The best time to sow grass seed

When summer draws to a close, the children go back to school and the evenings get dark quicker. Then it’s a good time to sow grass seed.

September, October and early November sowings of grass seed generally produce lawns that are looking good by Christmas and ready to use by the following spring. If you don’t get around to it in autumn, it’s OK to sow grass seed in spring too. Just be sure to wait until the soil warms up.

Using Grass seed to repair a lawn

It’s common practice amongst Greenkeepers to renovate golf greens and tees in the autumn time and then use grass seed to thicken up an overworked sward.

This autumn, following the summer heatwave I would imagine that a lot of lawn lovers will be looking to do something similar.

Autumn lawn renovations involve scarifying – to get rid of thatch. Thatch is a mix of dead grass, moss and other detritus that forms a layer between the grass and the soil. It can slow down water absorption and make it difficult for grass roots to get enough moisture. It also tends to harbour pests and diseases.

Scarification is like a really thorough raking for your lawn. Fortunately scarifiers are relatively cheap to hire or buy. It can be done by hand – but it’s time consuming and tedious that way.

After scarifying and possibly aeration to relieve compaction, your lawn will look quite sorry for itself. Topdressing it with some nutrient rich soil and then overseeding with grass seed will soon perk it up beautifully.

Using grass seed to create a new lawn

Grass seed is a slower but less expensive way to create a new lawn than turfing.

Where to buy grass seed

If you are able to care for a fine textured lawn which is less hardwearing and needs intensive TLC, then landscaper grass without rye is an even better price.

For smaller lawns or to make repairs, try our Premium Lawn Seed.

For lawns that are slightly shaded by trees or buildings, Shadesman grass seed is ideal. Buy online here  on Turfonline.  It is slightly more expensive than the Premium but my goodness! it really does perform well.