Overseed? Re-Seed?

[andrewj]

The reason we've never heard of Centipede grass up north is that it doesn't grow here. The grasses we grow around here become dormant in the winter and van be frozen. According to what I've read, centipede grass does not go dormant and hence is killed by freezing. Hey we can't grow citrus fruits here either.

Andy

I understand Andy! Actually Centipede does go dormant, which is why in my lawn and surrounding pasture I plant KY 31 fescue! yep, as crazy as it sounds, and it does require more mowing, but it stays green all winter, unlike the summer grasses such as centipede, bermuda, which turn brown over winter. While many have brown grass in winter, mine stays green but does not generally grow enough to require mowing.

There is another aspect of grass selection that is important to me: the building of topsoil. The fescues and wheat send roots down upto 18 inches. when these roots die, the biomass adds to the topsoil down to that depth, and also allows water to penetrate down the channel where the root used to be. Centipede and bermuda creep laterally, and don't penetrate as deep and therefore don't build topsoil as well. I have red clay so this is important to me. Take care.

 

[chrisjbell]

At work (a golf course) we have a bunch of slit seeders, and they work great. One does happen to be a Toro. All they really do is cut through to dirt and then drop seed. You'll probably get nearly as good results with the landscape rake trick described in another post. Grass seed germinates best when it is very close to the surface. It does need to be in contact with the soil (not in thatch) to put good roots down, though.

I don't know if centipede grass can compete with bermuda. Our course has both bermuda and rye, but during the summer the bermuda chokes the rye out. We overseed bermuda with rye during the fall to give the course some green during the winter, as the bermuda goes dormant.

 

[Nuru]

I gotta get off of my butt and reseed my grass.