My wife and I bought our house new over twenty years ago. In the front yard was planted an Oak tree. It was about six feet high and the maybe 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Over the last twenty plus years that Oak tree has grown quit a bit. The canopy has been great keeping the front of the house cool in the summer(our house faces due west) however it has not been good for the lawn.

Back in 2021 I re sodded the yard with Bahia grass. Because of the canopy from the tree the grass never gets any full sun and unless it was raining heavily not as much water either.

Last week I had the tree professionally trimmed and the yard now gets much more sun and rain so I was thinking because I still have grass but it is thin I was thinking of over seeding it to fill in the thin spots.

My question is because I live in central Florida and we are having a hot summer is it okay to try it now or wait till the cooler weather in the fall.

In the week since the tree was trimmed, I am not sure if it is my imagination but the grass that is still there looks better already.

I put down Seville St Augustine under an oak tree, same issues, thin grass, would not put anything down now it's way to hot.

October is the best time here to start grass...

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when to over seeding an existing lawn.

Without knowing the type of lawn (species of turf), its condition, and your typical care practices, this is not easily answered. The schedule will vary greatly depending on whether you have a cool season lawn (bluegrass, fescue, etc.) or a warm season lawn (Bermuda, Zoysia, St. Augustine, etc.) This will also determine the type of seed you'd be using.

Your best bet is to take samples of your turf and soil to your local extension agent and ask his/her advice. Alternatively, contact groundskeepers, lawn contractors, etc. (not the chemical application guys) in your area.

Technique is also important, overseeding into an existing stand of turf without doing some thatching/scarifying first is usually a waste of seed. The seed has to have good contact with the soil to germinate. Likewise, the techniques for dealing with bare spots are different than those for trying to "thicken up" a poor stand of turf.
In both cases you will get a lo more mileage out of soil improvement that in throwing down buckets of seed.

Your oak tree is more likely to be causing turf thinning by drinking up all the water as opposed to casting too much shade, but again, this depends greatly on the type of grass you are trying to grow. Bahia is usually propagated from rhizomes rather than seed, so there is that consideration too. Plugs are an alternative to sodding for spot filling.

As someone who has overseeded Bahia, it's very difficult to get it to germinate. Bahia, once it's in, is great stuff, but it needs to be buried about 1/2 inch deep in the soil, and have consistent water to germinate properly. Thus, if you just spread the stuff on the surface and hope for the best, you are likely to be disappointed.

If possible, I'd either go with mowing and fertilizer to stimulate the existing Bahia, or I'd get some Bahia plugs and plant them, then water consistently to get them to spread.

In the West, the answer to 71 truck’s question about over-seeding a warm season grass would be “right about now,” when the monsoon starts in, and the grass gets both warm nights and needed moisture for germination. I won’t pretend to know anything about Florida; HRK may well be right about waiting. I do think you could over-seed now, but I think you realize, you would probably have to water roughly 3x/day, if only for about 10 minutes each time to get the seed to germinate, then water enough to keep the grass from burning up until it’s well established.

Sounds like Artie is experienced with both your climate and that grass.

Thanks everyone.

I was not sure if I should wait but at this point I just might. We have been having rain lately however I live on the I4 corridor. That means it could be raining on one side of the street but not on the other.
Today we were surrounded by thunder storms for hours before it rained at my house.

I was thinking of giving the lawn a good raking then throwing down some seed then watering it in. The seed is cheap enough and the worst case is it just washes away in heavy rain.
The only thing I was concerned about was using my irrigation system. Where I live we are restricted to two days a week during certain times of the day.

It never fails, when I put sod down in 2021 it stopped raining. I ran the irrigation system when I was aloud but it barely kept everything alive.

I might just wait till the fall or the spring.

Overseed bahiagrass in the spring, probably March/April for you. Drill it into a prepped seed bed, or broadcast and cover with 1/4-1/2" of soil. Test your ph prior to seeding and add lime if necessary.

Just about everything you could want to know from UGA. https://extension.uga.edu/publ...nd-use-of-bahiagrass

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Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Overseed bahiagrass in the spring, probably March/April for you. Drill it into a prepped seed bed, or broadcast and cover with 1/4-1/2" of soil. Test your ph prior to seeding and add lime if necessary.

Just about everything you could want to know from UGA. https://extension.uga.edu/publ...nd-use-of-bahiagrass

Thanks for the information. I will look into the web link you gave me.