Sowing a Lawn from Seed

Choose a grass seed mixture for the amount of wear and tear your lawn will receive i.e. Sunday Best (without ryegrass) for a fine lawn or Economy Mix (with ryegrass) if your lawn is going to double as a football pitch for the family.

You will need about 5gr of seed for each square metre of lawn. Feed the soil. About a week before sowing apply Growmore at a rate of about 35gr per square metre. Lightly rake into the surface. Choose the right day. The best time of year is early or mid-September when the soil is still warm and there should be a chance of rain. The top of the soil should be dry with moist soil just below the surface. Delay sowing if wet. Sowing the seed. Divide the seed into four equal parts and divide the area to be sown into four. This will help you to spread the seed more evenly.

Gently rake the surface soil in straight lines so that very shallow furrows are produced. Spread the seed as evenly as possible. To help keep the seedbed moist rake over Very Gently with a spring tine rake to partly cover the seeds. Don’t try to bury them or germination will be patchy.

To keep birds off, stretch black cotton in a criss-cross pattern across the seedbed. The seedlings will appear 7-21 days after sowing.

If rain has not fallen for several days at the time of germination you may have to water the plot. Do this very gently as a coarse spray may wash the seedlings out of the ground. When the grass is 2 or 3 inches high, remove any stones and gently sweep away worm casts. Follow with a light rolling with the back roller of the cylinder mower. After a few days when the grass is upright again it is time for the first cut. Set the blades high and remove only the top half-inch of grass. For an autumn sown lawn, this is all you need to do for this year. For a spring-sown lawn, regular mowing will be necessary from now on, gradually lowering the blades. Avoid heavy use, water when necessary and remove weeds.

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