Insights, Tips, and Tales

Is It Time to Overseed and Lime Your Grass?

White mosquito silhouette with a dashed curved flight path on a green background

Is It Time to Overseed and Lime Your Grass?

What’s the best part about spring? It’s not the April showers or even the May flowers. It’s the perfectly green grass we’ve waited to see for months.

Well, we may be biased, but it is one of the many great things about springtime. Now is a perfect time to tackle some lawn care activities that can fuel the growth of your grass, including seeding and lime applications.

 

What Does Overseeding Your Lawn Do?

Overseeding is the process of adding grass seeds on top of your existing grass to fill patch areas or dead spots. Dead patches can result from an especially harsh winter or even buildup from a pet using the bathroom in the same area.

Springtime is when you should see your grass return to a sea of green. Yellow and brown patches are never part of the plan. Even if you kept up with winter lawn care and don’t have any dead areas, your lawn can still lose a bit of luster over time.

Overseeding can help revitalize your lawn. It enhances that glorious green color, thickens and softens your grass, and can protect your lawn from heat stress during the summer.

 

How Do Lime Applications Benefit Your Lawn?

When we say lime, we aren’t talking about planting citrus in your garden. We’re talking about your soil and its pH.

Healthy grass needs food, water, nutrients, sunlight — but it also requires the right level of acidity in the soil. Your lawn needs a good foundation, and when you get the pH right, your grass will thrive.

Most grasses love a pH level between 5.8 and 7.0. Each type of grass has an ideal spot within that range. For example, warm-weather grasses such as bermuda and zoysia need a slightly lower pH to thrive.

When soil pH is too low (too acidic), your grass will have a harder time absorbing nutrients, thereby stunting its growth. Adding lime to soil raises the pH to the best level for nutrient absorption and healthy growth.

 

When Is the Best Time to Overseed and Lime Your Grass?

In the south, the best time to overseed your lawn is mid-spring or early summer. The seeds need warmer temperatures to develop. It’s also best to overseed after you have aerated your lawn. Aerating creates tiny holes in the soil to allow air, water, and nutrients to reach the grassroots. This gives your seed a better chance of sprouting and growing strong roots.

Learn more about when to aerate our lawn here!

Spring is also a great time to add lime to your lawn, when the soil temperatures begin to warm. We also provide lime applications in the fall! Before adding lime to your yard, test your soil. This will let you know the current pH level and how much lime you need to add to meet your desired range.

As with overseeding, it’s best to aerate first. It allows the lime to fully blend in with your soil for maximum efficiency.

 

Expert Lawn Services for A Lush Lawn This Spring

We love serving our clients with year-round lawn care services, but we always get excited to see everyone’s lawn burst forth beautifully and green each spring.

Call our experts if you have questions about soil testing, overseeding, lime applications, fertilizing, or anything else you need to ensure a lush lawn this year! Fill out this form for more information or a quote, or call us today at 866.WAYNES1.

Rebecca Wood

Waynes has been serving customers since 1973. We have grown over the decades through a commitment to providing a world-class experience for our customers. We believe that if our employees are happy and fulfilled, they will go above and beyond in delighting our customers.

Latest from Waynes Blog

Small dark rodent on a toilet lid next to several small mouse droppings

What Mouse Poop Reveals About the Size of Your Mouse Problem

Finding mouse poop in a pantry, drawer, attic, or garage is a clear sign that a mouse has been active in your home. What the droppings cannot do is give you an exact mouse count. A single mouse may visit the same spot repeatedly, while several mice may leave smaller amounts across different rooms. The…

Learn More >

Small reddish-brown bat bug with pale striped abdomen resting on rough wood surface

Bat Bugs Look Almost Exactly Like Bed Bugs and That Matters

You find a small, flat, reddish-brown bug near an upstairs bedroom and assume you have bed bugs. That conclusion makes sense, but it may be wrong. Bat bugs look so much like bed bugs that a phone photo often cannot show the differences clearly. Bat bugs usually begin near bats roosting in attics, chimneys, soffits,…

Learn More >

bold jumping spiders on a window

Black Spiders in Ohio That Are Not Black Widows

Finding a dark spider in your basement, garage, or near a window can immediately raise one question: Is it a black widow? Black widows do occur in Ohio, but they are not the only spiders that can look black or nearly black. Ohio State University’s Common Spiders of Ohio field guide covers hundreds of spider…

Learn More >

Close-up of an inflamed tick bite showing redness and a small wound, highlighting the skin irritation caused by the insect

What a Tick Bite Mark Looks Like Days After the Tick Drops Off

You may notice a red spot after working in the yard, walking through tall grass, or checking your skin after a hike. When the tick is already gone, the mark can be difficult to interpret. A tick bite mark after tick falls off may be a small bump, a pinpoint scab, or a limited patch…

Learn More >

Scared Woman Spraying with Insecticide a Huge Spider Girl suffering from arachnophobia fighting domestic pests

Spider Repellent Works Differently Than the Label Suggests

You apply spider repellent along the baseboards, around the garage, or near a porch light. A few days later, another spider appears. The product may still be working in the area where you used it, but it may not be doing what you expected throughout the rest of the home. Many homeowners picture spider repellent…

Learn More >

Close-up of a brown recluse spider inside a cylindrical structure. The spider’s light brown body, long legs, and detailed cephalothorax are clearly visible. (1)

Venomous Spiders in Tennessee Come Down to Just Two Names

Finding a spider in a closet, garage, crawl space, or storage box can raise an immediate question: Is it dangerous? When homeowners search for venomous spiders in Tennessee, they are usually trying to identify one of two medically significant spider groups, brown recluses and black widows. Most spiders use venom to subdue prey, but that…

Learn More >

Close-up of a small pale-brown booklouse with wings and long antennae on a white surface

Booklice Thrive in Humid Southern Homes and They Are Not Lice

You may first notice booklice as tiny pale specks moving across a bathroom wall, pantry shelf, windowsill, or stack of stored books. Their name sounds alarming, but these insects are not the lice that live on people. Booklice are psocids, and they usually appear where moisture supports microscopic mold or other organic material they can…

Learn More >

Small brown mouse emerging from a crevice in garden debris near a house foundation

Mice Are Nocturnal so Seeing One at Noon Is a Bad Sign

Seeing a mouse during the day deserves your attention because house mice are primarily nocturnal. They usually move around when a home is quieter, so a mouse crossing your kitchen, hallway, or living room at noon falls outside the activity pattern you would expect. Still, one daytime sighting does not prove that a large mouse…

Learn More >

Repairs to a weatherboard house. A rotten weatherboard has been removed exposing a rats nest made of dry grass and vegetation between the wooden uprights.

Finding a Rat Nest Means the Family Moved In Weeks Ago

Finding a rat nest in your attic, garage, crawl space, or storage area can make the problem feel sudden. It usually is not. By the time rats have chosen a sheltered location and gathered nesting material, they have already found a way into or around your home and started using the property regularly. A rat…

Learn More >

Scroll to Top