It is that time of year to think about cool season lawn seeding. This is something that needs to be done if you are finding a lot of bare spots in your lawn. If you find those bare spots, now is the time to get busy.

If you have just a few spots in your lawn that are bare, take a rake and break up the surface of the soil. Then apply you cool season (bluegrass, fescue and rye) seed to the area. Then you should also apply a small amount of new lawn starter fertilizer to those areas.

New lawn starter is a fertilizer such as 9-13-7. The high middle number is phosphorous. It will tell the grass seed to initially put its energy into producing roots. These roots will then supply nutrients from the soil to the grass stems and leaves.

After both the fertilizer and the seed have been applied to the bare areas, take a leaf rake and rake the area lightly. You want to get the seed and fertilizer just under the soil surface. If you want you, can apply a light layer of straw over the seeded areas.

Next water the seeded area so that the soil is wet at least an inch deep. From then on out check the soil daily. Make sure that the surface soil remains moist.

If you have a large area to seed follow the directions as above. After seeding and applying a starter fertilizer, rent a verticutter and run it over the seeded area in two different directions. The verticutter will drill the seed into the soil. This will increase the germination percentage of the applied seed.

Watering is really important. Make sure the seeded area remains moist at all times until the seed germinates and you begin to see seedlings emerge. Then back off the watering. How often you water after seed emergence depends upon weather conditions. Again you want to make sure that the soil does not dry out.

If you follow these instructions you should have a gorgeous cool season lawn in about four to six weeks. Happy gardening.