Welcome First name / fellow lawn addict to the another instalment of “The Fulcrum”.
Maintaining a year-round green lawn can be quite the challenge, especially in cooler conditions (like where we are in Geelong, Victoria). The warm season grasses tend to go brown/white and dormant in the Winter.
Overseeding with cool season grass is a common technique for sprucing up your warm season lawn (like couch grass) for the cooler months. As warm season grass goes dormant in winter, cool season varieties like ryegrass thrive and take over, keeping your lawn green.
The best time to overseed is late early to mid Autumn depending on where you are and at least 45 days before frost.
Come spring, the warm season grass revives, while a selective herbicide removes the ryegrass. This gives you a lush green lawn year-round.
Today we’ll look at the pros and cons of the Autumn over seed.
PROS
- All year colour
For those who like it green all year, the overseeding of cool season grasses can be incredible during the cooler months. This will negate the brown/white of a dormant warm season grass. - Fast establishment
Cool season grasses are fast to establish. This enables them to be thick, and lush before the cold of winter sets in. This also means fast repair from damage, making it ideal for high wear lawns and sporting arenas such as the MCG, AAMI Park and Marvel Stadium. - Higher shade tolerance
As a general rule, most cool season grasses have good shade tolerance, making them ideal in Winter with low light availability and in shaded areas. However some sun is still required. - Easy rejuvenation
After a hot Summer cool season lawns can look tired and uninspiring . An easy way to recoup this lawn is with a quick overseed to get new growth and a happier lawn.
CONS
- Competition of grasses
During initial establishment, the competition for places can cause some temporary decline in aesthetic and can cause the lawn to be a bit weaker in the initial stages. - Increased costs
Typically overseeding can come with increased costs, not only in the initial overseeding stage, with the purchase of seed, starter fertiliser and water but also in spring when spraying out the cool season grass is the most effective way of getting rid of it to allow the warm season grass to grow through. Along with lowering the mowing height and lowering the water output. - Delayed spring rejuvenation
When recovering from Winter overseeding, the warm season grass can take some time to come back to its former glory. This is due to the fact it has been “shaded out” by the taller cool season grass.
This is how a lot of elite sporting fields and elite private schools achieve all year colour, is by running a 2-grass system. This also ensures that the playing fields can be kept in a good state all year, rather than a local oval that goes white during the Winter months.
