Homeowners Swear by This Late-Fall Lawn Hack for Early Spring Growth

If you missed that September/October window for planting grass seed, don’t despair. You can still set your yard up for a lush lawn in the spring through a practice called dormant grass seeding. This late-year seed planting strategy involves planting grass seed in the late fall or early winter when it’s too cold for the seeds to germinate. While dormant grass seeding may sound simple, it involves more than just spreading some seed when the weather turns cold. Following the right methods for this late year planting strategy is key to getting good results in the spring. If you missed your fall overseeding window, here’s how to take advantage of dormant grass seeding. 

What Is Dormant Grass Seeding?

Dormant grass seeding, which only works with cool-season grasses, is the process of sowing grass seed after air and soil temperatures drop below levels at which grass seed can germinate. As the seed lies dormant through the cold winter months, the constant thawing and freezing of the soil coupled with winter precipitation works the seed into the soil. When warmer temperatures arrive in the spring, the seed germinates and begins growing. 

Does Dormant Grass Seeding Work?

Overseeding your lawn in the fall is the ideal method for thickening the turf in your lawn, but dormant grass seeding can still be quite effective. By laying the seed in the winter, it’s ready to germinate as soon as the weather warms, ensuring the seedlings have time to mature before the heat of summer kicks in. Keep in mind that dormant grass seeding works best in areas of the country that experience consistently cold winters, specifically the upper two thirds of the country. If the seed germinates too early due to a mid-winter warm spell, it won’t survive to the spring.

Benefits of Dormant Grass Seeding

While dormant grass seeding may not be as effective as fall overseeding, there are several benefits to this practice:

• Early germination: Since the seeds are already in place when warm spring weather arrives, the grass will germinate at the earliest possible time. This early germination period gives seedlings ample time to mature and establish themselves before the heat of summer arrives. 

• Plenty of moisture: Seeds and seedlings need moist soil to survive. With dormant grass seeding, the seeds are able to take advantage of late-fall precipitation, snow melt, and spring rain, reducing the amount of watering you have to do.
• Less work: Planting seed typically involves preparing the soil surface through raking and or aerating. With dormant grass seeding, Mother Nature does the job for you. Over those winter months snow melt and the natural thawing and freezing of the ground moves seeds into the earth, achieving that good seed-to-soil contact required for successful seed germination and seedling growth. 

Related: Scarifying Vs Dethatching Vs Aerating: What’s the Best Way to Prep Your Lawn for Winter?

Risks of Dormant Grass Seeding

While dormant grass seeding can be very effective, it may not work as grass seeds face a number of threats during the long delay between seed sowing and germination:

• Warm weather: A few unseasonably warm days in the late winter can cause seeds to germinate and begin growing only to die when temperatures drop back below freezing.
• Erosion: Heavy snowfall and rain can wash the seeds away before spring arrives and they have a chance to germinate.
• Birds: Hungry birds in search of food during the winter may eat the grass seeds before they ever make it to the spring.
• Weather: Poor weather conditions for grass seed could result in a low percentage of seeds actually germinating and growing in the spring. 

Related: Stop Wasting Your Grass Clippings. Here’s How to Use Them as Fertilizer for Your Lawn and Mulch for Your Garden

How to Dormant Seed Your Lawn

• Step one: Time your planting. Timing is everything when it comes to dormant grass seeding. Wait until daytime air temperatures are consistently below 40 degrees with soil temperatures under 50 degrees. You can use a meat thermometer to check soil temperatures. This ensures the grass seed won’t germinate too early. While you can dormant seed at any point in the winter, the earlier you do it, the earlier the grass will emerge in the spring, giving it more time to mature before summer hits. 

• Step Two: Prep the yard. Don’t sow your seed until all the leaves have fallen off the trees and you’ve gathered them from your lawn to ensure the seeds have an easy path to the soil.
• Step Two: Sow the seed. You have two options for planting: frost seeding and snow seeding:

  Frost seeding: This type of dormant seeding involves laying seed on damp soil just before a frost arrives. With this method, the freezing and thawing of the soil works the seed into the ground through winter, achieving that seed-to-soil contact that’s so crucial for planting new grass seed.

  Snow seeding: Per its name, this type of dormant seeding involves dropping grass seed onto new snowfall. As the snow melts, the seed works into the wet soil. This method works with light snowfall of up to one inch deep. 

How long can grass seed sit dormant?

Given that grass seed will stay viable for up to five years in storage, you don’t need to worry about it going bad as it’s laying dormant in the four to five months from early winter to early spring.