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Fall Seeding Is Best: Why Agrolawn Doesn't Seed Lawns In The Spring
- On June 02 2025
To seed or not to seed? That's the question we receive from customers every spring! After a customer's lawn awakens from a frost-filled winter, it may need a little TLC to return to its best shape. But wait - now's not the time to overseed! We understand that you want your lawn in prime condition for summer, perfect for those backyard hangouts and barbecues. Before you bust out the rake and seed blend, let's explore why fall seeding outmatches spring seeding every time. Save yourself time, money, and energy by delaying seeding until this fall.
Why Spring Seeding is Never Best Practice
Seeding in spring usually begins with beautiful, vigorous growth. However, as temperatures rise, the young grass becomes weak as it struggles to survive the hot weather. Once temperatures reach 87°F, photosynthesis slows down, a process crucial for producing plant food necessary for new growth.Then comes photorespiration, when grass does a 180° twist and releases carbon dioxide instead of oxygen to survive. However, since the new seedlings are young and immature, they cannot easily survive these metabolic changes. Instead, they'll die in the summer, leaving you with a thin and unsatisfactory lawn.
Why We Wait: Achieving Beautiful and Resilient Lawns With Agrolawn
We've seen it time and time again: a homeowner plants high-end, expensive seed in the spring, sees new growth, and gets dumbfounded when it suddenly scorches in summer! Agrolawn avoids spring seeding to minimize the risk of customers losing their beautiful, newly seeded grass. Our team focuses on developing long-lasting, healthy lawns for our customers, and we have found that fall seeding best aligns with this goal.Because spring seeding often ends in heat and drought-stricken lawns, fall seeding saves our customers money on re-seeding a lawn that didn't survive summer. While spring seeding may be a quick fix for a thin lawn, we want to guarantee that our lawn care services provide long-term resilience and beauty.
Why Your Lawn Loves Fall: 4 Big Benefits of Autumn Seeding
Whether you're overseeding an existing lawn or starting from scratch, you'll find that there are a multitude of benefits from seeding in the fall. Fall is the prime time for laying seeds, with stress-free weather and a comfortable, temperate environment ideal for delicate seeds.- Summer stress recovery: Aeration with overseeding improves the overall appearance of a heat-stressed lawn right after summer. High temperatures and drought can take a toll on any lawn, so introducing fresh seed can fill any thin or weakened areas induced by a long, sweltering summer.
- Reduces weed competition: Kick those weeds to the curb! Our lawn programs will eliminate crabgrass and broadleaf weeds, reducing weed competition in the fall for the young grass seedlings. Fall aeration with overseeding will strengthen your lawn's natural defenses against weeds and crowd out unwanted invaders that compete for precious soil nutrients.
- Stronger root development: After months of summer foot traffic and compaction from your Saturday barbecues and yard games, fall aeration with overseeding increases the volume of roots.
- Perfectly timed with aeration: You can maximize the benefits of fall seeding by pairing it with core aeration. Core aeration before seeding helps create slots in the soil for seeds to settle, allowing the new grass to develop deeply planted roots. This benefit will be invaluable for water intake the following year, when your lawn may face drought or stress.
When Will Agrolawn Begin Seeding?
Once fall begins, we're racing the clock to winter! Agrolawn will begin seeding in early fall, around late August to early September, when summer temperatures have peaked and start to decline steadily for the fall. By beginning our seeding services as early in the fall as possible, your new seed will have ample time to settle, germinate, and build a robust root structure before hitting the snooze button for winter. The spring green up will allow another season of growth for your new seedlings before the summer stress hits.
Is It Ever Too Late to Seed?
The clock starts ticking once fall arrives. If grass seed is sown too late, it will remain dormant until springtime, so we're on a tight schedule! As a result, we typically stop seeding around Halloween to avoid getting so close to a snowstorm. New grass seeds must have sufficient time to germinate and develop roots before winter to flourish in spring with all their strength. In optimal conditions, Virginia's and Maryland's most common grass variety, tall fescue, will germinate within five to ten days. Keeping this in mind, we stop seeding lawns several days before we can expect a frost, which would inevitably slow seed germination.
Patience Is Worth It: Waiting Until Fall Yields Better Results
Good things come to those who wait! While you might be itching to seed your lawn this spring for quick results, you'll thank yourself later for waiting until fall.- Fall seeding avoids the summer heat and drought.
- Aerating and overseeding can be paired for stronger root development.
- Fall seeding gives your grass seed two full seasons to develop before summer stress.
- The fall season has cooler temperatures and morning dew to keep new seeds hydrated.
Spotted some thinness or weeds in your lawn? We highly recommend professional seeding services to fill those gaps and help your lawn look its best. Agrolawn offers premium seeding in the Chesapeake watershed region with our certified tall fescue seed blend. Recommended by both Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland, our seed blend is formulated for resilience and beauty. Our seeding services begin in late August, but you can schedule a fall seeding ahead of time to prioritize your lawn's long-term health.
