Winterizing your Warm Season Lawn

Scalping Turf

     During the fall and winter months, warm season grasses generally do not look their best. Warm season grasses go dormant during the winter. St. Augustine, Bermuda, kikuyu are three of the most common warm season grasses that you will find in the Southern California region.

     For this reason, most people who have warm season lawns will over seed. Over seeding consists of the following: Scalping or dethatching of the grass and actually over seeding the lawn with a cool season grass. A cool season grass, such as annual/perennial rye, standard fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass is chosen to keep the lawn looking its best during its dormant stage.

     Annual and perennial rye grass is the most popular of cool season grasses that are used to over seed. But there is a slight difference between the two types of grass. Annual rye grass is generally less expensive than perennial, but has a lighter, lime green colored leaf. It is less resistant to disease and also will not take as much foot traffic as perennial rye. Perennial rye grass is a much darker green colored grass. It can tolerant about 50% foot traffic and is a little bit more expensive than annual rye.

     The best time to over seed a warm season lawn in Southern California is in the middle to late fall months. But, over seeding can be done as late as late December to early January.

     The first step is to stop watering your grass for up to a week before you dethatch your lawn. This will help you when it is time to dethatch because mowing and dethatching wet grass is very difficult to do. Lowering the mower heights several weeks before, a half an inch at a time until you get to your desired height, will help the dethatching process even more.

     The second step in the over seeding process is to lower the overall heights of your turf. This is done to remove all the thatch in the existing grass. Thatch is removed for both aesthetics and for functionality. Thatch is just down right ugly to look at. It is very difficult to mow turf that has a lot of thatch. Dethatching a lawn every year will only help make mowing the lawn an easier task during the spring and summer.

     Removing the thatch also helps to eliminate the spread of disease and fungus in the lawn. Disease and fungus has a tendency to store itself in warm and moist areas. Thatch is a perfect breeding ground for disease since it helps to keep the ground moist and warm.

     When dethatching, be prepared to pick up a lot of grass debris left behind by your mower. You may choose to use a dethatching mower if your lawn is very thatchy. If you dethatch your lawn on a yearly basis, you will only need a standard walk behind mower. Detchatching can be very labor intensive, but will help keep your lawn looking beautiful in the spring and summer months.

     The third step is to lay down the seed. You will need a rotary spreader for larger areas of turf, or a regular drop spreader for smaller areas. Be sure to check the bag of seed for proper spreader rates. Applying to much seed is just down right wasteful and not applying enough will not give you the desired look you were going for. Take the time to read the label.

     The fourth step is watering and mowing of your over seeded lawn. A basic rule of thumb for watering all newly seeded or over seeded lawns is to keep the seed moist and not wet. You may need to water 2-3 times during the day to keep the seed moist. You will want to keep the seed moist up to germination. Once the seed has germinated, typically 10-14 days later, you can cut back the watering to once a day for one more week. Then go to a three times a week schedule for approximately 3-5 minutes. This may very by zone and location.

Mowing of the turf will commence about 2-3 weeks after the initial seeding of the lawn. Mowing the lawn at 2 ½ inches to 3 inches is standard for all cool season grasses. Cutting the grass to short will lead to weed infestations and you will need to water more often during the week because or of the dirt is exposed to the sun and warmth.

     Now you are done! You have successfully over seeded your lawn. It is time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. You will want to spread a fertilizer about 5-6 weeks after over seeding. This will help keep the overall vigor and health of your grass consistent throughout the winter. Feed the turf with a balanced 16-16-16 Turf Fertilizer every 6 weeks or until the weather reaches about 85 degrees.

Good Luck!