As a New England homeowner, it’s not unusual to think that spring is an ideal time to seed your lawn. The sun is not yet scorching the ground, there is plenty of rain, and the rest of your plantings are coming back to life – so why not plant some grass seed? While spring may be a great time for established grass to green up for the year, newly planted seed will show little to no longevity and ultimately disappoint you. Instead, fall is the best time of the year for lawn seeding, and here are the top five reasons why:
1. Soil Temperature: The soil during the fall is ideal for turf development. The soil temperature is still warm from basking in the summer sun, but no longer too warm that the moisture from the ground evaporates and dries it out. Instead, it retains water to support new growth.
2. Weeds: Summer weeds naturally begin to die off for the cold season, and no new weed activity competes with new grass plants in the lawn. As a result, no weed control is needed at this time. This is especially important to grass seed growth because weed control prevents seed from germinating.
3. Root Development: Seed planted in the fall is able to prioritize its root development, as opposed to spring seedings that focus on top growth. This gives the seed the strength it needs to survive the heat stress of the following summer. Strong roots will also mean the grass can focus more on growing tall and thick when spring rolls around.
4. Time to Grow: Fall lawn seeding means two full growing seasons for the grass before the summer heat sets in. Both fall and spring will provide essential time and weather conditions for your baby grass to establish itself above and below ground.
5. Aftercare: Daily watering is important to baby grass, but the moisture retention from the still-warm ground acts as additional irrigation on its own. Also, because the baby grass is focusing its energy on root development during the fall, top growth is kept to a minimum, requiring the least amount of mowing all year!
