2022 Lawn Thread
Discussion
Yes here the ash trees were bare a month ago, the lime trees just about finished now and the sycamores just got a few leaves to go. The oaks have barely started to drop, though they did a massive mast year this year, enough to completely carpet the area under the crown. Had a big mast year last year as well, I could live without three in a row in 2023 as they're a bugger to clear off the lawn.
Is anybody else seeing blackening of their lawn as it thaws today?
Mine is showing widespread blackening - looks just like an overdose of ferrous sulphate, but I last applied 2 g/m² about 2 weeks ago, well before the cold snap.
Nobody has been walking on the lawn at all, apart from birds, cats and foxes.
I don’t remember having seen this effect before during a thaw.
Anyone else?
Mine is showing widespread blackening - looks just like an overdose of ferrous sulphate, but I last applied 2 g/m² about 2 weeks ago, well before the cold snap.
Nobody has been walking on the lawn at all, apart from birds, cats and foxes.
I don’t remember having seen this effect before during a thaw.
Anyone else?
Noticed a few bare patches and thought rather than chit seed in the boiler cupboard I'd pick up a few rolls of sods since the weather has gotten a bit milder now.
I called into a few garden centres including B&Q and they thought I was mad when I ask for sods.One comment "sure you don't put it down in Winter" and "we don't start selling it until May" which I too late. Now being the son of an ex head greenkeeper I'm pretty clued up on turf. RHS guidelines have always said the best time is when roots are developing from Mid Autumn to Late Winter. Not late spring and mid Summer which is when most of the sheds and garden centres start selling it.
From the RHS website.
I called into a few garden centres including B&Q and they thought I was mad when I ask for sods.One comment "sure you don't put it down in Winter" and "we don't start selling it until May" which I too late. Now being the son of an ex head greenkeeper I'm pretty clued up on turf. RHS guidelines have always said the best time is when roots are developing from Mid Autumn to Late Winter. Not late spring and mid Summer which is when most of the sheds and garden centres start selling it.
From the RHS website.
T5GRF said:
I’ve got a few bare area that need attention as usual at this time of year. I’d normally sow seed in March but is it worth chucking some down soon and giving it a sprinkling of compost on top to try and give it a head start assuming it warms up soon
I would say no.It’s not the air temperature that counts for seed germination, but the soil temperature. And soil temperature lags behind the air temperature. Therefore it’s not enough for it to get a bit warmer over a week or so; the soil temperature will still be too low, especially as we’ve just had a fairly sustained cold snap to really chill the ground thoroughly.
And let’s face it, although it’ll be a bit milder over the next few days than it has been in the last week or so, it’s still not exactly warm. Roughly speaking you need a soil temperature of around 10°C to get grass germination, and even in the south I’m seeing forecast temperatures barely nudging up to double figures and still pretty cold at night - therefore that’s not enough to drag the soil temperature up.
It’s way too early in my view.
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
T5GRF said:
I’ve got a few bare area that need attention as usual at this time of year. I’d normally sow seed in March but is it worth chucking some down soon and giving it a sprinkling of compost on top to try and give it a head start assuming it warms up soon
I would say no.It’s not the air temperature that counts for seed germination, but the soil temperature. And soil temperature lags behind the air temperature. Therefore it’s not enough for it to get a bit warmer over a week or so; the soil temperature will still be too low, especially as we’ve just had a fairly sustained cold snap to really chill the ground thoroughly.
And let’s face it, although it’ll be a bit milder over the next few days than it has been in the last week or so, it’s still not exactly warm. Roughly speaking you need a soil temperature of around 10°C to get grass germination, and even in the south I’m seeing forecast temperatures barely nudging up to double figures and still pretty cold at night - therefore that’s not enough to drag the soil temperature up.
It’s way too early in my view.
sutoka said:
Dr Mike Oxgreen said:
T5GRF said:
I’ve got a few bare area that need attention as usual at this time of year. I’d normally sow seed in March but is it worth chucking some down soon and giving it a sprinkling of compost on top to try and give it a head start assuming it warms up soon
I would say no.It’s not the air temperature that counts for seed germination, but the soil temperature. And soil temperature lags behind the air temperature. Therefore it’s not enough for it to get a bit warmer over a week or so; the soil temperature will still be too low, especially as we’ve just had a fairly sustained cold snap to really chill the ground thoroughly.
And let’s face it, although it’ll be a bit milder over the next few days than it has been in the last week or so, it’s still not exactly warm. Roughly speaking you need a soil temperature of around 10°C to get grass germination, and even in the south I’m seeing forecast temperatures barely nudging up to double figures and still pretty cold at night - therefore that’s not enough to drag the soil temperature up.
It’s way too early in my view.
I said:
It’s not the air temperature that counts for seed germination, but the soil temperature. And soil temperature lags behind the air temperature. Therefore it’s not enough for it to get a bit warmer over a week or so; the soil temperature will still be too low, especially as we’ve just had a fairly sustained cold snap to really chill the ground thoroughly.
Just to confirm my previous opinion, I went out to do a bit of tidying up in the garden today, removing dead leaves from Hellebores etc. It felt quite mild out there, but then I put my hand on the soil surface, which was bitterly cold. It chilled my fingers to the bone in moments.The chitting idea is a good one, but I still think it’s too early - I’d be waiting until March (southern England) and looking for a forecast period of mild weather.
I’m told that you can soak seed in a pair of ladies’ tights in a bucket of tepid water.
Even if you could get grass seeds to germinate, the frost will soon kill off any newly emerging shoots.
Wait until the ground is nice and warm and there's no risk of significant frost. Up here in Aberdeenshire the ground is still frozen hard just below the surface even after a week of very mild weather with February often the coldest snowiest month still to come. Even in the South of England I would be waiting until April at the earliest.
Wait until the ground is nice and warm and there's no risk of significant frost. Up here in Aberdeenshire the ground is still frozen hard just below the surface even after a week of very mild weather with February often the coldest snowiest month still to come. Even in the South of England I would be waiting until April at the earliest.
Snow and Rocks said:
Even if you could get grass seeds to germinate, the frost will soon kill off any newly emerging shoots.
Wait until the ground is nice and warm and there's no risk of significant frost. Up here in Aberdeenshire the ground is still frozen hard just below the surface even after a week of very mild weather with February often the coldest snowiest month still to come. Even in the South of England I would be waiting until April at the earliest.
It's all root development in Winter so if you can find anywhere selling sods of turf now and say early March is the key. It won't grow on top but it'll bed in wellWait until the ground is nice and warm and there's no risk of significant frost. Up here in Aberdeenshire the ground is still frozen hard just below the surface even after a week of very mild weather with February often the coldest snowiest month still to come. Even in the South of England I would be waiting until April at the earliest.
ShortBeardy said:
I f@@king hate moles
Ha. We where over at my brother in law's at the weekend and they have a hill roughly every 4-6ft over the entire front and back lawn. No idea what you can even do about them these days. Traps I guess?Shortly before lunch the loos started backing up, rods out and we seemed to be hitting a lot of soil to the point we where half worried we had left the pipe. Fortunately we got through that, into the good stuff, and had it all moving again shortly after, but not without many jokes about it must be a mole which got lost!
Are we having a 2023 lawn thread? Was out in the garden today clearing some flower beds, plenty of wild/unwanted grass growing in there and I was surprised how far along some bulbs and such like were. Managed to remove most of the weeds and went round with a good dose of Roundup to get rid of the smaller ones.
My lawn will need some repairs this year, it's very frustrating as half of it is grown on builders sand, and suffers terribly in the dry conditions, whereas the other half is on very heavy clay and will be fine all summer but then gets damaged over winter when the ground is wet. Doesn't help that side doesn't see much sun either. It's impossible to treat both parts the same, am even getting into growing different varieties of grass in each bit!
My lawn will need some repairs this year, it's very frustrating as half of it is grown on builders sand, and suffers terribly in the dry conditions, whereas the other half is on very heavy clay and will be fine all summer but then gets damaged over winter when the ground is wet. Doesn't help that side doesn't see much sun either. It's impossible to treat both parts the same, am even getting into growing different varieties of grass in each bit!
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