Dear Ms. Bowers,
As a general rule, we do not recommend any spring seeding unless you have a mud issue or new construction and you have no choice. The seed from the fall will thicken up a lot this spring after you have mowed it a few times. Grass grows from the bottom up and mowing it will remove the dead blades, allowing new growth to push up.
The biggest reason you want to avoid spring seeding is it prohibits you from doing any weed control or pre-emergent. I’m not sure where you are, but if you don’t get pre-emergent down in the spring, crabgrass will overtake you in the summer and it is really hard to control it after it has germinated.
It takes 2-3 good years to develop a nice healthy lawn on a good solid management program. Don’t worry about a few spots, if you have good coverage overall. Focus on developing the new grass and plan on seeding again in the fall to continue the process.
If you have any more questions, feel free to send them and I will help you all I can.
The TurfCommander
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Name: C. Bowers
Question for the Commander:
Our lawn was re-seeded this past Fall and looks pretty good this Spring. There are some bare spots from leaves/traffic. Do we need to reseed this spring? I have been looking online, and it appears that most recommendations are to re-seed in the Fall (and then Spring if you were unable to in the Fall). Our lawn is very sensitive to traffic. And we have a lot of shade – would need shade tolerant Fescue.
