With the recent heavy rains and slightly cooler temperatures no doubt people are thinking about overseeding their California and Arizona lawns. While the calendar says September 18th and you will surely see people overseeding, I suggest you wait a few weeks. Follow my California and Arizona sod tips for a beautiful lawn. Overseeding does not need to be a one day process. You can begin the process a little early. Then, when temperatures are in the 60’s at night, you will just need to give your lawn one last haircut, drop the seed and begin watering.

Preparing to Overseed

Prepping for overseed is often a large ordeal. By starting the process gradually you can eliminate the headaches associated with trying to do it all in one afternoon. I want to reiterate something I have been saying for the past few years. The height of the grass is not associated with a quality overseed. In other words scalping the grass down to the dirt does not guarantee good results. Opening up the turf canopy does.

The shorter you mow your lawn the tighter the leaf blades become. This makes it harder to get the ryegrass seed into the plant. If the seed is lying on the surface it will be slow to germinate and much of the seed will be lost. The seed needs a base to grow out of. Getting inside the grass plant allows for perfect moisture, heat, and a solid growing medium. By looking at my last statement you can now understand why I say without a good warm season grass base (used on popular California and Arizona lawns) you will most likely have a poor ryegrass season. The seed will establish much faster inside a healthy grass stand than it will on bare dirt.

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Spring has sprung and your warm season sod might need a little help with the transition in California and Arizona. Mr. Wise Grass is here to help!  Check out his latest video for tips on how to keep your lawn looking the best in the neighborhood!

IMPORTANT! FOLLOW THESE STEPS FOR A BEAUTIFUL, LUSH LAWN:

Step By Step Transitioning for California and Arizona Sod

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You might have noticed that the temperatures have been in the high 90’s in Arizona, and have even hit the 100’s in California!  No one wants to see that in late March unless you’re a sod producer or looking to get your warm season lawn to green up. While it is great for lawn color, it is still too early to know if this weather will stay or if we will get a minor cold snap. If we were assured that the 90’s were here to stay I would tell you to really start pushing your warm season turf, but it is best to ease into the season until soil temperatures reach 64 degrees.

Either way, transition time is upon us and it is time to start easing into the summer grass season. For people with non-overseeded turf this weather is great news for their lawn, and for others transition can bring a few headaches. I have outlined some simple steps to help you get your lawn to go from ryegrass to bermudagrass without any anxiety.

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As we approach spring I want to give everyone a few tips to help assist in the transition process. Transitioning from ryegrass back to a warm season grass can be difficult, but if you follow the instructions provided you will have no trouble getting your lawns perfect for the summer. Read the rest of this entry »