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Sowing Grass Seed
Hi,
If the weather is ok, I'm thinking of seeding part of the front garden, which is currently a square of mud, with grass seed. Some of the garden will be a bed planted with mainly green and white flowers that I'm growing from seed at the moment.
My plan is to weed the lot, rake out the big stones and after to put up some sort of bamboo stick and string 'thing' to stop the pigeons eating all of the seed!
Does anyone else have any top tips? I can't really afford turf at the moment so don't suggest laying that!!
Thank you!
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Hi Polly!
You'll get good results from a seeded lawn if you prepare the area right, sow at the right time (autumn or mid spring), keep the area watered, and are prepared to be patient! You'll have seen videos, no doubt, of people doing the "penguin walk" (weight on your heels) to consolidate your weeded soil, to make sure there are no air pockets which will make your lawn uneven. It's worth leaving the weeded area for a little while to settle before consolidating and raking, maybe raking several times in different directions and removing stones. Raking in a general fertiliser around a fortnight before you sow can be helpful.
When you're satisfied it's ready, work out the area and buy the appropriate amount of lawn seed, of the type you want (for hardwearing, shady or ornamental lawns). You can use string or canes to mark out square metres, and at least to start with, weigh out the seed needed for a metre or two so you know what it looks like. If you sprinkle your seed over the square half in one direction, then half at right angles to it, you'll get a more even result. Don't worry if it doesn't look very even. Lightly rake it in. Keep the area moist - a hose and sprinkler is the best way. And yes, protecting it from birds is a really good idea; I used a "tent" arrangement with bamboo canes and a strawberry net.
Good luck!
When seeding new lawns, I find cultivating the soil down to about 20cm, removing any debris, levelling it with a plank tied to a rope, then compacting the soil (but making sure it's not too compact!), then levelling again, before raking the surface in perpendicular directions works well
Then sprinkle the seed on and gently rake into the soil with a garden rake (not a spring tine rake!) to shift the grass seed into the soil. Then I add a thin layer of loam or good-quality, stone-free topsoil over the top to prevent the seeds from being baked by the sun or eaten by pidgeons. Pidgeons are somewhat dubious about shiney objects and tin foil strapped to a bamboo cane may help.
Birds will still eat some of the seeds and some will not germinate, so over-seeding may be worth considering.
Also, a hosepipe with a fine or mist spray or watering can with a fine rosette to keep the seeds watered but not flushed away is essential. Happy lawn sowing
Great - thank you both for your advice. No scrimping on the prep then! It's quite clay-ish soil and did tend to be quite mossy when it was previously a lawn, so digging is going to be fun!
Liriodendron
I'd leave it a week or two to settle if possible, after preparing it - and by then it might be warmer (and hopefully wetter too!).