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Aerating a lawn before seeding it or adding new grass seed is a smart decision. By loosening up compact soil and allowing it to take in more air and water, your seeds will have an easier time establishing roots and growing. Aerating beforehand also means your seeds will have better contact with the soil, so more of your seeds have a chance to germinate. If you do plan to aerate your lawn before seeding, aerate about two days before you plan to start seeding.

Grass will grow back after being sprayed with vinegar. If you’re looking for an alternative to chemical herbicides, vinegar can help you manage weeds. Use a mixture of 1 gallon of white vinegar, 1 cup of salt, and 1 tablespoon of dish soap to spray on your grass. This will kill the grass at the surface while keeping the roots intact, so it’ll eventually grow back. You’ll need to use an herbicide or manually remove the whole root system to get rid of grass for good.

Although these terms sound similar and are sometimes used interchangeably, overseeding and reseeding your lawn are very different processes. Overseeding, the simpler of the two, involves a few steps to restore thinned or patchy grass by raking, aerating, and seeding uneven areas of turf to promote regrowth.

Reseeding a lawn is a more drastic and involved process, often necessary if the lawn is diseased, more than a third dead, or very overgrown with weeds. Unlike overseeding, it requires removing most of the existing lawn and starting a new one from scratch, a much bigger and more time-consuming job.

Like most plants, the seeds need water, optimal temperature, sunlight, and oxygen. Each variety of grass seed will have slightly different needs—higher or lower temperatures, for instance—so pick one that syncs up with your home’s climate and the time you wish to plant. Take a look at the 10-day forecast to ensure there won’t be a major rainstorm.