Gardener's Yards All About Gardening Centipede grass is a warm-season, heat-tolerant grass; overseeding centipede grass with fescue and zoysia improves your lawn.
The grass is native to Southeast Asia and can reach heights up to 3 inches.
This grass is also easy to maintain and a favorite for many homeowners and gardeners in the southern parts of the US.
The grass can be planted through sod, seed, or even springs.
On the other hand, fescue grasses are shade-tolerant cool-season grasses that grow exceptionally well in the southern US.
This grass grows smartly during cold spring and fall months.
In comparison, zoysia grass is widely grown in Australia and Asia.
It is an ideal grass for lawns and does well in warmer climates.
If you’ve centipede grass that is patchy or bare spots on the lawn, you can overseed it with fescue or zoysia grass as the warm season ends.
When you overseed your centipede grass with fescue or zoysia grass, it improves the appearance of your lawn.
Besides, centipede grass is easier to maintain, unlike other types of grass.
But when it gets cold, this grass may struggle, and that’s why you need to overseed it and protect it from the cold winter season.
Below is a procedure for overseeding centipede grass with fescue/zoysia grass:
Before we get to the steps you’ve to follow, you must assemble the right tools for overseeding your centipede grass with fescues and zoysia.
These include a lawn rake, fescues/zoysia grass seeds, seed spreader, dethatching rake, water hose, lawnmower, lawn roller, high-phosphorous fertilizer, and gloves.
Steps on How to Overseed Centipede Grass
Step 1: Prepare The Lawn For Overseeding
The first step is to prepare the lawn for overseeding.
Start by watering the grass lawn properly a few days before overseeding.
Remove any weeds on the lawn using a hand and mow the lawn low. Next, rake up and get rid of the grass clippings and other dirt on the lawn.
Measure the area you want to overseed and purchase the right amount of fescues seeds you want to spread.
Step 2: Dethatch The Centipede Grass
Split up the layer of thatch, living and dead grass stems, leaves, and other plant parts piled up between the soil and the bottom of the grass.
You can dethatch the grass using a dethatching rake if it is a small area.
But if you’re dethatching centipede grass in a larger area, use a vertical mower.
It will make your work easier and will dethatch the grass quicker.
But if you can see the soil surface when you look down the grass, there is no need for dethatching your lawn.
You can proceed to the next step.
Step 3: Aerate The Lawn
After getting rid of the weeds, dethatching, and readying the fescues seeds, the next step is to aerate the lawn.
Aerating the soil will provide a conducive environment for the seeds that are yet to be spread to flourish.
Aerated soil has two vital gases (oxygen & carbon dioxide), which the fescues seeds need to germinate.
It is important to aerate your lawn if it has compacted soil.
But if the soil is loose and well-moist, you don’t need to aerate it.
Also, aeration helps in removing any buildup of thatch.
Step 4: Disperse Fescue Grass Seeds
Next is to spread the fescues grass over the prepared area using a seed spreader.
Disperse the right amount of seeds per square foot.
You mustn’t disperse many seeds in one area of your lawn.
Even though not harmful, you should try and disperse the seeds evenly.
Besides, overseeding is different from seeding.
Thus, you should spread half of the grass seeds you could’ve seeded on a bare lawn.
And if you have bare areas or brown patches, you can add up the number of seeds you spread.
Step 5: Rake The Seeds
When you’re satisfied with how you’ve spread and dispersed the fescues grass seeds, you can cover them now.
Use a rake to cover the seeds with soil.
This is vital as it helps the seeds to be in contact with the soil and ready for germination.
To ensure that the seeds have settled in the soil, water the lawn for around 5 to 10 minutes.
The soil will be moistened, and the seeds will settle in the soil, ready for germination.
Step 6: Fertilize The New Seeding
Finally, apply the right fertilizer to boost the growth of your fescues grass seeds.
Use a nitrogen fertilizer, which will also help to green up the centipede grass.
Avoid using weed-and-feed fertilizers that cause more problems instead of supporting your grass.
When Is the Best Time to Overseed the Centipede Grass?
Centipede grass is a warm-season grass that grows during spring and summer.
So, the best time to overseed centipede grass is right before its growing phase.
Since it is a warm-season plant, it also means that centipede grass does not tolerate extreme cold.
You should test the soil first for frost before overseeding.
Better if you wait for the ground to thaw completely, especially if you’re considering overseeding it during the spring.
Should you opt to overseed during the fall, you can choose the winter-season variety of centipede grass.
Tips on How To Maintain Your Lawn After Overseeding the Centipede Grass With Fescue and Zoysia
Try your best to spread fescues grass seed evenly.
You should not worry about dispersing excess seeds to a particular lawn area.
- Protect your grass seeds by adding a small layer of mulch over grass seeds. This will help protect the seeds from being eaten by birds or washed away by rain.
- After the fescue or zoysia seeds germinate, water them at least twice a week. It is recommended to water the lawn in the wee hours of the morning
- Apply the right type of fertilizer after the seeds have sprouted. It is ideal for fertilizing your lawn after the grass has sprouted. This should be done after four weeks and repeated after every six weeks.
- Keep your kids and pets away from the lawn when mowing. You don’t want to risk any injury or accident while working on the lawn.
- Keep your centipede grass at a regular height when mowing, especially during its active season.
- However, during the first few months after you overseed the centipede grass, do not cut the new growth any shorter than two inches.
- You must also aerate your lawn even once a year to keep the soil soft and create a healthy environment for your centipede grass to flourish.
Bottom Line
Overseeding centipede grass with fescue or zoysia grass will help your lawn to stay green even during the cold season.
However, you need to determine the soil’s conditions before proceeding.
Also, you will have to know what is causing your centipede grass not to flourish.
This will help you have a lush and healthy lawn all year.
To make centipede overseeding a success, you must follow the right steps and use the right tools.
We hope you’ve found this article informative and will help you improve your lawn as we head to the colder seasons!
