Is it still too hot to overseed?

[Triple_D]

I cut my grass to 2", rented a plug aerator and did that today and have been running the sprinkler for the past few days. I have an acre lawn and am putting down 100# of mixed Fescue, Rye, and Bluegrass. Am I OK to put it down now or should I wait until next weekend when it looks like mid 70's instead of 90's. My dilemna is we pull our sprinkler water from a smaller river and its almost getting too shallow to run the sprinkler. We have a well, no city water so that's how our system is set up. Should I go for throwing down the seed now or chance the river won't keep going down?

To those that are going to rent a plug aerator, make sure your grass is good and soaked for a few days prior to aerating, the guy at the rental place said lots of people have been having problems aerating to a decent depth due to the drought and hard soil.

[psepuncher]

hard compacted soil is the sole reason to aerate

maintaining the grass lower than 3" is surely going to cause some compaction

warmer temps such as the August average temps are the best time to overseed for a quick response,getting the seed to germination stage faster

you could also throw seed down in the Autumn months at the time of frost which delays germination until spring called dormant overseeding

I've thrown rye out in the woods this year during our drought and it germinated very well and is already established without sprinklers

on watering seeds, you need not water except just enough to keep moist, just spritzing morning and early afternoon {or close to it} is all that's needed to start seed germination

[Triple_D]

I normally mow at 3 to 3 1/2 inches, I mowed it to 2" this time because that is what the seed supplier recommends. I'm going to go for it since it worked for you with the warmer weather, thanks. Plus looks like its finally going to start cooling down here by next week.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Rye is completely different than fescue or bluegrass for seed.

Typically the only reason Rye is used in a lawn mix is for quick germination for erosion control.

Yes, Rye will germinate on minimal moisture, but fescue and bluegrass need constant moisture.

Even with the cooler temps, if you can't keep the ground damp once you've overseeded, you'll get results, just not ideal results.

[delcecchi]

From a tweet by @urbanturfmn

Establishing fine fescue on campus to reduce irrigation, fertility, and mowing. 15 days after seeding pic.twitter.com/2wSto0leoy

Also check out http://www.turf.umn.edu/ where you can watch a webinar on Home Lawn Renovation among other exciting topics.

If you are interested in turf, don't miss it.