Grass Seed...The Way to Grow!
Grass Seed, Emerald Grass Seed, Rye Grass, Perfect Lawn
We are looking at grass seed this time and as the summer days are getting shorter, our attentions in the garden will soon be looking towards the autumn, so now is the time to start planning your perfect lawn.
If you don’t want the expense of buying turf, seed is the way to go. Sowing the grass seed in late summer to early autumn is the ideal time, the soil is still warm and becoming damp, weeds pose less of a threat so you give your seed the ideal conditions in which to germinate and thrive.
Grass seeds can be sown in the spring time but it is essential to give them plenty of water, summer time is too late as you will struggle to keep up with watering and the seeds will shrivel up and die.
If you have the patience seeds is a great way to create your perfect lawn, especially on slopes, corners and tricky areas!
With various mixes on the market it can be hard to know which one to go for. A general purpose multiscape amenity mix is perfect for gardens. A hard wearing grass that looks beautiful, soft yet hard wearing. Perfect for summer days in the sun!
An example of an all-purpose seed mix is as follows:
| Highland agrostis | 5% |
| Galleon Lolium Perenne | 25% |
| Calico lolium perenne | 15% |
| Calliope festuca rubra common | 15% |
| Maxima 1 Festuca rubra | 40% |
What you need to do.
Get the area ready to give your seeds the best start, skim off any old grass, weed and remove any large stones and roughly level the area.
Fork over and rake to leave a level fine finish.
Neatly walk over the area to firm down the soil.
A couple of days before you seed, lightly rake in a granular fertiliser.
Sow the seeds.
Mark out the area into square metres, canes are ideal for this.
A general guide for sowing is 50g of seed per square metre but please read the instructions that come with the seed.
Scatter the required seed into each square metre to get a good even coverage.
After sowing lightly rake the area and water.
While the seeds germinate.
Do not walk on the seeds whilst they are germinating. Protect with netting until seedlings are well established, this will prevent people walking on the area and stop birds feeding on them.
Keep your seeds well watered, they can dry out quickly so test the soil regularly.
Weed the area carefully, as the grass grows this will stop weeds from taking hold.
When the lawn is 5cm, mow back to 2.5cm removing clippings. Do this for the first 4 cuts.
