Fall is my favourite season. The beautiful turning of the leaves and the cooler weather make spending time outside delightful! Local sod farms, like Greenhorizons, plant their sod fields in the fall due to increased amounts of rain, and the cooler temperatures. Rain is essential to proper grass seed germination because it needs to stay consistently moist. Also, fall is the time during the grass’s growing cycle when roots are growing the most aggressively in anticipation of winter dormancy. These factors, among others, make fall the perfect time to overseed your lawn using the BigYellowBag Overseeding Bundle!
Overseeding Your Lawn with BigYellowBag!
Overseeding is an excellent way to get your lawn looking lush and beautiful for years to come. If you are using high quality products such as BigYellowBag’s Overseeding Bundle, overseeding will add essential nutrients to your lawn’s soil base. Also, the newly germinated seeds will thicken your lawn, and cover up any pockets or holes there might be.
So what does it take to overseed? Not very much… Especially with BigYellowBag here to help.
- BigYellowBag’s Overseeding Bundle (approx. 1500 sq. ft. coverage)
- Essential Tools: Shovel, Leaf Rake, Sprinkler
- Optional Tools: tape measure, wheelbarrow, roller
- An afternoon
BigYellowBag Overseeding Bundle: How-To
Once you have all the required tools and materials, overseeding is simple! Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through it.
Step 1: Rake and Fertilizer – Rake all areas you plan to overseed. Remove debris and expose the soil! Spread your BigYellowBag 10-25-10 Starter Fertilizer!
Step 2: Prepare – Start by spreading a thin layer of the BigYellowBag Topdressing Mix over the areas to be seeded. Make sure not to smother the existing grass.
Step 3: Mix – Measure 40 parts BigYellowBag Topdressing Mix to 1 part BigYellowBag Overseeding Blend Lawn Seed (for example, 40 shovels of soil + 1 shovel of seed). Spread your mixture about 1/4 inch over the area to be seeded.
TIP: Divide the mixture in half. Spread half evenly over the entire area, then repeat.
Step 4: Rake & Pat Down – Lightly rake the seed-soil mixture using a leaf rake to get good seed-soil contact. Then use your feet to walk over the area (or use a roller if available), this will allow the seed to settle into the soil firm, but not compacted.
TIP: A roller can make this step much easier for larger lawns!
Step 5: Water – This is the most important step! Ensure the soil stays consistently wet on the surface. Water lightly, 1/4 inch per day for 2 weeks, then every other day for 2 more weeks.
TIP: For best results, follow this recommended watering schedule!
As much as BigYellowBag makes it easier, overseeding is pretty simple. It’s an extremely effective way for homeowners to get a picture-perfect lawn without having to re-sod the entire thing.
*BigYellowBag Overseeding Bundles are ONLY available from Greenhorizons Sod Farms locations*
Order Your Overseeding Bundle now at BigYellowBag.com!
I have a question. I purchase the grass seed bundle. I got the big bag of dirt, 2 signs 2 bags of fertilizer and a generic bag I believe is grass seed. No grass seed has grown. I should mention the Grass seed bag is white. I remember som of the seeds are blue. Is this the bag I was supposed to receive? As I said not one blade of grass is growing. I don’t know if’s the bag or me trying to grow grass in the shade. Thanks
Hey John,
Please reach out to us to discuss this issue! We’d like to try and figure out what could have gone wrong. We ran out of branded bags but the white bags still have the same seed we have always provided. Please call 1-855-424-4224 to get your concerns addressed. Shade is always difficult to grow seed in. All grass varieties require 4-6 hours of sunlight per day to germinate properly!
Hello, majority of my yard is shady. There are a few areas that get 4-6 hours of sunlight per day. Would this overseeding bundle work?
Hey Marco,
All grass requires 4-6 hours of sunlight to thrive, and especially for establishing seeds, access to sunlight is essential. If your heart is set on having grass cover the whole lawn, I would recommend trying to trim back any branches or bushes that cause shade before overseeding. Alternatively, consider putting gardens in the heavily shaded areas, and overseed the areas of your lawn that get adequate sunlight!
All the best to you and your lawn,
Cam
-Greenhorizons Sod Farms
Are you open for business, curb side?
Hey Stephen,
Yes our Greenhorizons locations are open for contact-free curbside pick-up!
All the best and happy gardening!
Hi
My garden is full of weeds I need to start from scratch. Should I wait for next fall to start with over seeding buddle or I can start it now as well. You know it’s lil pricy so I don’t want if I order it now than again I would need to order next year.
Hey Sadia!
I’m sorry to hear about your weed problems! I wouldn’t recommend the overseeding bundle for a new garden. Instead I would suggest starting a new garden bed with our Nature’s Blend soil. It’s essentially our Black Garden Soil formula with a bit more mineral soil for stability. It will make a perfect base for your new garden bed! As for timing, you may have better success waiting for cooler temperatures and more consistent rains before planting. Hope this helps and happy gardening!
Both my neighbour and I have a chinch bug infestation which has damaged a large portion of our attached grass. I have sprayed once and plan to do it again with a Safer’s End All product. In some areas the grass appears to be completely dead. Is there any other suggestion you may have to deal with this issue? Is it wise to apply your Big Yellow Bag Oversedding Bundle now or wait until next spring? Please share your thoughts!
Hey Steve!
Thanks for your comment, and sorry to hear you had issues with chinch bugs! They’re terrible… Happy to hear you’re getting rid of them. If the dead areas are very large, you may be best off replacing them with new sod, but if the areas are relatively small patches, our overseeding bundle could do wonders for your damaged lawn. Fall is the best time to overseed, so if you’re planning on going that route, I would recommend overseeding relatively soon so the seed has time to establish before winter!
Hope that helps and good luck with your lawn!
Hi! My backyard is really weedy. Do I bother with this fall bundle or do I need to dig out the really bad areas? Or do I need to start from scratch?
Hey Jenn,
If your yard is completely overrun with weeds, you may be best off simply resodding the whole thing. If you think you can remove the weeds effectively, and have a reasonable amount of grass left, our overseeding bundle could do wonders for you! Fall is the best time to overseed, so be sure to make a decision soon 🙂
Hope that helps and all the best!
My lawn needs to be aerated this fall. Do I need to BOTH aerate, fertilize and then over seed and in which order do that. I used a Green Horizons bundle 2 years ago and my lawn in in great shape now. Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hey Rick,
Thanks for your comment! So happy to hear that your lawn is in such great shape! The best order of operations there is to aerate, overseed, then fertilize! Aerating before overseeding is fantastic for your lawn, allowing the overseeding mix to penetrate the topsoil layer and loosen up your lawn’s thatch. Be sure to reach out with any future concerns and good luck with your fall lawn care!
All the best!
Last year our neighbour’s yard gave us creeping Charlie and now it has taken over a good portion. They cleared their back yard and put sod down then moved so now their back yard looks great and ours looks like crap. How do you get rid of creeping Charlie?
Hey Angela,
Sorry to hear about your creeping charlie problem. Unfortunately, best practices for getting rid of it is to pull the weeds (roots and all). You may have to loosen the soil in order to take out all the root system. Once you have it all pulled up, you’re going to want to fill in the gaps. Hopefully the damage isn’t too bad and you can get away with overseeding to fill in the gaps, but if it’s bad you may want to install sod instead. I hope that helps Angela and thanks for your comment.
All the best!
when should we cut the grass after overseeding?
Hey Jonathan,
You want to ensure the majority of your new seed has germinated before mowing. Keep in mind that you don’t want your existing lawn getting too long, and you never want to take more than 1/3 of the grass blade off in a single mowing. Hopefully your seed has been kept consistently moist, and most will have germinated within the first week and a half or so. I hope that helps Jonathan and thanks for your comment!
All the best!
Hi, how soon do we fertilize after overseeding? Right away or wait for the seed to establish?
Thanks!
Hey Lauren!
Thanks for your comment! If you refer to the overseeding instructions above, you’ll see that we actually recommend spreading your fertilizer before you overseed, but anytime after is a safe bet too! Just make sure you’re using our 8-32-16 starter fertilizer, and spread it evenly for best results! 🙂
All the best and good luck with your overseeding!
I have a sprinkler that workes on a timer, how long should I keep the sprinkler on to get 1/4 inch of water every day. Should I do it once a day or multiple times per day ? Also what is the best time of the day to do so?
Hey Amro!
Thanks so much for your comment. I’m happy to hear you have a sprinkler system installed! That’s going to make a big difference with your new sod establishment (I’m assuming it’s new sod based on the 1/4″ of water every day you’re putting down?). It’s best to water early in the morning, so that your lawn has some time to absorb the water, but it doesn’t stay consistently moist. If your new lawn is always wet, the roots won’t reach down into your soil effectively. As for the duration of watering, every system is slightly different. Set out a water gauge (or a tuna tin if you don’t have a gauge). If you’re using a can, make a mark at 1/4″ and keep track of how long your sprinkler is running until it fills the tin/gauge to 1/4″. Use this duration for the remainder of your establishment days. Let me know if you have any further questions, and best of luck with your new lawn! 🙂
Thank very much!
Yes its a new sod. Using the can is very smart way of doing it.
I dont have grass already and i have just finished tilling the ground. Is it recommended to till the ground again with the the top dressing mix before adding the mix (top dressing and seeds )? If yes, Do I pat it down before seeding or after.
Thank you
Hey Amro!
Happy to hear our advice has been useful! I would recommend amending your existing top soil with some nutritious soil before trying to establish seed. Most existing topsoil in homeowner yards doesn’t have the nutrients required for bluegrass seeds to thrive. If possible, use a roller to compact the area slightly before spreading your overseeding mixture.
Moreover, I would actually recommend laying sod instead of seeding. Grass seed can be very difficult to establish from seed, and you may experience issues. If you’re insistent on seeding, be sure to try and keep the new seed consistently moist with your watering schedule.
All the best and good luck with your lawn!