We get a lot of questions about the timing of planting grass seed in Central Ohio. The best time to plant Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Rye or Tall Fescue is from Labor Day to mid-October. Planting at other times of the year has far more risk.
Why is Labor Day to mid-October the best time? Summer temperatures are beginning to go down starting in early September. Cool season grasses prefer daytime temperatures in the 60’s to 70’s. We usually have temperatures that are declining after Labor Day and are perfect for growing grasses.
Lawn Doctor of Greater Columbus prefers to seed in this time range as we have better results than at other times of the year. Spring seedings have three main issues that must be considered:
- Pre-emergent crabgrass control will kill newly germinated grass.
- Early spring high temperatures can kill young grass due to lack of any root system. Full sun areas have no protection for young grass and the grass often dies.
- Broadleaf weed herbicides can damage or kill young grass and if you don’t spray broadleaf weeds, they may take over the new grass and impact the seeding.
There are some products on the market that can be sprayed when seeding which will control some broadleaf weeds and grass weeds such as crabgrass. The chemical within these products is Mesotrione and this does not harm the young grass.
As show below, temperatures peak in July and begin to go down in late August. Therefore, we have an optimal growing season from September to November. However, it is important to remember that it takes grass seed around 10 days to germinate, which is why we aim for mid-October as our cutoff date for seeding.
In summary, target late summer to early Fall for your cool season grass seeding work. This is the best time and usually yields the best results as compared to any other time of year in this part of the country. Give us a call to learn more about Lawn Doctor’s Power Seeding service.
