Seeding Lawns - advice please

[Coffeepotclaire]

Preparing for seeding our large garden last autumn, we busily prepared the ground  by removing the old lawn and weeds, turned the ground over, added some top soil and levelled it out.  It looked perfect. Unfortunately, because of the time it took to do all the preparation, we missed the September 'deadline' to sow the seed so decided to leave it until the April.  Naively, we didn't think we would get many weeds coming through since we were going into winter but boy were we wrong!  Our whole garden is now completely covered with weeds and the thought of having to remove them all over again  before sowing the seed in April is soul-destroying!  We spoke to one gardener who reckoned we could just sow our seed on top of all these weeds and then,once the grass had established a bit, then put weedkiller down?  Surely that's nonsense?  Everything I've read says you should remove all weeds FIRST or else the seeds won't be able to germinate! And if I was to use a commerical type weedkiller before sowing the lawn seed, would a lawn actually grow?

[Bitpipe]

How big is big?

 

I had a 20m x 6m lawn at the front of the house that was the last to get done. Had used turf everywhere else and that acts as its own kind of weed suppressant.

 

This patch was mega weedy, I used a bog standard spray from a shed and it worked well - although only really effective in the growing season when the plants are active and will want to absorb the weedkiller.

 

I also dug out any stubborn weeds by hand and raked and levelled the soil. It was December at this point but I sowed the seed anyway and it germinated fine.

 

By May the lawn had established enough that it weathered the summer dry spell just fine - I'd had other areas that were seeded in April initially flourish and then wither at the first blast of summer (we're in SE so I suppose depends where you are).

 

We now have a lush lawn, much better quality than the turf elsewhere. Still needs a regular manual weed but the grass growth does act as a natural inhibitor. 

 

So, I'd get out there now weed and then sow once this cold snap has passed. Grass seed is not that expensive so worst case you do it again if it doesn't germinate.

[Coffeepotclaire]

Thanks for your response.  I'll give it a go! ?

[Gone West]

Spray it with glyphosate a couple of weeks before you want to seed it, rake it off and sow the seed.

[Coffeepotclaire]

great thanks @PeterStarck?

[Makeitstop]

I'd agree with Peter.

 

I'd also spray with glyphosphate, which you can spray using a cheapo pump type bottle sprayer. You will need patience once that's done, as it is likely to take several weeks to really get into the offending weeds. Once they start to look ropey and wilted, you're going the right way. 

 

When weeds are knocked back, it may be wise to cover the ground in light restricting polythene or tarps. When you are ready to sow seed (late March earliest I'd say) rake the soil over to keep it loose or even rotovate if its compacted and then rake to level. Sow your seed and make sure to keep the ground damp. If it dries out for a few days, it takes longer to get going or may not germinate at all. Keep it wet.

 

Grass germinates best with warmth and moisture, that's it. If it's too early and it get exposed to frost, its not so clever and isnt likely to do well

 

Over 7 - 10 days with right conditions, itll begin to sprout. 

Edited February 9, 2021 by Makeitstop

[TonyT]

Make sure you aerate the lawn I was told, does make a difference, I’ve given up and will be doing Astro turf next year 

[CC45]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5L-GALLUP-XL-SUPER-STRENGTH-PROFESSIONAL-GLYPHOSATE-TOTAL-GARDEN-WEEDKILLER/262979755886?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item3d3ad09f6e:g:CgAAAOSwIaFZFDW~&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%2Fn%2BzU5L90Z278x5ickkXKoKcbeZcOrOku%2BoOBl%2BS1PPO0id%2BUqDw836h8AYDVRl5N%2BcqXzFs%2FjlsqkOb0%2FY0xLFqUMNh5iRhbH%2BU7i21h%2FMFu4uC13wchHadBzvNLdxjsKA2NXjJheBbM004JL3Zoojze9U%2FMXQA3s0WS5JZENnpWiHpMj%2FnyJkaKgt0acFLph0yOX3PcW%2F84S5LV8TF0d%2FbxXCk65%2BTp849WDs2uWkwoHTNz9XU6o%2Fsu%2FE97wNhzcDG9pYEL7DEY4Jobvs2Bh2l%2FKF%2Fa9mXtQFcQ2g1qUk4eIQkPngZ0fjIj%2FaVcC7ygyaGkAN%2FxWFyQ6v%2BCrDb04Uf1aIPULHuw2tYMb5bTu4CtvtjRveRNyMr%2FbEr%2BZBGrTA%2Fm%2BhxclJUGFhqN84S0JME43yxyy8kfRi41nZfzooC5fV2FC4tB%2F%2FTyZ1aFsq9Dih0J0rXC63C51o%2FgGtzsu63xlRCpfNNFexHRKZP7YlQx8WXCXdMkQZ0xzfjvbVGenIqr%2FIrn1F90W8oE4tsb0WJAZT1%2FyPXflpHecV9qwKBV%2F%2BGSEcN4iynKzTrOxe8whpXog4Vy1%2FDeGSq3CDGphMhfOwz0K3npTq%2F%2Fqot%2F%2BEQhlXdBumcqsNO1u%2FpalBgGLopbRUcqk7i%2BqHL0IBUrNpgCc31NRlvxd9mso167jOR62QVNwyzlmTbEOPlbQYd27pBaU7RWOIPGWkjE7muTBzH0U%2F3D%2FvrvCdGixDjpGFXHbFFHjNcR4Up%2FRJuc%2Bn1kjszjaRhs7svkGCGYDKA9Bk10jgwM965hRVT%2BI9mg%3D%3D|cksum%3A26297975588672c401a00bce4c6999673c61c103349b|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

 

job sorted.

[Roundtuit]

I'm in a similar position, with about half an acre to seed.  Ground was prepped late Sept, then it rained...  I want to get it done ASAP,  but it's too risky to sow before temperatures are consistently around 10C, and its way too wet anyway.  Applying glyphosate 3 or 4 weeks before sowing would be best (to get a good kill - it shouldn't affect germination), then a light rotavate, but that might delay sowing.  Still,  a few weeks left to procrastinate!

[Conor]

Spray it. Kill it. Seed it.

[pdf27]

I'm on totally the other side of things - I hate lawns with only one species of grass in them, no wildflowers, etc. Mowing will kill off anything that can't survive being in a lawn (grasses grow from the base, most other plants grow from the tip - so if they're not low-growing mowing will take them out), and then over-seed with a lawn seed mix to deal with gaps. You end up with a slightly patchy effect, but it's a much more diverse and wildlife-friendly zone.

[Gone West]

11 hours ago, pdf27 said:

I'm on totally the other side of things - I hate lawns with only one species of grass in them, no wildflowers, etc. Mowing will kill off anything that can't survive being in a lawn (grasses grow from the base, most other plants grow from the tip - so if they're not low-growing mowing will take them out), and then over-seed with a lawn seed mix to deal with gaps. You end up with a slightly patchy effect, but it's a much more diverse and wildlife-friendly zone.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. We have a wildflower grassed area and we have conventional lawned areas. It is great to have wildflower areas but even these have to be tended to keep the more dominant species at bay. We had too much yarrow last year and we had to remove some.

[Coffeepotclaire]

Thanks all - grateful for all your feedback! ?