Seeding a New Lawn

[Mikey_1980]

Does anyone have any recomendations for seeding a lawn.  I was going to wait until the Autumn, but as the patio is almost down, I have a digger and whacker onsite have got a good deal on 80 tonnes of blended certified top soil I thought I would start at the weekend.  The forecast looks like we aren't going to get a heatwave any time soon so it might be a good time to get it established for next summer

Anyway there are a myraid of seed types and recomendations for growing it, has anyone got anyone tried any of these and which ones work?

[Temp]

Unless this wet weather continues it might be a bit late to sow seed? In the spring I have to cut some of our grass weekly then in the summer it slows down, the last cut was the first of the fortnightly cuts this year.

We turfed our lawn in and if you go that route make absolutely sure you have an adequate water supply. Depending on the size of your lawn one outside tap might not be enough! Ours is quite big and we had two sprinklers going almost 24/7 and they had to be moved around regularly. This was only just enough to stop the turf drying out and shrinking in the hot weather. Forget to move one and an hour later you could see the turf had started to shrink in the dry patch. Would be easy to ruin a area if it was hot and windy.

[warby]

+1 on (temp) Coiln's advise. I was told by an expert there are two rules after turf has been laid.

Rule 1 - water, water, water

Rule 2 - remember rule 1.

Google says:  Grass seed is best sown from late summer to mid-autumn; there is less competition from weeds, and the soil is warm, and damp from rain. Perfect for seeds to germinate. If you miss the opportunity to sow in autumn, try in mid-spring, but only if you can give the new grass plenty of water.

[Declan52]

I seeded my new lawn 3 weeks ago and it is already well burst through. I used one of the fast growing seeds and watered it every morning and evening . Also mixed plenty of fertiliser into the top soil to give it a boost.

[PeterW]

1 hour ago, Mikey_1980 said:

Anyway there are a myraid of seed types and recomendations for growing it, has anyone got anyone tried any of these and which ones work?

What is the soil type, what are you wanting (bowling green or meadow..?) and what's your budget..??

The place we use is this one - Grass Seed Store - they are very knowledgeable and will provide what you need at a decent price. 

The key is preparation and watering - seed needs to root down through the top surface so its best to mix in any fertilizer into the seed base and top off with a fine (25mm) layer of topsoil that is used as the seed bed. Seed needs surprisingly less than you expect per square yard, don't be tempted to over seed an area. Watering is also very important, get a decent sprinkler and ensure its set up properly and check the soil is damp to about 50-70mm down to get seed to develop roots below the superficial surface layer.

 

[tonyshouse]

I have seeded loads of lawns and a few rugby pitches. I sow at 1/3oz per yard in old money. Most people think the more seed the better but this is not the case, better thinly and allow room for plants to grow

wait til Autumn but spend time levelling, compacting, tilling and removing weeds.

for my lawn I use red fescue and bent creeping fescues with brown mixed in for shady areas. 

For rough grass, pitches ryegrass is good but I hate it in lawns.

note grass seed suppliers have a vested interest in selling you too much!

[tonyshouse]

If you are willing to water it or think it will be wet you can sow now.

[CC45]

don't use ryegrass unless you want a rugby pitch.  Fescue is the grass you want.  It will grow like stink now with the soil temps & as long as the wet weather continues will be fine.  Be ready to water if it doesn't.  If you waited for approx. 6 weeks you should be less at risk of dry times & the grass will still grow well into the autumn. If it was me I'd do it now.

Its pretty forgiving stuff.

[Mikey_1980]

Thanks all this was the grass seed I was looking at getting.

http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/lawn-seeds-1/hard-wearing-lawn.html?options=cart

Someone advised me that covering with a layer of straw for the next 4 weeks will help reduce the watering levels not sure weather to try this or not, my plan was to spread the 60 tonnes of topsoil and mix in 20 tonnes of of well rotted horse manure, level and gently whacker plate it down before seeding.

[PeterW]

That will be very nitrogen rich and also difficult to get a fine seed bed. 

Better off with topsoil and a proprietary fertilizer and get it nice and flat. 

Never heard the straw one - it acts as an insulator but would be a bugger to clean up..!

[CC45]

Straw is not nitrogen rich - quite the opposite in fact.  I worked on farms when the straw ban went into action - we had to apply more nitrogen to the crops.   It will tie up any nitrogen in the top soil as it rots down over a year or two.  Mad idea for a lawn. 

[Mikey_1980]

I think the idea of the straw was to protect the seed from birds and act as an insulator while it starts germinating, the idea being it is raked off after a couple of weeks when it has git going. As with eveything I found a green keeper promting this way on you tibe

[Vijay]

Are there any grass seeds that are more resilient to dog urine?

[PeterW]

Astroturf ......???

In reality no, but the broadleaf grasses will not be affected as much as the very fine grasses although if you dilute the spot as soon as possible you can sometimes cause less damage. 

[Vijay]

Cheers Peter. I'm a long way off having grass anyway!! lol

[TheMitchells]

On 13/07/2016 at 23:18, Mikey_1980 said:

Someone advised me that covering with a layer of straw for the next 4 weeks will help reduce the watering levels not sure weather to try this or not, my plan was to spread the 60 tonnes of topsoil and mix in 20 tonnes of of well rotted horse manure, level and gently whacker plate it down before seeding.

I'd also do without the straw - it will be a right pain to get rid of and as it breaks down, it robs the soil of nitrogen.  And be careful not to add too much manure.  As that rots down it may cause areas to sink and then you'll not ahve a smooth lawn.  I'd wait till sept if possible by which time we should have more rain and less drought, so less watering and also will give time for the manure to rot first.  In the meantime, level and rake off stones, and then as the weeds germinate, you can hoe or spray them off so when the seed goes down, there should not be much competition from weeds.  (The stale seedbed technique - works very well).

[Stones]

I sowed our last lawn in November! I broke all the rules and rolled the seed into the prepared surface (to stop the anticipated rain from washing it all away). Slowly but surely a green hue appeared over the course of the next few weeks.

That December saw a huge snowfall and cold snap (2010) which lasted for about 10 weeks. When the snow finally melted, I had a lawn! The grass had continued growing under the nice insulating blanket of snow with no ill effect whatsoever.

[ProDave]

Here's my first efforts on this build.  I am trying the easy approach this time.

 

Ground flattened and compacted with the digger, then just raked over to remove the last of the stones and get it a little flatter. Then grass seed sown.

 

The bit in the foreground was seeded 3 weeks ago, but with old seed that was in the shed for who knows how many years. It is just starting to grow now (or is that the weeds)

 

The bit in the middle was seeded about 2 weeks ago with new seed. The bit in the distance next to the sun room was only flattened today and has not been seeded.

 

I regard this as "stage 1" landscaping.  I know it's not going to be a perfect lawn from this. Some bits will settle more than others, particularly where drain trenches have been dug and filled in, and will need topping up and leveling again later on. But at this stage it establishes the rough ground levels and by seeding it and then starting to mow it, it shouldn't be such a mess of weeds than if I just left it without doing anything.

 

Regarding watering. If it rains it gets watered, if not........