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Preparing and Sowing a Lawn
Seeding a lawn - A basic guide to preparing the ground, planting grass seed, sowing the lawn and looking after your lawn in the following years.
Prepare the ground
by removing all rubbish, stones, bricks, weeds and plants.
Improve drainage wherever possible, deep digging will help. The
finer the prepared seed bed the better the lawn will be.
For lawns on a heavy soil incorporate more sand while digging
this will help improve drainage. On light and sandy soil
incorporating a good amount of peat into the soil will prevent
drying out and loss of nutrients.
Level the site taking care not to remove too much topsoil from
any one area. If possible the digging of the ground should be
done in the autumn and left to stand for the witer, where the
rain and frost will break down the large lumps and leave it
crumbly. As the soil starts to dry out in the spring is the best
time to prepare the fine seedbed. Roll or rake the ground, or
tread and rake it in both directions, keep working it until you
achieve a firm level seedbed. It is a good idea to rake in a pre-seeding
fertiliser, this helps promote root growth and provide the
essential early feed for your lawn.
Sowing into heavy soil / covering seed
Should you need to mix the soil due to it being too heavy to sow the seed
into, it is recommended that you use peat to break it down, or to sow the seed
into as it retains more moisture and nutrients to enable seed germination.
Sowing
Seed can be sown from mid March until early October, as long as
during dry periods the seedbed is kept constantly moist until the
grass is approx 5cm high. Water the seed bed with a fine spray to
prevent the seeds or seedlings being displaced. During periods of
drought it may be necessary to water continually to aid
germination and avoid the young seedlings being scorched and
killed off.
A general rule of thumb to get a good established lawn is 50
grams of seed per square metre, allowing a little extra for
filling in or patching at a later date. A small rea can be sown
to be used as patching turf if required for any repair work later.
To sow the seed it is best to divide the area into easily
managable sections, then divide the seed accordingly. Sow half
the seed for one section from left to right of the section, the
other half of the seed over the first sowing but from front to
back of the section. This will ensure an even spread of the types
of seed over the section.
Mowing the Lawn
The first mowings are very important for good establishment of
the grass. When the grass is 5-8cm high the grass should be cut
for the first time. Trim the grass lightly and gradually lower
the blades to the recommended mowing height of the lawn mixture
used. Mow regularly but try not to remove more than a third of
the growth at any one cutting. Do not mow the grass when it is
damp. After the first cut the lawn may be rolled, this encourages
lateral growth and makes a closely knit turf.
A lawn is best mown little and often, that way you do not remove
more than a third of the growth. Towards the end of the season
gradually raise the cutting height of the blades. Always remove
the cuttings.