How to Use Grass Seed
Summary:
- Sowing grass seed is a simple process and is suitable for all gardeners, regardless of experience
- Best time of year: For optimum results, you should sow your grass seed between March – April or September – November.
- Suitability: Grass seed is highly adaptable and is suitable for all types of lawn
Lawn from Seed:
The first step to sowing a new lawn from seed is to prepare your area and ensure that your plot of land is ready to sow! Remove any debris, perennial weeds and rake the soil flat. If necessary, you can improve your soil with some high quality topsoil, or use it to level any uneven areas in the garden.
Calculate how much seed you require by measuring the size of your plot of land. We recommend applying 25 – 30g of seed per square metre of land. This will ensure ample coverage for a beautiful ornamental turf.
Divide your lawn & seed into equal vertical sections, so you know exactly how much seed should be applied into each row. If you are using a seed distributor, it is important to calibrate it to ensure that you can achieve an even coverage.
Sow the seed working with the vertical rows you have divided earlier, ensuring ample coverage throughout, then very lightly rake over the sown area to ensure that the majority of the seeds are covered with soil.
Water! Now that your seeds have been sown ensure that they are watered each day.
Tips for Caring for Your Newly Sown Lawn:
- Limit foot traffic on the lawn. To give the seedlings the best chance of flourishing, please stay off the lawn for at least the first 3 weeks from sowing. Ideally you should use the lawn as little as possible for its first season.
- When it is time to mow for the first time, place the height setting of your mower blade higher than you would normally.
- Applying feed to a newly sown lawn in the Spring is unnecessary, however applying feed in the Autumn may be beneficial.
Over-seeding a Lawn:
If you have a mature lawn that is patchy or thinner in some areas than others, you can overseed it to help get the lawn looking its best.
To overseed a lawn;
- Make sure the lawn is mowed very short
- Aerate the lawn by spiking holes using a garden fork
- If your lawn has not been fed recently (last 3-4 months) you can apply a feed several days beforehand.
- When it is time to sow the seed, apply it evenly across the entire lawn
- Stay off the lawn for at least the first 21 days after sowing seed.
Common Problems:
- Weeds are a real pain at the best of times, particularly in your newly laid lawn. You should refrain from using any chemical weedkiller on a newly sown law, as it may cause unintended damage.
Ideally preventative measures should be undertaken by removing all perennial weeds from your plot before sowing seed, but if they do sprout up, you can remove them by hand with a garden trowel. - Pests such as birds will be attracted to the seed and eat them if they get the chance. To compensate, you can sow more seed than you will need to account for some lost seeds, or you can apply a net to the freshly sown area. If this is not feesible or you have sown a large area of land, you can apply bird tape to scare the birds away. This is a nonchemical solution that makes a noise to deter birds away from your crops.
Want to take a shortcut?
Sowing a new lawn from seed can be very tricky and time consuming. If you can’t wait and want to enjoy the garden today, why not opt for fresh turf?
