New Lawn Advice

Pedanticness

Hi,
I'm in the process of buying a new house, I'll be getting the keys in Winter (Dec/Jan).
I want to get a head start on the lawn, would anyone have any advice with regards over seeding. Or best times to feed / seed given the limited growth that time of year.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Water John

It will be March/April before you would scatter seed. If the grass is poor and has moss and rubbish in it, Cut it tight and then scarify it. That takes out all the debris and if you scarify twice will bring up enough soil for seed to take. Scatter seed and light rake and roll or pack down.

Could you get to doing it now?

Pedanticness

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately still a building site. Just like to forward plan.

Water John

If its a smallish lawn, watch out for a hand scarifier in Aldi or Lidl in the spring. Does the job fine, but you'll certainly work up a sweat.

We also got an electric lawnmower for the daughter's lawn, it even mulches, grand and powerful for just over €100, Homebase, I think.
Mulching really improves a lawn, over time.

Lumen

Pedanticness wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately still a building site. Just like to forward plan.

Oh, a new house.

Unless things have changed, and assuming this isn't a one-off, the builder will level and seed the lawn before handing it over.

Underneath the topsoil will be a very large amount of rubble and assorted building junk which may cause issues with drainage.

If you want to do anything now, try and persuade the builder to dispose of the junk properly, i.e. in a skip, and good luck with that. :mad:

Pedanticness

Hi @Lumen , thanks for that. My sister encountered the problems you mentioned. 
As I don't expect the builders to do the best job in the world with the lawn I am considering turning and mixing in fresh top soil when I take possession and re-seeding myself. Having witnessed how her's as turned out I think it would be worth the extra work.
But I'm quite green to this hence seeking any advice or pointers from more seasoned gardener.

Lumen

Pedanticness wrote: »

Hi @Lumen , thanks for that. My sister encountered the problems you mentioned. 
As I don't expect the builders to do the best job in the world with the lawn I am considering turning and mixing in fresh top soil when I take possession and re-seeding myself. Having witnessed how her's as turned out I think it would be worth the extra work.
But I'm quite green to this hence seeking any advice or pointers from more seasoned gardener.

The frustrating thing is that the rubble is relatively quick and easy to remove at the end of construction, and really slow to remove once it's covered in topsoil and grass, but the "ah just cover it up" mentality is so embedded that I've even had landscape gardeners proposing the same thing.

There is a theory that rubble is fine under the topsoil and even helps with the drainage (the various bits of plastic waste not so much), but this is not my experience. Every winter our lawn turned into a bog.

I can't say for sure what the cause was. Maybe it was compacted topsoil from machinery going over it. It's difficult to justify ripping it all up to investigate once the grass has been sown.

Anyway, if you do nothing else, plant a few trees if you have space! Not too close to the house or boundaries, and if you're growing screening plants consider things other than the fastest growing, as they are often not the most pretty after a few years....