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Aftercare of new lawn from seed

richardNIrichardNI Posts: 17
in Problem solving
Hey everyone. I recently moved into a new build home and over the past few days there has been people here rotavating, removing stones and sowing grass seed. The grass seed has been sown for a couple of days now and I have been keeping up with the watering. I was hoping for some guidance with aftercare now to ensure that I get the best lawn possible going forward. It would be amazing if I could get a timeline of what I should be doing and when for the rest of this season. There’s so much information out there and I would really appreciate a plan of what I should be doing and the timing of the various steps. There’s mixed reports about fertiliser. Some say use a starter fertiliser and some say there’s no need. Then I’m unclear about when or if I should use fertiliser as the grass germinates and starts to grow. I really appreciate any help at all as this is the first time I’ve owned a home and I’m a complete novice when it comes to gardening. Everyone seems really knowledgeable on here from the other posts I’ve read. Thanks so much guys!! 
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Leave it apart from watering. If the seed is germinating well, water and warmth are all it needs just now  :)
    Unless the ground wasn't properly prepped, it shouldn't need any food for a long time. 
    Once it gets to good length - about 3 to 4 inches, you can cut it, but keep the blades high. The best method for getting grass to look good is regular cutting, but only taking a small amount off. That encourages 'tillering' which just means growing sideways. 
    By the end of summer, it should be looking pretty good. 

    Try and keep off it too, until it needs a cut  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Can I just suggest you carefully walk over it , or lay scaffold board on it and walk over it a week or so  before you cut it. This enduces the tillering @Fairygirl mentions. Otherwise you can be left with a "stalk" after it's cut .
    Devon.
  • richardNIrichardNI Posts: 17
    Fairygirl said:
    Leave it apart from watering. If the seed is germinating well, water and warmth are all it needs just now  :)
    Unless the ground wasn't properly prepped, it shouldn't need any food for a long time. 
    Once it gets to good length - about 3 to 4 inches, you can cut it, but keep the blades high. The best method for getting grass to look good is regular cutting, but only taking a small amount off. That encourages 'tillering' which just means growing sideways. 
    By the end of summer, it should be looking pretty good. 

    Try and keep off it too, until it needs a cut  :)
    @Fairygirl Thanks so much for the advice. I’ll be sure to keep of it and keep up with the watering and now I know what tillering is 😀 they did a good job prepping from what I can see. They sprayed the weeds over a month ago too so that should help. If I had a decent garden by the end of summer I’d be buzzing! Now to try and keep the dogs off it!! 

    With regards to any treatments like fertiliser would you recommend leaving it alone for the rest of this year and think about introducing something next year? 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    edited May 2020
    I'd not add fertiliser for the at least 6 months by which time it'll be winter so no need until next Spring IMHO
    Devon.
  • richardNIrichardNI Posts: 17
    Hostafan1 said:
    Can I just suggest you carefully walk over it , or lay scaffold board on it and walk over it a week or so  before you cut it. This enduces the tillering @Fairygirl mentions. Otherwise you can be left with a "stalk" after it's cut .
    Thank you @Hostafan1 I had watched a few videos and they had mentioned about potentially rolling it before the first cut. 

    I actually don’t even have a lawnmower yet and I’d love to have stripes down the line. I was thinking about getting a lawnmower with a roller. Perhaps I could use use the roller on the mower to roll it before the first cut. I had my eye on a cobra mower with a roller but open to other suggestions of a quality mower. At least the blades with be sharp 😀
  • richardNIrichardNI Posts: 17
    Hostafan1 said:
    I'd not add fertiliser for the at least 6 months by which time it'll be winter so no need until next Spring IMHO
    @Hostafan1 that sounds great especially for a novice like myself! I’ll just keep up with the watering and maybe pull a few weeds once I can walk on it 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd agree with @Hostafan1 re the feed thing.
    He's also right about the planks - but take into account the nature of the soil and how it's all looking. If you can post some photos, that will help, and you can do that later when you're at the cutting stage  :)

    One of my neighbours went mad with feeding, after seeding a lawn. I said to him to just water it, but he didn't. The whole thing was a disaster and he had to start again. He didn't give it a chance to settle in properly at all. Didn't prep the ground well enough either and we're on clay. It looked awful.  :/  

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    IMHO it's the only time a garden roller is useful: inducing tillering on new lawns
    Devon.
  • richardNIrichardNI Posts: 17
    Fairygirl said:
    I'd agree with @Hostafan1 re the feed thing.
    He's also right about the planks - but take into account the nature of the soil and how it's all looking. If you can post some photos, that will help, and you can do that later when you're at the cutting stage  :)

    One of my neighbours went mad with feeding, after seeding a lawn. I said to him to just water it, but he didn't. The whole thing was a disaster and he had to start again. He didn't give it a chance to settle in properly at all. Didn't prep the ground well enough either and we're on clay. It looked awful.  :/  

    @Fairygirl thank you. I’m so pleased you said about the fertiliser. The places if seen mentioning using it at the start are all trying to sell something so I suppose it’s understandable!! 😂 I can definitely post some photos. There’s only finishing the last part of the back garden as we speak so it’s got me excited! I’ll make sure I do the opposite of what your neighbour did! There’s 13 houses in my development who’ve had their gardens done at the same time so I’ll follow all these steps and hopefully I’ll have the best one! 😀 I’ll have a month at least now to look out for a quality mower to get me off to a good start! 
  • richardNIrichardNI Posts: 17
    Hostafan1 said:
    IMHO it's the only time a garden roller is useful: inducing tillering on new lawns
    @Hostafan1 thanks for the input. I’ll give it a bit of a roll before any cutting is done. Really appreciate the advice. I’m so pleased I posted on here to get some advice from the experts! 
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