Proper Grass Seeding Techniques for Ontario
Proper grass seeding in Ontario requires capitalizing on cool-season grass growth cycles, with spring and fall being the ideal times. In addition to choosing the right time of the year to plant your grass seed, you can also help establish your lawn by preparing the soil, using high-quality grass seed, and ensuring consistent moisture throughout germination.
Optimal Timing
Our customers experience the best success when seeding their lawn from April to early May, and from Mid-August to late September. Seeds planted later into the fall have a chance to remain dormant until germinating naturally in the spring.
Spring Seeding: Seeding your lawn in spring is beneficial because you extend the year one growing time. Spring rain also helps to reduce the amount of manual post-seeding care required. The con with spring seeding is that weeds also thrive during this time of the year, which increases the competition your seed may face while growing.
Fall Seeding: Mid-August to late September is the best time. Offering warm soil, cool nights, and increased moisture for ideal germination conditions.
Prepare the Site
Preparing the site is a bonus step that can greatly improve your germination and growth rates. Giving your seed the best opportunity to thrive from day one. However, these steps are not necessary, especially when overseeding.
- Clean and Clear: Remove debris, old grass, weeds, and rocks.
- Aerate or Till: Loosen compacted soil to a depth of 5–10 cm (2–4 inches).
- Topdress: Spread a 1–2 cm layer of quality topsoil, compost, or triple-mix to provide nutrients and ensure good soil contact. Our most popular option is our Premium Screened Lawn Blend Soil. It’s a mixture of compost and sand that provides sustained soil fertility, soil structure, growth stimulants and enough porosity to improve drainage. Perfect for repairing your lawn, seeding, or laying sod.
- Level: Rake the surface to ensure a smooth, level grade.
Choose the Right Seed
At Ontario Agra we offer two different types of grass seeds, both are filler-free and developed in Ontario to meet the specific needs of our soil types and weather conditions.
Grass Seed – 50 LB Traditional Mix
Traditional lawn mixture is great for patching up spots or establishing a new lawn. It performs well on all soil types. Offering the best balance of economical pricing with better performance than hardware store varieties.
20% Kentucky Bluegrass
10% Creeping Red Fescue
40% Turf Type Perennial Ryegrass
30% Annual Ryegrass
Grass Seed – 50 LB Premium Plus LS
Premium Plus LS™ lawn mixture is suited for any soil type with Lateral Spread™ Perennial Ryegrass. Lateral Spread lawn mixtures have a spreading tiller which fills in bare spots fast for increasing density to prevent possible weed pressures. Our lawn mixtures are created with dark green and fine-leaf seed varieties, making your lawn stand out from the rest. Each mixture has been custom designed and tested for Canadian summers.
35% Kentucky Bluegrass
35% Creeping Red Fescue
30% Slider LS™ Perennial Ryegrass
Sowing the Seed
Application: Use a broadcast or drop spreader for even coverage, applying half the seed in one direction and the other half perpendicularly.
Quantity: We recommend using 200 lbs of seed per acre when starting a new lawn. For overseeding and improving your existing lawn, this amount can be cut in half. Do your best to apply the same techniques and timing while overseeding as you do with seeding a new lawn.
Seed-to-Soil Contact: Lightly rake the seed into the soil (no deeper than 1/8 to 1/4 inch).
Cover: Lightly cover with straw or compost to protect from birds and keep it moist. This is especially important during dry spells or unexpected heat.
Post-Seeding Care
Watering: Keep the seeded area consistently moist but not saturated. Water daily for 7–21 days until germination occurs. One of the major benefits of spring planting is that the increased rain will take care of this for you.
Mowing: Wait until the grass is 7.5–10 cm (3–4 inches) high for the first mow.
Weed Control: Do not apply weed control products until after the new grass has been cut at least 3 times.
Our Hands-On Grass Seed Experience
A few years ago our Technical Sales Manager Kyle had a newly built home with a couple acres of mud around it. In the Niagara region, our soil is very clay heavy, which can be challenging for drainage and aeration. As an experiment Kyle used 200lbs per acre of our Premium Plus LS lawn seed and planted directly into the clay mud that used to be his construction site. After about 20 days the grass started to grow, followed by very quickly filling out once it started. Patience was key here as it can be disheartening to wait nearly a month to see the expected results. In the first year, he seeding in April and then reseeding in the fall to help build a strong lawn on year one. Since then, he’s done a once-annual overseeding to help keep it at its best.
No matter the conditions of your lawn, adding high-quality grass seed at the right time of the year will noticeably improve your grass within weeks. If you have any questions or would like some customized advice, we can be reached by phone or email any time.
