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Seeding Your Lawn, Laid Bare
 By
James Kilkelly
I’ve never laid carpet, tiles or lino but there is one floor I do know how to
lay and that is the carpeting for the outdoor room. I speak of course of the
most popular garden ground-cover the lawn.
Prepare before you sow
The best time to sow grass seed is between early April and early September,
however you must firstly carry out some preparation. Ideally sometime between
March and August you must “burn off” any unwanted growth. Achieve this by
spraying all weedy soil areas on a dry day with a herbicide containing the
active ingredient Glyphosate. Apply according to the manufacturers instructions
and heed safety warnings.
Grading the site
A minimum of 1 month must elapse before you start to grade or level the site,
this will allow the spray to reach the roots of weeds such as docks and
dandelions. Ensure nothing but light rainfall occurs when you are carrying out
soil movement and grading whether it be by hand or machine. This will prevent
creating a pan in the soil (a layer of smeared soil or subsoil that water cannot
drain through). You must grade the site to an acceptable level without bringing
subsoil to the surface; subsoil on the surface has ruined many the new lawns by
causing hungry looking brown patches. When grading your soil remove any half
buried timber and old tree roots as they will lead to toad stools in the
established lawn. Also remove any concrete blocks and large stones; basically
remove any debris bigger than your fist.
Fallow before final cultivation
Leave the graded site to settle and regrow any dormant weeds for at least a
month then spray the weed growth again with a Glyphosate based herbicide. For
the final cultivation give the soil a shallow rotovate or lightly dig it over
with a garden fork whilst breaking clods with the back of the fork. Rake to an
acceptable level whilst removing all surface debris down to the size of a 1 euro
coin including weed stems and roots. The soil should have a nice fine tilth like
the texture of cake crumbs; it should not be fine like powder as this will
prevent seed germination.
Seed sowing secrets
The ideal situation would be to sow the seed before you get the next heavy
shower of rain as at that stage you will begin to loose the soil tilth. You will
need approx 40 to 50g of seed per square metre, which can be broadcast by hand
or use a wheeled spreader Divide the seed into 2 lots and spread half the seed
whilst walking up and down, with the other half being spread whilst walking left
and right across the lawn When spreading any seed avoid spreading onto drives,
patios and beds. Lightly rake the seed into the soil with a sprung rake, do not
drive it in or bury it. Follow this by lightly rolling the area with a
half-filled water roller; the idea is to get firm seed and soil contact to
ensure germination. Have some extra soil and seed to hand as a hollow or two may
show up when rolling, you can then top up the soil and give it a shake of seed.
Depending on the weather conditions your seedlings will begin to appear within 2
to 3 weeks.
James Kilkelly runs a professional garden design service in Galway, Ireland.
He has a regular gardening column in a Irish regional newspaper. Visit his
website at
http://www.gardenplansireland.com/
He also regularly posts his expert advice on the gardening forums at
http://www.gardenstew.com/
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Seeding Your Lawn, Laid Bare
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