LAWNS GROWN FROM SEED
Lawns grown from grass seed will take longer to establish than if you used turves, but usually it will be cheaper, except for the work involved which is hard work in the preperations stages. Although you can pick the actual grass type content better by seeding. The best time for seeding in the South of England is Autumn or Spring.In the North of England Spring is probably the better choice.The soil needs to be damp and the weather outlook not too hot and dry, however too heavy a rain is not good either
Plan the lawn
So you have decided to seed your lawn? First off you must ask yourself What am I going to be doing on this lawn? What shape lawn do I want? Do I want a first rate lawn (lots of work) a utility lawn (for everyday use)? After all its your money, your time and effort.
Work out if you require flower beds either in or around the lawn. Personally I like to work these out later after the seeded lawn has settled and matured a little, my reason for this is sometimes for unexpected reasons (the neighbour plants a tree) a flower garden might be better of in another place than I originally intended.
The seeded lawn can take up to two years to settle.
Here I outline some different types of lawn
'Standard' This is a fairly tough used by children and pets. it is mainly ryegrass.
Drought Tolerant For areas of little rain
Luxury Lawn This is the perfect lawn, it requires constant attention,mowing at regular intervals, feeding, aeration and well you get the picture
Shaded Lawn For ares in the shade
Low Maintenance Lawn, This gives a quick to establish and low growing lawn, ideal for those with more to do than mowing lawns.
The slow growing rate of the grass keeps mowing to a minimum
Preparing the site
A lawn grows best on well drained medium loam, With heavy clay soils, you should add sharp sand, well decomposed manure, compost or rotted leaves. This will improve drainage under the lawn. With sandy soils, you should add well decomposed manure, compost or rotted leaves. This will improve moisture retention under the lawn.
The top soil needs to be prepared to give a fine, workable soil to a depth of 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12 cm) - if you are adding material, 6 inches (15cm).
Having turned over the whole area and broken down the soil, add half of anything you need to dig in, and dig over the whole area again. Add the other material to be dug in, and again go dig over the whole area.
Raking needs to be done at each stage to maintain the level and to remove any unwanted items of materials such as stones or hard stems etc.,,
Leave the area to settle for a week.
If a lot of weeds or vegetation appear in the week, use a burner that has been made for this purpose (generally they are not to expensive) or you can use a herbicidal weed killer then again you could dig them out. Rake over the area again and remove any more vegetation and stones/rubbish.
Tread down using the heel of your foot- , walk slowly across the area placing one next to the other walking like a penguin, when you reach the other end, turn around and repeat until the whole area has been trod down (if the area is large, get help from your family and friends). The first time you will probably have to re-rake the area, always try to maitain your levels.
Sowing the lawn
I would sow on a windless day, try to keep the sowings light at first and check after a few days to see if further sowings are needed, always check with your supplyer as to how much seed should be required for your area.
Lightly rake the seed into the top of the soil, I said lightly...you are only trying to cover the soil with the fine tilth thats there. you are not trying to rake the seed into clumps.
Grass seed should germinate and show within 7 to 21 days depending upon the weather, and your waterings
DO NOT walk on it during this period.
Too much water applied in the early days can float the individual seeds into clumps so remember you are only trying to keep the area moist..
If possible, protect the area from birds and domestic pets, I find fleece is good for this.
Leave mowing the grass until it is about 3 inches (7.5 cm) high and then only lightly mow with the blade set to about 2 inch (5 cm).
You can reduce the cutting height with each subsequent mowing, but don't cut lower than 1 inch (2.5 cm). In the second year if you are feeding and caring for your lawn it is possible to go lower but I would only go to 1/2 inch (1.25cm), lower than this can seriously weaken the lawn.
