn fertilizer. On meager soils, ours is a good choice Organic soil activator to spread. This invigorates the soil in the long term and contains live mycorrhizal fungi.
3. Now sow the grass over the entire lawn. You can do this with a spreader or by hand. In any case, it is advisable to go once lengthways and once across the area and to distribute half of the overseeding in each case. In total, you will need around 20 g / m 2, depending on the seed².
4. Once the seeds have been distributed, they are carefully hooked in and then gently pressed into the ground using running boards or a light roller.
5. Watering is extremely important in the next few days and weeks. The germination process cannot begin without water and the fresh seedlings are also extremely sensitive to drought. The drying out of the germinating seeds or the young grasses would inevitably lead to the fact that the seed would not emerge completely and the reseeding would therefore be in vain.
6. If the young grasses are over 8 cm high, the first mowing is due, now the stalks are shortened to 4 cm. Use a sharp cutting deck as the grasses can be uprooted easily. Fertilization can also be carried out during the second mowing. Always apply when fertilizing organic lawn fertilizer in organic quality.

What do you have to look out for when buying grass seed?

In general, you should pay attention to the following points when buying grass seed:

• High proportion of the very vigorous German ryegrass (Lolium perenne)
• The lawn seeds should be RSM-certified, they germinate reliably and have a long shelf life
• It is also advisable to use a mixture with coated seeds, which further increases the germination success by preventing the seeds from drying out

All of these characteristics apply to our Plantura overseeding, which we developed together with lawn experts. Our Plantura grass reseed contains the art Lolium perenne and the runners Lolium perenne 'New Orleans' for particularly self-regenerating lawns.

Furthermore, our lawn seeds are surrounded by a high-quality coating that attracts water and thus protects the seeds from drying out. Another plus of coated seeds: After germination, the seeds are ideally supplied with nutrients, which means that they can also be sown in problematic dry locations. And coated seed has other decisive advantages: It makes the individual grain round and a little heavier, which makes it easier to spread it evenly. In addition, the seed pattern can be seen better because the individual grains are simply larger. Birds do not see coat seeds as food, even if they should try one of the grains - so bird damage is no longer a problem when re-sowing lawns. Overall, the result of coated seeds is a very high level of germ safety and thus even reseeding.

We at Plantura stand for sustainable garden products, not only in the production, but also by serving you as readers and customers take them seriously and deal with your questions - so that the seeds of your work grow safely and lead to a lush green lawn grows up. Our Plantura lawn ax seeds is an RSM-certified coated seed and is therefore easy to use. In addition, you will find information on lawn care all year round in numerous themed articles and of course on request.

Further questions about reseeding

There are some very frequently asked questions that we would like to address again at the end so that you are properly informed.

Can you re-sow the lawn and fertilize it at the same time?

Fertilization and sowing can basically be carried out in parallel if the fertilization is primarily carried out organically. Organic fertilization ensures efficient, healthy roots, while excessive mineral fertilization can inhibit root formation. You can find more information in the special article on the subject of "Sow and fertilize the lawn“.

How does grass re-sowing work without digging up?

A lawn renewal, including overseeding and fertilizing, is carried out in this order: mow the area, scarify, aerate or roughen the area with one Metal rake, removing moss and weeds, fertilizing with mainly organic lawn fertilizer, sowing the grass seed, pressing the seed and finally water. A detailed description can be found in the instructions above in the article.

In what case is a reseeder used to renew the lawn?

Professionals can use overseeders (overseeders / overseeders / overseeders) on large areas. These slit the soil, deposit the seeds individually and then roll. However, an overseeder is only worthwhile when reseeding large areas.