# Now That It's Officially Fall - NJ Overseed plan



## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

It's officially Fall, so that means overseed season here in NJ. I'm thinking of waiting until mid November though so the leaves will be gone(which will also allow more sunlight through the trees). The melting frost in the mornings should also help keep the seeds moist longer so I won't have to water as much. @Harts, I've seen your name pop up in some overseed threads, do you have any suggestions?

Just kidding, I just wanted to mess with Harts and the amount advice he's had to give for people following the common misconception of "Fall Overseeding." Keep up the good work and solid advice man, your posts will help a lot of lawns!


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

LMAO. I saw the title and was ready to snap. I immediately thought, "is there something in the water in NJ? What's with these people...."

I appreciate the humor.

Thanks for the shout out. I really appreciate it.


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## samzone7a (Jul 14, 2020)

lol... for a second i thought .. here is another noob from NJ (just like me  )


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## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

samzone7a said:


> lol... for a second i thought .. here is another noob from NJ (just like me  )


Oh, I definitely am. Just had to make a joke thread while I'm over here stressing about my overseed not having great germination.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

#shouldhavestartedearlier


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## Zcape35 (Sep 17, 2019)

This is hilarious! I just about rolled my eyes.


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## jimmythegreek (Aug 7, 2020)

I almost fell for it too! The sad part is we almost had frost the last 2 nights here in NNJ. Mid 30s amd there was some light frosting of hard surfaces. Germination amd filling in can be so sloooooooow. If it wasn't for the washout I'd be golden right now


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

The only reason I opened the thread was to see @Harts response. Thanks for the levity!


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## greengrass (Sep 9, 2018)

Lol, read the title and thought here we go.


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## Factor (Oct 10, 2019)

Harts said:


> LMAO. I saw the title and was ready to snap. I immediately thought, "is there something in the water in NJ? What's with these people...."
> 
> I appreciate the humor.
> 
> Thanks for the shout out. I really appreciate it.


Ha 😂

I was like start in August for Pete sake already. Nah we are good first frost is only tomorrow...


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## Factor (Oct 10, 2019)

Harts said:


> #shouldhavestartedearlier


#firstfrostbackitup


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## Diane (Jul 27, 2020)

Haha was this for me &#128584; I actually just figured that out this year! I was on time for most areas on the lawn but have some spots I missed.


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## Factor (Oct 10, 2019)

Diane said:


> Haha was this for me 🙈 I actually just figures that out this year! I was on time for most areas on the lawn but have some spots I missed.


It's all good Diane. There was a NJ blitz looking to seed. 
We are all still learning. Yep Fall is a vague time that gets a lot of people.

Stay well.


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## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

Factor said:


> Diane said:
> 
> 
> > Haha was this for me 🙈 I actually just figures that out this year! I was on time for most areas on the lawn but have some spots I missed.
> ...


Yeah, definitely not a shot at anyone in particular, just poking some fun because I've read every overseed thread over the past few weeks and Harts has broken the news to just about every single one of them about being late. I fell into the late overseed bucket as well. Missed my optimal window by about two weeks due to life getting in the way and a longer than planned process of removing a stump with a huge root system.


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## Diane (Jul 27, 2020)

No worries!  I learnt tons here and am so glad I did. I think it's a huge misconception out there - I definitely remember reading articles online about seeding when the temps are lower around 60-70 degrees for cool season grasses. This makes it confusing because Those temps don't come around until just about now which is too late before the frost date.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

I'm late too. But the good news is that we won't have to use as much water and fight drying soil as much (though the current wind is doing that).

There are some positives to being late, too. And if it's Ryegrass seed, there should be plenty of time over the next two weeks still assuming the Northeast has normal weather.


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## SJ Lawn (May 7, 2018)

It all depends on the weather for your specific "local" area. Northwest corner of NJ is different from Central and South Jersey.
Every fall is different each year. We had way below normal temps in my area this past week and will have above average temps the next 7 days, upper 70's to low 80's.

The "average" homeowner in my area tends to overseed (most don't) early to mid Sept. because they cannot keep up with watering frequency in very warm weather. Lawn care companies overseed in September because they will get less complaints.

The famous Rutgers Turf trials are seeded in September, not August based on what I have seen from the NTEP trials. The location is in Central New Jersey.


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## Dan1234 (Aug 31, 2018)

This was good!

True story - I once had a lawn care company tell me they overseed all the way through November. I'm in PA. They are not my lawn care company anymore


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## dleonard11122 (Jun 24, 2020)

For overseeding TTTF I have been very happy with my labor day/first week of Sept strategy. If I were doing a full reno and/or seeding KBG I'd certainly want to start mid August in our area.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

I have been too busy lately to start reading new threads, but I saw the title of this one and thought, "I better post that Rutgers article that indicated the best dates for seeding in New Jersey is the 2nd half of August."

Then I saw that @Harts had already posted so I figured the situation was in good hands.

Then, I got around to reading the last paragraph of the original post. :lol:

It's good to know that at least one person has heard the message. Thanks, @edixon88 for helping to drive the point home.


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## SJ Lawn (May 7, 2018)

I think it should be pointed out the Rutgers article is for seeding a "new" lawn. Overseeding is a different animal.

Watering 3 times a day in mid August with upper 80's and lower 90's temps on a overseeded lawn will significantly increase your changes of disease for the existing turf. I was also seeing 85-90 percent humidity at night in my local area almost EVERY night the last 2 weeks of August.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

I don't know this for a fact, but thinking about the concept around Fall being the general timeline for seeding...keep in mind that most home owners are not obsessed with their lawn the way we are. They likely aren't doing full renovations, keeping on top of watering, applying N at the right times and are likely waiting until the new grass is over 6" tall before cutting it for the first time. These are the same people that might water and cut their grass once a month. For them, seeding later means cooler temps and likely wetter weather than most of us have been having this month. These are seed it and forget it type of people.

We are not these people. We have all come here to improve our knowledge and ultimately improve our lawns. For us, seeding early is vital because we know that wash outs will occur. We know that some spots won't germinate properly. In both of these cases we need to re-seed. Seeding early allows us the time and flexibility to do so. We also know how important nitrogen and sunlight are in the development of new grass. Seeding early allows maximum sun exposure and provides ample time to spoon feed our new grass.

For us, counting back 45-60 days from our average first frost and making that our starting point sets us up for success.


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## Harts (May 14, 2018)

SJ Lawn said:


> I think it should be pointed out the Rutgers article is for seeding a "new" lawn. Overseeding is a different animal.
> 
> Watering 3 times a day in mid August with upper 80's and lower 90's temps on a overseeded lawn will significantly increase your changes of disease for the existing turf. I was also seeing 85-90 percent humidity at night in my local area almost EVERY night the last 2 weeks of August.


This is a valid point. Over seeding can be started a little later. Over seeding can be done within the first 2 weeks of Sept. I still believe waiting until the 3rd or 4th week of September is too late.


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## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

Okay let me ask a couple real questions now, although it might not get seen by many since most already know this thread was started as a joke and I might end up asking this to be broken off into a new thread. So I was 1-2 weeks later than planned for my overseed(which is why I've been reading every overseed thread lately). The question is about starter fert, but here's the background on my situation:

My lawn was terrible from decades of neglect and I'm waiting until winter/spring for a soil test as I just discovered this forum this summer. I treated most of my front yard with a Pylex/Triclopyr schedule to hopefully control the bermuda that has been taking over. I also had a huge stump removed which resulted in a roughly 15x12 foot area that will be brand new grass.

9/13: Cut low & bagged. Dethatched with sunjoe on 0 setting with dethatching tines in some areas and multiple directions at 0 & -5 with scarifier attachment on most of the lawn. Leveled out some bumpy areas with screen topsoil. Rolled lawn. Seeded with Hogan Blend TTTF, lightly raked in two directions, rolled again and sprayed Tenacity.

We've had cooler than normal temps and zero rain(with zero rain expected for at least another week) so I've been manually watering 3-5x per day and needing to move sprinklers around each time. As of today, 10 days after seed down, I have pretty good germination finally popping up in most areas but some still have little to none. I would say most of the good areas are up to 1-1.5". I'm planning on going out and throwing down a little more seed by hand in the thin areas but unsure if I should rake it in at all with not wanting to harm the new seedlings. A few areas of the existing grass are up to a height that needs to be cut(I'm considering just going out with my string trimmer and carefully knocking those areas down a bit.. bad idea??).

So finally to the main question.. I have a bag of Lesco starter fert 18-24-12, that I plan on using a couple of days after my first full cut which will most likely occur in the next handful of days. Should I be applying this one time at bag rate or weekly/bi-weekly at lower rates? Bonus question.. Has anyone used this Lesco starter with the Earthway 2600A-Plus? I bought one late this summer but have really only used it for the seed so I don't have a good baseline for this product and I want to be careful to not over/under apply on the new seedlings.


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## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

Bumping in hopes someone goes to page 2 to see the real question lol


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