How to Plant Grass in Warm Climate Areas
When living in Arizona, it is a tough job to have a lush green grassy lawn throughout the year. Since the weather is extreme in Arizona, the summer too hot and winter too cold, the grass does not hold up well. However, there is an option to keep your lawn fresh if you are not one of those who is okay with a dormant yellow grassy lawn.
So what could be the possible solution for a grassy lawn throughout the year?
The solution is to plant two types of grass in your lawn, one every season.
The most common green that goes well with the soil of Arizona is the Bermuda grass. It goes well throughout the summer season, but as the summer starts shifting to the winter season, this grass becomes dormant. Although the layer above the ground turns yellow, it stays fresh underneath the ground. From September to May Bermuda grass will not be seen; This is when you have to plant the Ryegrass to get a new green grassy lawn in winter months.
All you need to know about overseeding
The practice that the people of Arizona do is to their lawns in the winter season, so they get the lush green grass through the summer season as well is called overseeding. The yard already has the Bermuda grass seeds in the summer season, and with the start of winter, they plant fresh seeds of Ryegrass.
The ideal time for overseeding starts from 1st October; It is the perfect time to overseed your lawn, preferably during night hours when the temperature is low. The ideal season ends on November 1st, so seed the yard in this one month to get the excellent results of the lush green winter grass. Seeding the plants later than this time is going to cause trouble as the germination would be in progress while the night temperature would start falling lower each day.
Things to keep in mind for overseeding your lawn
Since overseeding is a whole process for the production of grass, it is essential to learn as much about it as you can before starting the process to avoid any major mistakes.
Watering
You must understand that Arizona is a desert area and we need to conserve water and use it as efficiently as possible to save us and others from the water crisis. Therefore you must make use of water with care. For this, you have to irrigate the lawn correctly, so no amount of water goes waste.
Seeds
Overseeding is all about seeds, and it is essential that you find the right kind of Rye seeds to plant the grass. You will find two types of Ryegrass in your local nursery of Arizona, the annual rye and perennial ryegrass. The annual grass seeds have low costs, they absorb more water and grow thicker grass that clumps with time. On the other hand, the perennial grass goes thoroughly with water and looks beautiful.
You must seed around 1 lb of grass seed per 100 square feet of lawn, where the Bermuda grass already grew. You will need the extra amount of grass seeds for those areas which are entirely barren.
Steps for the plantation of overseeding a lawn
Let us have a look at the step by step approach for overseeding the lawn.
- In step one, you will scalp and thatch the lawn care. Remember to cut the water from lawn an at least a week before this stage so that the Bermuda grass goes dormant in time. It will make the scalping process more comfortable, and the seeds will go deeper into the soil.
- Now you are going to seed the lawn properly. For this you can make use of two different approaches, one is to through the seeds with your hands and in equal amount everywhere. The other approach is to make use of broadcast spread that would spread the seeds equally on all parts of the land.
- Next step is to plan a watering schedule for the seeds as you need to keep them moist at best. Based on the type of sprinkler you are using, you will decide the timing and cycles of water. It is ideal to water the seeds three times a day for 5-15 minutes every day. Keeping the seeds moist is a must thing to do, and even a little negligence could cause problems. You will repeat this process for two whole weeks so that the seeds get sufficient water during the germination process.
After four weeks you can start mowing the lawn and limit the watering to three times a week. It could vary according to the temperature variations in your area.
