The planting of a new lawn

In Europe the best time for planting a new lawn or the planting of extra grass in an existing lawn is from May until June. If there is very little rain in the spring, July might be the best time to plant.

The planting of a new lawn

The area where you would want to plant your new lawn should be delved to a depth of about 10–15 cm. You can now level the soil with a ground rolling mill.

Now you have two possibilities:

a) Sowing the grass seeds

First, you need to measure the surface of the area where you want to sow. Then calculate how much seed you will need. Keep in mind that you will need 25 g of seeds for each 1 m2. Additionally, you need extra 25 g for eac 10 m2. Furthermore, see that your seeds are fresh when buying them as grass seed looses its germination strength rapidly. (The germination strength of a two-year old seed is lower than 50%). Please also pay attention to how the seed is stored in the shop (if the seed is wet, or some of the seeds have already germinated, it is better not to buy the seeds – thus you can prevent unnecessary disappointments). The price of grass seed varies from 3 € /kilograms (dependent on the type).

Choose your seeds on the basis of the desired use of your lawn (are you going to walk on it only, run on it, use it for exercise, or use it for animals). Serious sellers will have informative flyers with information to help you with your choice of seed amongst the enormous choice of seeds. Reliable stores will offer these flyers to their buyers on request. Never buy seeds without purpose information.

Keep the seed in a cold, dry place, after you have bought it. We strongly recommend that you do not keep seed longer than one year as it rapidly loses germination strength. Sow in May or Juni. Before sowing, use a rake and make 1 cm deep grooves in the ground. After sowing, roll the surface (with a ground rolling mill for example) and spray it well. The seed will start to sprout within 14 days. When the grass is around 10 cm high, it should be mowed for the first time. If you find bald spots on your lawn now, you can sow extra seeds on these areas. It you would like a nice and thick grass carpet, you would have to mow once to twice every two weeks until September.

b) Use grass tiles for your lawn This is a faster, but more expensive way. It is in any case more advantageous because most companies selling grass tiles, includes the lay thereof, in the price. The prices for these grass tiles, including the work, varies from around 5 €/m2 (depending on the type)

2. The maintenance of an old lawn Rake the whole lawn from dry leaves and grass every springtime (depending on the weather circumstances in Europe during March to May). Then sow extra seeds if necessary. The lawn might be “picked up” by frost during the winter and it is thus best to roll it in springtime.

The maintenance of your lawn is promoted by good airing of the ground. For this, you can make a simple tool yourself. Take one 2–3 cm thick piece of wooden plank, nail 10 cm long nails in it so that it comes out on the other end. Take care that the nails are 2–3 cm apart. Put a wooden handle to the plank (the length being as tall as you are in order for you to handle it well).

Now take the plank and put it on the lawn (after mowing) and stand firmly on the plank. Now pull it out and repeat this to cover your whole lawn. You can also use a rake. If you want to water your lawn, you can do this after airing the lawn. The water will now reach the roots easily.

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Friday 5th November 2010 19:40 | print | Lawn