Overseeding in fall to maintain your turf's color throughout the winter can be a challenge. Do it right and you have lush turf year-round. Do it wrong and your turf will suffer for seasons to come.

The key is to effectively slow down your warm season turf so that it's not competing with the perennial ryegrass that you're trying to establish.

As Christina Burton points out in the above video FAQ, warm season grasses such as Bermuda begin to harden off during the fall in preparation for the cold of winter. When warm season grasses are fertilized too late into the fall, their tissues are tender and prone to cold and disease stress.

At the same time, any new seed that you put down to keep your turf green through the winter months is going to need starter fertilizer to promote root growth and establishment.

So in order to have a healthy, disease-free turf now and in seasons to come, it's very important to cut back on the amount of fertilizer and water you use prior to the actual overseed date.

In addition to decreasing the amount of fertilizer and water used, here are other steps you should take to ensure your overseeding is successful.

Before Overseeding:

1. Perform your last aggressive dethatching of warm-season turf 6 weeks before the overseed date.

2. Stop all Nitrogen fertilization 4 weeks before.

3. Stop mowing 10 days before.

4. Decrease water by 50% 1 week before.

5. Drop mowing height by 1/3 3 to 4 days before.

Day of Overseeding:

6. Drop mowing height by 1/3 again.

7. Remove clippings to open the turf canopy to the soil.

8. Broadcast the seed.

9. New seeds need Phosphorus (the middle number in NPK Formulations) to promote root growth and establishment. Apply a fertilizer high in Phosphorus like TurfGro 6-20-10 ProStarter Fertilizer.

10. Lightly cover the seed with 1/8-1/4 inch of fine mulch or seed topper.

If you have any questions about overseeding or if you want to learn more about any of our TurfGro products, contact your local Horizon store!