Setting Grass

Tmurf

Weather looking savage for the next few days.
Planning on setting grass.
Is it too warm for it, or just work away

looksee

I think you would be making a lot of work for yourself sowing grass in a heatwave. When the weather goes showery again would be better, the soil will be warm and the grass should sprout with great enthusiasm.

redser7

The big problem will be the lack of rain so be prepared to use the hose each evening or if it stays like today, maybe twice a day. You just need a light sprinkling once the sun is gone, not so strong that it would wash the seed around.
Maybe wait a few days and see if rain is forecast? That's why late spring and autumn are best, nice temps but wet enough too.

redser7

looksee wrote: »

I think you would be making a lot of work for yourself sowing grass in a heatwave. When the weather goes showery again would be better, the soil will be warm and the grass should sprout with great enthusiasm.

Snap!

lazybones32

Tmurf wrote: »

Weather looking savage for the next few days.
Planning on setting grass.
Is it too warm for it, or just work away

Yes, you can sow. Seed has everything it needs to become a plant so you don't need to water it daily. This is Ireland - rain is never far away. Even if it is, give a shower as soon as you see the grass emerging but it will surely have rained by then.

Grass is natures most resilient plant, so you don't need to mollycoddle it.

redser7

lazybones32 wrote: »

Yes, you can sow. Seed has everything it needs to become a plant so you don't need to water it daily. This is Ireland - rain is never far away. Even if it is, give a shower as soon as you see the grass emerging but it will surely have rained by then.

Grass is natures most resilient plant, so you don't need to mollycoddle it.

Sure, sow away in a dry spell. Watch your seed bake, blow away, get eaten by birds. You'll be back in no time complaining that germination was patchy and your lawn is full of weeds. Either wait or be prepared to use a hose/sprinkler.
A seed has everything it needs to become a plant? Hmm, everything except water, light and the right temperature. You have to provide the right conditions! That's why it's possible to sell seed in a sack or a box. It's dark and dry!!

lazybones32

redser7 wrote: »

Sure, sow away in a dry spell. Watch your seed bake, blow away, get eaten by birds. You'll be back in no time complaining that germination was patchy and your lawn is full of weeds. Either wait or be prepared to use a hose/sprinkler.
A seed has everything it needs to become a plant? Hmm, everything except water, light and the right temperature. You have to provide the right conditions! That's why it's possible to sell seed in a sack or a box. It's dark and dry!!

Seed in contact with the soil will not blow away and birds will not feed on grass seed as a first choice. Unless you recommend raking a fine tilth on wet/moist soil, dry conditions are best.
There is still moisture in the soil (don't forget dew overnight) and -as I wrote- when the seedling emerges, water it well.
Yes, a seed has everything contained within it to become a plant. How do you think plants colonised the Earth? Did amoeba and trilobites understand good husbandry?
I have grown grass in trays without watering and it got to about 2" before wilting. Bone dry compost...

redser7

You can't make assumptions. Like Birds will have alternative easy source of food and ignore the seed. Or Seed will be pressed onto the soil, either by foot or roller.
Plants colonised the earth because the conditions were right! Why is it that life does not exist on the moon or mars? Because conditions do not allow it.
As for husbandry, if mankind disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, what do you think would end up growing in Tmurf's garden? It wouldn't be a nice lawn!
Two very different approaches OP. let your common sense decide and good luck.

lazybones32

redser7 wrote: »

You can't make assumptions. Like Birds will have alternative easy source of food and ignore the seed. Or Seed will be pressed onto the soil, either by foot or roller.
Plants colonised the earth because the conditions were right! Why is it that life does not exist on the moon or mars? Because conditions do not allow it.
As for husbandry, if mankind disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow, what do you think would end up growing in Tmurf's garden? It wouldn't be a nice lawn!
Two very different approaches OP. let your common sense decide and good luck.

I speak from years of experience and hundreds of lawns and greens sown.

redser7

So you are an expert. I doubt Tmurf is.
There's no assessment of the site and soil or type of grass seed used. This is clearly an amateur looking to get a nice lawn and looking for general advice. I think my advise is appropriate in the circumstances.

Norfolk Enchants_

Redser to be fair grass is the easiest of all plants to grow, growing it well and having a manicured lawn is a different matter to just setting a lawn and does require alot of human manual imput, there's a reason why grass is one of the most succesfull plants on our planet and I don't think it's down human intervention.
As a peculiar and extreme example, if one were to stop traffic travelling on the road outside your house, in about 2 years time it would be covered in grass. That's how tough and resilient grass is.

redser7

But the OP doesn't want a sporadic mix of grass and weeds. This is nurture, not nature, make no mistake. That's what gardening is, most of the time; controlling growth by manipulating conditions.
In 2 years time your road will not be covered in grass. It will be covered in a mix of all sorts of plants; weeds and grass. Perhaps tree saplings, lichen and moss. It will not look like a lawn.

redser7

If you pay attention to this site you will see there is a constant stream of posts calling for lawn HELP!! Because the OP's planned lawn has turned out rubbish or their current lawn looks like rubbish. Why? Conditions.
Anybody can chuck grass seed on the ground and grow grass. But there is more to creating a lawn and I'm not talking bowling green grade.

Norfolk Enchants_

A good lawn is incredibly simple to achieve, but and here's the main crux of the matter, it takes a little bit of care and attention over an extended period of time, the problem lies with people not having the patience and/or stamina to see it through and then inevitably complain and give out about how difficult it is.
Anyway the OP wanted to know about sowing grass from seed, which is the easiest thing to achieve, all you have to do is throw it on the ground and it will germinate. The quality of the lawn you are after is determined by the amount of preparation you do beforehand and the aftercare you are willing to put in once it has germinated.

magicbastarder

i think it's still obvious advice to wait for optimum conditions for grass growth - wait till it's warm and damp to give it the best chance and reduce the amount of work you have to do.

Tmurf

Thanks for the replys
I didn't think such a discussion would grow from it.
Anyways didn't plant yet - got held up picking stones on it, Its more or less ready now,
Going to wait till next week to sow ....set it before the dry spell brakes