Dormant seeding in an El Niño winter - Ask Extension
Hey folks! I bought Bee Lawn Overseeder from Twin City Seed Company, and was planning to overseed my lawn. I was going to do the dormant seating timin...
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Dormant seeding in an El Niño winter #943720
Asked August 29, 2026, 1:29 PM EDT
Hey folks! I bought Bee Lawn Overseeder from Twin City Seed Company, and was planning to overseed my lawn. I was going to do the dormant seating timing and method. However, given the super El Niño forecast with a warm winter and minimal snow, I’m wondering if I should wait and do it in the spring or possibly over seed earlier this fall. Is snow cover required to help protect the seed from possible freeze thaw cycles in the winter? Thanks!
Hennepin County Minnesota
Expert Response
Thank you for reaching out.
If you're concerned about the weather, I would either plant it right now because it needs time to come up and established before we get cold. Or you could wait until maybe late winter. Think about doing it maybe in March or April. As long as there's no snow on the ground, that would be a good time and it will not come up until it warms up.
Snow cover is really good for grass seeding and even for perennials and established lawns. So I would wait if you're concerned about it, especially because we don't know what will happen for sure.
