Hello Gerald,

By “winter seeding” I assume you are referring to dormant seeding. This is the practice of putting grass seed down in late fall/early winter once soil temperature is lower than 50 degrees. The seed sits on the soil through winter and is ready to germinate in the spring when conditions are right. See the final paragraph in this post: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/late_season_lawn_seeding

Dormant seeding can fail due to seed rotting or being eaten by predators during the winter. Results are comparable when the seed is spread on the lawn in the early spring just before conditions are right for germination, without the loss to critters or rotting. Depending on the weather conditions of the given year, this can be from early April to early May. Here is an article about spring lawn seeding: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/tips_for_reseeding_lawns_in_the_spring

As far as sandy soil is concerned the best species of seed are tall fescues mixed with drought tolerant Kentucky Bluegrasses for sun or fine leaf fescues including red, sheep, hard, and chewing fescues mixed with Kentucky Bluegrasses for partial shade. https://turf.purdue.edu/extpub/maintaining-lawns-on-sandy-soils/

Hope this helps.