Scalping for Winter

Scalping the Lawn for Winter

This is as much of an informative post as it is kind of an answer-seeking post. Out here in mild California, many people tend to overseed their lawns for the winter (gotta keep that lush green look all year round, right?). So I'm wondering how many other regions in the world do this...

Typically what happens is the target lawn is mowed very short - it doesn't matter if you completely scalp the blades into the dirt, just get it as short as possible (I'm not saying this is the correct method, because I'm not sure myself, I'm just saying this is the usual method). Once the grass is whacked/scalped down to nothing, it can be gone over with a bow rake (to loosen the soil a bit), or it is just ready to be seeded as-is. After the ground is ready, rye-grass seed is spread heavily across the lawn.

A healthy dose of water on a daily basis is needed for the first couple weeks. After a good 3 or 4 weeks of growing, the grass is ready (and needing) to be cut. By doing this winter overseeding, many homeowners are able to keep that perfect 'California' lawn year round. Is this typical in other regions? or mainly left up to us semi-vain people on the West Coast? Any comments/feedback is appreciated. Thanks!