Proactive Seeding

A contemporary modern name for the overseeding of a turfgrass surface, especially golf greens, during the spring and summer seasons to take advantage of good germination and establishment rates of desirable grasses and to reduce the competition and problems which arise from undesirable grasses such as Poa annua. In practice this is just the use of different words for the common practice of overseeding in spring and late summer, which greenkeepers already carry out and aim for suitable environmental conditions to get the most from their seed.

Where the term might differ slightly from traditional practices is where additional overseeding is carried out to maybe on four occasions per year, to act as a more continual overseeding practice that aims to introduce seed into a green to try and change sward composition, so in some ways it is a more extensive approach to overseeding than would traditionally be undertaken.

The overall quantity of seed applied over the year is not necessarily any greater, but the application rates are less for each application.

One interesting inclusion is that of ‘cold seeding’ of greens at temperatures that are below normal germination temperatures, but which have introduced seed into a sward in anticipation of and ahead of suitable germination and establishment temperatures. A seedbank of suitable species is therefore being introduced aiming to create a competitive advantage over Poa annua once environmental conditions become more conducive for germination.

So, some overseeding over the winter period, from late October through to March, might be a consideration, especially where temperatures are not excessively cold and there is a likelihood of some mild spells occurring and this is already carried out on some golf courses. Whether this approach would suit a particular course is a question that the course manager would need to reflect on. In addition, consideration would also need to be given as to whether a better overall establishment rate can be achieved from spreading the seed out over more application periods, rather than the traditional two ‘windows of opportunity’ for overseeding, works out any more effective with results and also how cost-effective this is: In practice it might be successful in some situations and not in others.