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When to Overseed Lawn in New Jersey

Seeding
4 min read

Visit Jonathan Green online to learn when and how to overseed your lawn in New Jersey. We can help you achieve great results with your lawn.

Since 1881, Jonathan Green has specialized in beautiful lawns. Six generations of the Green family have worked to perfect our genetically superior grass seed and our family of lawn and soil care products. Jonathan Green products will transform every aspect of your lawn to help it thrive like never before.

What is Overseeding?

Overseeding is the process of planting new grass seed over an existing lawn. When combined with proper aeration and fertilization, overseeding fills in thin or patchy spots and improves the overall health of the lawn, making it thicker, greener, and more likely to fend off weeds, insects and diseases.

When Should You Overseed?

The best time to overseed your lawn in New Jersey is in late summer/early fall (mid-August to mid-September).  The soil is warm, temperatures are cooler, autumn rains are more plentiful, and weeds are less active, creating an excellent environment for seed germination before leaves start falling and the winter cold arrives.

What Seed Should You Use?

Jonathan Green’s genetically superior Black Beauty® grass seed, which is used by leading sod growers across the country, creates a lawn full of grass that:

  • Is deep rooted (can grow roots up to 4 feet deep) for drought tolerance;
  • Exhibits an invisible waxy leaf coating (like the waxy skin on an apple) to ward off disease and lock in moisture;
  • Is dark green, lush, and uniform in texture;
  • Grows well in both full sun and partial shade;
  • Grows well in clay or sandy soil;
  • Is drought-resistant;
  • Contains Endophytes for natural insect resistance;
  • Can be seeded into any existing lawn.

How to Prepare the Soil

The next key to successful overseeding is good seed-to-soil contact. Clean out dead grass, remove as many weeds as possible, and get rid of rocks, sticks or other debris.

Loosen compacted soil about a half-inch deep with a rake or garden weasel to give the new roots the best chance to grow.  Jonathan Green Love Your Soil® will loosen and aerate it for many months. It will also feed the soil microbes, making the soil more alive and porous, and enhancing root and root mass development.

Use a soil pH tester to ensure that the pH of the soil is between 6.2 and 7.0. To rapidly increase or decrease your soil’s pH and help the lawn grow greener and healthier, use Jonathan Green MAG-I-CAL®. It can be applied the same day as the grass seed is spread.

Apply the Black Beauty® grass seed mixture with a spreader.  Distribute the seed evenly and moderately, then lightly rake to distribute the seed within the top quarter-inch of the loosened soil. Seed-to-soil contact is the key to achieving maximum germination.

Apply Veri-Green Starter Fertilizer for Seeding & Sodding. This high phosphorus formula is specially formulated to build a vigorous root system and gets new grass plantings off to a fast start, resulting in a thicker, greener lawn.

Keep the seed bed damp for a few weeks while the grass seed germinates. Plan to water daily and possibly twice daily (unless it’s raining) until new grass is two inches high.

When you’re ready to overseed your lawn in New Jersey, Jonathan Green products will help you achieve the nicest looking lawn on the block! Visit us online or locate your nearest retail store where you can get reliable lawn and garden advice.

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