As a homeowner, naturally you cherish curb appeal. You want your home and landscape to look nice.
Regular lawn care is a big component of making your lawn shine as it frames your house. You want your lawn to not only look great, but to also continue to add value to your investment. We get it. Your lawn and home are important to you.
Watch the video to learn more about overseeding
Mother Nature has plans of her own. And sometimes -- no matter how meticulous or dedicated your lawn care strategy is -- your lawn still experiences brown spots. Maybe drought got to a section or an animal dug up a spot.
Just because you have a dead spot here or there doesn’t mean your lawn is done for.
Enter overseeding, which is the process of seeding on top of your existing lawn. This is a lawn’s savior. It’s a simple way to bring your lawn back to life, filling in those bare spots and thickening up your overall lawn.
Now, if you’re like us, once spring hits you can’t wait to get outside and start assessing what winter has done to your landscape and how you can quickly fix it.
We understand the rush, but when it comes to planting grass, should you overseed your lawn in spring? Let’s review some facts about how to best grow a lawn in Maryland through this process so you can better understand your options.
Lawn Overseeding 101
Staying on top of lawn seeding tips for the best results is an essential part of creating a great home landscape.
As your lawn gets older, it will naturally begin to produce fewer new grass blades. Overseeding on top of your existing lawn gives it a boost so it can become thicker and greener, building up density to keep weeds out.
Overseeding is best done paired with aeration (the process of using an aerator to take out small plugs of soil) because it opens up the lawn and provides the perfect holes for seeds to nestle in and take hold.
After you overseed, you want to ensure your watering, mowing, and fertilization practices are on point to maximize the percentage of seeds that germinate and grow into your new and improved lawn.
Obviously, there are quite a few factors that can impact how successful this process is.
Here are some essential facts about overseeding a lawn in spring that will help you eliminate patchy spots and achieve that lush lawn you’re after.
When to Overseed Your Lawn in Maryland
Timing is a big part of overseeding. But this does present a conundrum for you if you’re noticing dead or brown spots in your lawn in spring.
Here’s why: Technically, early fall is the best time to overseed your lawn in Maryland. This is because Maryland temperatures begin to cool so lawn seeds have a greater chance to germinate before winter. Over the fall and winter, those early lawn blades build and store energy for a true growth influx come springtime.
This is definitely why we recommend avoiding summer for overseeding. Temperatures can be too warm and water can evaporate too quickly for seeds to get a good start.
Spring, like fall, certainly has the advantage of cooler temperatures. However, spring can be a challenge because you are fighting with other growth hindrances. For instance, conditions can get hot and wet very quickly, causing disease and drought to take advantage of young seedlings.
Watch Out For Weeds
In addition to rising heat and moisture, another challenge with overseeding a lawn in spring vs. fall is heightened competition. In other words, seeds have to fight more obstacles in the spring than they do in the fall.
Weeds are highly competitive at this time of year, for instance. Those tender new lawn blades aren’t yet strong enough or thick enough to keep weeds from sneaking in.
You May Have to Repeat Your Efforts
If your lawn is patchy and you don't want to wait until the fall, overseeding your lawn in spring is certainly a possibility.
But it’s good to remember that because of the extra competition and less forgiving weather conditions, your efforts may be a bit less successful. Basically, overseeding can be an uphill battle in spring, requiring you to repeat your efforts again in fall for those full effects.
In the end, it may cost you more time and money, but it’s an option for you if your time and circumstance require you to act in spring.
The Best Time to Overseed Your Lawn in Maryland
Taking care of a lawn is not always simple.
The process requires education about lawn care, mowing, watering, weeding, fertilization, and other treatments and services. We know this can become hard to understand since there is so much information out there.
We hope we’ve cleared up some of the differences between overseeding a lawn in spring vs. fall in Central and Southern Maryland. 
If you’re seeing some bare spots in your lawn and you’re not sure what to do, you can always reach out to a professional lawn care company that can provide guidance and insight. This way you can plan your time and budget around a strategy that will deliver the results you’re after.
Let’s boost your lawn’s health and eliminate those bare spots together! Natural Green Systems has all the grass-growing knowledge you need. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we’ll customize a plan that gives your lawn the facelift it needs.
