Roll out grass in December. good idea or bad?

ms34

hi,
So ive been slowly doing my garden up since September and ive taken out the grass area as it nearly all weeds. now im thinking ill get some roll out grass but im worried it's too late in the year. I assume frost is bad for it so am i mad to do this or should I just get something to cover the area and do it in February/March. its about 40 square yards. thanks

magicbastarder

are you even able to get roll out grass at the moment?

ms34

yeah. a place in tallaght said they have it year round

standardg60

It's no problem at all as long as the ground is not frozen, work away.

BrokenArrows

ms34 wrote: »

hi,
So ive been slowly doing my garden up since September and ive taken out the grass area as it nearly all weeds. now im thinking ill get some roll out grass but im worried it's too late in the year. I assume frost is bad for it so am i mad to do this or should I just get something to cover the area and do it in February/March. its about 40 square yards. thanks

You will have a much higher chance of failure but if you really want a garden for the winter then go ahead.

If you get a heavy frost or snow in the next month its going to die.

ms34

BrokenArrows wrote: »

You will have a much higher chance of failure but if you really want a garden for the winter then go ahead.

If you get a heavy frost or snow in the next month its going to die.

Thanks, that is my worry. I'll hold off till spring I think.

standardg60

BrokenArrows wrote: »

You will have a much higher chance of failure but if you really want a garden for the winter then go ahead.

If you get a heavy frost or snow in the next month its going to die.

Do what you want OP but this opinion is completely incorrect, which is not surprising given the poster has only ever asked questions in this forum.

Turf will root in after a week or so, after that it's like any other lawn.

Hoof Hearted2

There is a reason why grass is one of the most prolific plants on the planet, it's because it is extremely resilient and adaptable.
I've laid grass turf in winter in Ireland on numerous occasions and have never experienced any problems.

Lumen

There might be a bit of confusion between sowing and laying.

You don't sow in winter because the soil temperatures are too low for germination.

Laying turf is a transplant operation, and plants are usually transplanted outside of summer because the root disruption makes them more vulnerable to water stress when the water demand (from transpiration and growth) is highest.

Relatedly, if new turf dries out it shrinks, opening up gaps which again disrupt bridging of the roots to the soil underneath. Again, that's a summer problem.

magicbastarder

standardg60 wrote: »

Turf will root in after a week or so, after that it's like any other lawn.

i assume it'd need reasonable temperatures to do so?
i remember a very animated argument here about what temps grass starts growing at again, but don't want to resurrect that controversy!

Lumen

magicbastarder wrote: »

i assume it'd need reasonable temperatures to do so?
i remember a very animated argument here about what temps grass starts growing at again, but don't want to resurrect that controversy!

Aint no fight like a gardening forum fight!

https://thelawnman.co.uk/soil-temperature-grass-growth/

...shows root growth down to 1C soil temperature. Where I am I doubt soil temperature a few inches down ever gets that low.

standardg60

Lumen wrote: »

Aint no fight like a gardening forum fight!

https://thelawnman.co.uk/soil-temperature-grass-growth/

...shows root growth down to 1C soil temperature. Where I am I doubt soil temperature a few inches down ever gets that low.

Lumen you beat me to it. Yes root growth occurs at lower temperatures than leaf growth.

ms34

ah lads yiz have me conflicted. I don't need grass till April really but the garden looks crap with no grass. what to do, what to do?

Markcheese

ms34 wrote: »

ah lads yiz have me conflicted. I don't need grass till April really but the garden looks crap with no grass. what to do, what to do?

What's the ground like at the moment.. Dry enough to walk on or mush? If it's mush leave it till spring,you don't want to be working, or even working on wet soil.
Yes the roots will grow at the moment, but not much...
Just my 2 cent...