Planting grass seed

[mondray]

I'm a very inexperienced gardener and looking to do some overseeding and also patching of my lawn.
I live in the south east and was wondering if it's too early in the year to do it now or if it's a good time?
I know temperatures are fairly high now, but will be dropping again in a week according to forecast.

I would wait until around Easter, myself. The night time temps are still pretty low for grass seed - ime.

I’d do one sowing now and one in a couple more weeks - you’ve got nothing to lose if this sowing doesn’t do well.
Just don’t do it on a windy day… I’ve ended up with little grass seedlings springing up in all my flower beds after sowing a new lawn.

Thanks for the advice.
Is there anything I would need to do to prep? Confused if I need to use top soil when overseeding an existing lawn. Would't you just end up with soil everywhere?

I was grassing urine burn patches from the dogs. I raked out the dead bits and put a mix of top soil and seed in the gaps. Helped the seed not blow away/get eaten/more soil contact for germination etc. Worked okay. Need to do it again but I've got a digger wrecking the place at the weekend so I'll look at what is left after that!

I need to do mine, but I thought it was a bit dry at the moment? I'm watching the forecast for rain but doesn't seem to be any coming this way! Maybe I need to practise my rain dance.

Each have their own way but I perosnally prefer to mix my grass seed in with some fine compost or top soil - mainly because I feel that holds the moisture next to the seed better and so give a higher germination rate.

I would rake well then sprinkle the seed/compost mix and water well (or try to time it before rain) then only water if it dries out. Grass seed takes 2-3 weeks to germinate so don't despair if it is slow. But also try to restrict walking on it. You do ened up with 'soil everywhere' but it tends to fall down between the existing grass which grows up through it, anyway. So over the same 2-3 weeks it 'disappears'.

If you are patching up after a dog, be aware that fresh pee will likely kill the seed, so those bits are unlikely to grow.

@DidymusAmbrosius
Thanks for the advice. Would you recommend a "soil to seed ratio"? Sorry I might be asking really stupid questions, but really have no idea.
Luckily not patching due to urine. Just have a garden that doesn't get much sun and has some bare patches due to weeds/moss taking over. Also want to make an existing flower border smaller. So that section will need completely new grass.
I'm just very good at killing everything I touch in the garden, so could use as much advise as possible before wasting loads of money. 😂

If you're planting in shade then definately choose a grass seed mix designed for shade - it'll make a difference to long term viability and hopefully mean it can out compete the moss.

The soil to grass ratio is a good one. I just eye ball it but it probably is somewhere around 50-75% soil. Spread then gently raked in to even it out and encourage it to drop down between existing grass rather than sit as a clump on the surface.

Once the grass has germinated and grown a little, I'd give it a good water every other week for a couple of months then every month until autumn (assuming no rain). Then not water again and rely on rain instead. Much better to give it a good soaking less frequently than 'little and often'.

I'd give it an autumn feed later on in the year and a spring one during 2023 Easter - at least for this first year to help keep it healthy and strong. I, personally, would not bother with anything that includes a moss killer. I'd champion the grass rather than kill the moss .

I will be doing mine soon. My front garden is shady and also clay soil so prone to bare patches and moss, despite having been returfed two years ago. This is what I did last year, and it grew really well then but needs redoing again.

Mow the lawn.
Dig out weeds with a weeding trowel (mainly dandelions which have long tap roots).
Rake up any thatch.
Spike the lawn (I used a fork). This is boring but seemed to improve things quite a lot.
Rake compost mixed with horticultural sand all over (thin layer allowing existing grass to show through). This fills in the spikes and improves the soil structure.
Seed over the top and water if rain isn't imminent.
Avoid walking on lawn as much as possible.
Feed later in early summer.

It was all a bit labour intensive but my lawn is small and it looked much better when it grew. I did do this to the back garden too (which is much bigger) but won't bother this year apart from the weeding, feeding and maybe patch sewing, as it's not too bad this year. I think I'll try mixing the seed in the the compost this year. I haven't bought sand so will just use compost.

The most important thing is to keep it damp. So water it once or twice a day once you’ve seeded it, if it doesn’t rain.

Scratch the surface of the area to seed with a spring tine rake to create a seedbed, sprinkle on grass seed and lightly cover with topsoil. Tamp the soil level to match the surrounding area and wait for germination. Shouldn't need water at the moment as this will suppress soil temperature and delay germination.