10 simple steps to establishing your new lawn
This time of year is perfect for sowing a new lawn. The weather usually provides gardens with adequate warmth and moisture needed for grass seed to germinate.
Sowing your lawn need not be a complicated task. Start by planning how you are going to complete the task. A typical plan would be:
1. Work out the area of lawn to sow. Choose a size, shape, and mark out the precise location in your garden with string.
2. Decide how you are going to use your new lawn area – will it be used for sport by children, or walked on occasionally for tea and cakes?
3. Begin cultivation work. This can be done using a rotavator (both push along and tractor pulled), or by hand. This is the stage you need to decide whether or not to add topsoil, or preseeding fertilizer. Level the lawn at this stage – can be done by rake, or using a grader blade on a machine.
4. If you choose to add fertilizer, fork this into the soil. Growmore is the best chemical fertilizer to use. If you prefer organic fertilizer, use Fish, Blood and Bone. Fertilizer and seed can be applied using a hand held seeder.
5. Next, you need to choose which seed to use. Use our guide, or the lawn wizard to help choose the best mixture.
6. Calculate how much seed you need to cover your new lawn, using the lawn seed calculator.
7. Sow your lawn seed by hand, or using a hand held or drop seeder. For more information, see our guide on how to sow lawn seed.
8. Roll the seedbed firmly, and then fence off the area to keep people and animals off the seedbed.
9. If the weather is dry, you can consider irrigating the area. See or “To water or not to water guide”.
10. Allow the lawn to grow to around 7-8cm (3″) tall, before the first cut. For autumn sowings though, it is sometimes best to wait until the spring.
If you would like any further information, browse our FAQs, alternatively, you can contact us for more advice.