Unless you are remodelling your garden, it is unlikely that you will ever have given much thought to grass and how it grows. It is just there, outside, springing into existence. If you start researching into growing new grass and overhauling your back garden, it can quickly become overwhelming.
Will grass seed grow if you scatter it straight onto the ground?
Yes and no. Some grass will grow great but the chances of all of your grass growing are quite small. To ensure your thrown grass seed grows, make sure the ground is prepared by raking (or scarifying) so that you have a nice clean bed of soil. Scatter your seed, rake lightly and firm down. Then keep the seeds damp for 4 weeks.
However there are a number of things that can affect the success of your grass growing well. Read on to find out more.
Grass seeds are some of the most resilient plant seeds on the planet. If you just throw them onto the ground, you will likely see some of the seeds taking root and growing. There are of course additionally, a number of other things that could prevent the seeds from germination (birds, wind, rain or thatch levels in the lawn).
While this method works sometimes, it's not the recommended manner to sow grass seeds. This is because the seeds are likely to germinate inefficiently which will cause problems with your lawn down the line.
They will not be rooted properly, which can lead to the grass’s growth halting. In order to give your grass the best chance of thriving, you should complete some lawn maintenance before sowing the seeds.
This will give the seeds an optimal chance for growth and lead to a much neater-looking lawn.
How do you prepare the soil for planting?
Check your lawn soil PH levels
The first thing you should do is work out the pH of the soil you have. Grass requires a specific pH of between 5.5 and 7. Your local DIY store should have small test kits for purchase that allow you to discover this at home. If the pH is not within the optimal range for grass, you will need to treat the soil. However, don’t over-think this. Grass is extremely hardy, and often it’s worth just trying some seeds and seeing what happens.
When I treat lawns, it’s rare for me to test the PH of their soil. The only time I use a PH/moisture meter is when the lawns are struggling. Then I can take action if needed, but most of the time it’s not really needed. Having a Ph / Moisture meter is a very handy tool to have anyway so you can check the moisture levels of your lawn throughout the year. Here are the kinds of meters I mean and they are very inexpensive (These are on Amazon, and this is an affiliate link).
How do you increase the PH of your lawn soil?
You can increase the PH of your lawn soil by adding Lime. Powdered Lime (Amazon affiliate link) is typically applied at a rate of 50 grams per square metre. Be very careful when applying Lime to your lawn as once it’s down you can not remove it. If you overdo it, you will end up with soil that is too Alkaline and will need to take action to lower it.
How do you lower the PH of your lawn soil?
The simplest way to help your lawns PH level drop a point or so is to add in some compost. It doesn’t directly lower the PH but helps the soil improve, and buffer some of the PH. Plus adding in some good organic compost makes a great natural fertilizer that helps Green up your grass!
Start off by aerating the lawn with an aerator tool, or by forking deeply and wiggling the fork around. Brush compost over the lawn so some of it goes down the holes. Make sure it’s all worked down to soil level and not smothering the grass.
This brings is neatly onto the next step.
Lawn aeration and scarification
The next thing you need to do is aerate the portion of soil where you will be sowing your grass seeds. This allows more oxygen to travel to the roots of the plants, allowing for more optimal growth circumstances.
This will allow nutrients to travel through the soil for absorption by the roots. It also loosens the soil, allowing the root network to form more easily. In essence, this is relieving the compaction in the ground.
After we have aerated lawns you can see a very noticeable improvement within a couple of months. The grass thrives and is happier and Greener.
Scarifying is a mechanical machine process that rakes out dead organic material from the surface of the lawn This layer is known as thatch. Once this has been removed and the soil is then exposed, the grass can breathe so much easier, and rainfall and nutrients can actually get in and down to where it’s needed.
Now is the time to sow your seeds!
The soil will need to be slightly moist before you sow the grass seeds. Not so much the surface, but just below the surface.. So this step would be to water the lawn an hour or so before you plan to scatter the actual seed.
This will allow the roots to penetrate into the ground and create a foundation for your lawn. If you live in particularly dry climates, it may be worth considering beginning an irrigation schedule to ensure the soil is moist all of the time.
If your garden has a very uneven surface, we advise raking the soil to make it more level. This will give your grass a more even finished look. Alternatively, you could hire a roller and use this to flatten out the upper level of your soil. You should remove any obstacles such as rocks that will inhibit root growth.
What seeds should be used?
It is often advised that you use a seedling mix that has a variety of grass types contained within. This gives your lawn the best chance of even growth across all seasons and often results in a thicker and more vibrant grass covering.
I'm all for choosing a specific type of grass if you have a specific need (such as a fine ornamental lawn that can be cut really short, using perhaps a blend of Fescue and bent grasses), but just be aware that with these grass types there is a lot more work involved to keep it nice (cutting more often, scarifying regular and so on).
Many people opt to use a grass seeder or spreader to sow their seeds. A grass seeder is an expensive piece of equipment that allow the seeds to be sown just underneath the top of the soil level. This gives them about ¼ inch of soil coverage, the ideal amount for planting. This means that they do not need to be raked in, unlike with some other seeds. These machines are only good for large lawns, and most often would be used by a lawn care company or Greenkeepers as they can run into the multiple thousands of pounds!
For the average homeowner, a simple seed spreader works just fine.
I have personally spread seed:
- By hand
- With a handheld spreader
- An electric handheld spreader
- A broadcast spreader
- And also a drop-spreader.
Most of my customers have small to average-sized lawns, so I tend to use the drop-spreader most often. This is an inexpensive plastic spreader. Pop your seeds into the hopper, open up the setting and walk up and down the lawn.
When you are sowing seeds this way it is vital to ensure that the seeds touch soil, and are ideally covered over.
Using a low-cost spreader only puts seeds on the soil surface, so we need to cover the seeds to prevent them from birds, wind and rain. So after seeding there are a few ways to accomplish this. You can lightly rake the seeds back and forth to work them down. Or you can buy some bags of multipurpose compost or topsoil. open the bags grab a large handful between both hands, and rub your hands together over the seeds until they are covered with a thin layer.
No matter which method you use, the final step is to firm down the seeds and compost/soil mix. You can walk over it, or use a garden roller.
When you have just sown your seeds, before they germinate, you should try to keep them moist but not soak the ground. This is because if water begins to pool on the surface of the soil, the seeds will float and uproot.
So for the next 2 to 4 weeks, you will need to water a minimum of 2 times per day (spring and autumn). The seeds shall come through within those first few weeks. If you are sowing seeds in Summer please note you will need to water a lot more. As often as 5 times per day. The key is to keep the seeds damp as much as possible.
When you begin to see sprouts appearing, you can begin to water more infrequently. You should try to add the water to a lower level. This forces the roots to travel down into the soil to reach the water. However, don’t rush this stage. I recommend month 1 to water continuously. The grass will come through in different areas at different stages but will eventually fill in. Shaded areas will take as much as twice as long to fill in and thicken up. After the first 4 weeks, you can then switch to watering 3 or 4 times per week and maintain this for the next 6 months until the grass has established and developed deeper roots.
How long should grass seeds take to grow?
Under optimal conditions, you should begin to see grass growth within 10 days of sowing the seeds. It is likely to take up to 6-8 weeks for the lawn to be fully covered and no longer patchy. There are many different factors that influence the growth of grass, such as the ambient temperature and weather conditions.
The optimal temperature for grass growth is around 10 degrees Celcius in the soil. This happens when ambient temperatures exceed 16 degrees Celcius for a few days.
The area where you have sown your seeds should get a minimum of 3 or 4 hours of sunlight each day. It is advised that for the first few weeks after seeding, you should water your seeds once or twice a day (in Spring or Autumn.. or up to 5 times a day in Summer!) to ensure they are adequately hydrated. You must keep the seeds damp.
What can you do if the grass doesn’t grow?
If you notice that your lawn is looking patchy, even after you have reseeded it, the problem may not be you. It is highly possible that local animals could be coming to snack on your grass seeds.
To dissuade them from doing this, you may wish to install a sprinkler system on your lawn. Alternatively, you could move some plant plugs from other areas of the garden into the patchy locations.
You could also consider adding compost or grass fertilizer to your lawn. This may help to incorporate more nutrients into the soil and can facilitate plant growth.
You may have chosen the wrong time of year to sow your grass seeds. The best results will be achieved if you sow the seeds between mid-August and mid-October or Mid-March to mid-May. These will give you median, stable temperatures in the best range to encourage grass growth.
There is also the chance that the seeds may be failing. Seed bags generally lose around 10% of their viability each year.
If your lawn is covered by a lot of shade, this could also be inhibiting the growth of your seeds. They require sunlight to photosynthesize and grow. When this sunlight is lacking, growth can be slowed or halted. Try planting seeds in a more open area, or try a shaded seed variety. Even with shaded seeds, you will likely need to “overseed” once each year to account for the natural seed loss that occurs in the shade.
