A basic grass question

So we bought our house back in November and are slowly redoing the garden. This is all new so please bare with me! We live quite north in Scotland, and this summer seems to be quite the washout -- 10-13 degrees for highs! Hoping for some decent weather still.

The major next thing we have to do is get top soil and then plant grass seeds. We're working hard to clear the mess in the front garden just now, but I don't know how long it will take though before we are ready to lay the top soil. So my main question just now is: is there a point at which one should no longer consider laying top soil and grass seed this summer, because it has gotten too cold, and instead wait for next spring/summer?

Thanks

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

That would be a hard one to answer in a normal summer.

 

Welcome to the forum

As I understand it, the grass seeding window closes around the end of september normally. However, this year might be different as there's been no summer. The september thing is based on the fact that usually the soil is still warm enough to stimulate germination, so that the grass can establish by spring.

 

Thanks!

If it sticks to being 10-15 and quite wet, when would you say the window closes this year?

 

Last tuesday.

 

I sowed grass seed on a patch on sunday at a local pub ... the area was rotivated, and levelled .... I broadcasted the seed, and then (by hand) threw handfulls of bagged topsoil to thinly cover the seeds

this is the seed that I used ... does OK is sun and semishade:
http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/1000-quality-hardwearing-lawn-p-447.html

that was on sunday .... an hour ago, there was a gap in the sky, and I quickly went to mow the front of the pub

the grass seed has germinated ... (thats in 5 days) ... and we have had rain for 3 of the 5 days

you can sow seed as long as the minimum temp does not drop below 6 degrees C ... the colder it is, the longer it takes to germinate

 

Grass seed can be put down between March and October depending on temperature. The minimum temperature that is usually recommended not to sow is 52F, particularly early and late in the year. I'd go ahead and put it down, it will germinate now I'm sure and you certainly won't have to keep it watered at the moment.

 

Wait until Autumn. Sowing in Spring means that it germinates together with the weed seeds, that would also be true of trying to do it now (and if we get a hot spell you will be struggling to get it to germinate and stay alive)

In Autumn the weed seeds shut down for the winter (they have dormancy that will only be broken by the cold of winter), so your grass will be up, and strong, by the Spring and much more able to compete.

Also, most lawn herbicides cannot be used on grass younger than 6 months - so Autumn sowing can be treated the following summer just the same as any other more established grass.

Not to sure about your concept of just spreading some top soil and sowing grass seed though - is that the plan? or are you intending to do more preparations than that?

 

Don`t forget you have to keep off it until it gets a good root system 3" or so growth ,then mow very lightly ,keep like that probably till next spring best ,as ground so sodden,the work you put in now will reap rewards
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if you have an area to seed .... why wait until the end of the year?

you will end up pulling weeds weekly ... or spraying poison

sow the seeds, the seeds will germinate within a week or 2

weeds will grow inbetween .... however, when the grass is 3 inches tall, mow off 1 inch, and mow regulary ... even with the weeds it will look better than just dry earth and long weeds

next spring, use weed & feed ... and you will have a superb lawn next year

I have been seeding lawns (some very large new build homes) for over 3 years

 

Autumn lawn establishes much better than spring lawn. I've done both many times over 20 years, and I would never now do spring sown lawn from choice.

I did half an area last autumn, and the other half this spring (for a number of reasons). The spring sown is a disaster, thick with weeds that I cannot control chemically as the grass is not yet 6 months old. The Autumn sown grass is a beautiful thick swarth and you'd be forgiven for thinking it had always been there!

"you will end up pulling weeds weekly ... or spraying poison"

You are absolutely right. But a freshly sown lawn isn't going to be great either - need to avoid walking on it, and it will be "dirt" looking for a month or 6 weeks, and then you'll have to water it if there is a dry spell ... so I'm not sure that's better than "fallowing" it until the Autumn. I have sown a Green Manure [i.e. during the Summer] where I wanted to make an Autumn lawn, which can improve the soil in readiness for Autumn, and supply Nitrogen, and at least look "green" in the meantime.

"next spring, use weed & feed ..."

That's spraying poison too (worse than Glyphosate IMHO as the primary chemical most selective herbicides use is persistent - so you can't compost the clippings or use them as a mulch :( but in fairness you & I would probably be using Weed & Feed on all lawns, not just new ones)

 

P.S. If its a small garden then the area is right "in your face", so more noticeable than a larger garden where part can be seen as a "work in progress". I think for Spring / Summer it would be better to Turf so that no issue with weed competition, and both will need irrigation in first season. However, I personal think Turf is not at all environmentally friendly, so I try to seed whenever I can.

 

Last time I used weed and feed I had a lawn of dandelions