How to make grass grow

Temperatures need to be right

The best time to grow grass in the UK is from mid-March until September. This timeframe is known as the seeding season, when temperatures are consistently between 8-10 degrees Celsius. You will want these temperatures day and night for at least two weeks. This will give your newly sown grass seed the warmth it needs to germinate and grow.

Although spring and autumn are considered the best times to sow seed, some parts of the UK may still achieve temperatures of 8-10 degrees well into October and even November. As always, consult your weather forecast and make sure no frost or snow is pending!

Water your soil adequately before sowing in warmer weather to ensure your seedlings don’t dry out. And if a heatwave is forecast, wait until temperatures return to normal again before getting your gardening gloves on.

During the colder seasons, be wary of unexpectedly cold weather snaps in November and early spring. This is because the freezing cold weather will stunt the growth of your seedlings!

Choose the right grass seed

Knowing what grass seed to pick is another vital step in getting your lawn growing as well as it can be. We put a lot of time, effort and expertise into selecting the seed used in our grass seed mixes to ensure we have solutions to make grass grow well in every garden - regardless of soil type, footfall or the amount of sunlight it receives.

SUPERSTAR: Backlawn

SUPERSTAR: Backlawn is ideal for back gardens that receive a lot of footfall throughout the year. This seed mix features an expert blend of 80% perennial ryegrass and 20% fine-leafed fescue seeds to provide a durable, hard-wearing, fast-growing lawn.

Our FAMILY: Kids and Pets seed mix also features a blend of 80% perennial ryegrass and 20% fine-leafed fescue. Like SUPERSTAR, it ensures your garden lawn stays lush, green and beautiful -  even if it gets continual wear and tear from the entire family, including kids or pets.

STATEMENT: Front Lawn

This grass seed mix is made using 100% fescue seeds that give you the ultimate luxurious garden lawn that can be closely mowed to achieve those standout statement stripes. This seed mix is ideal for homeowners who want the best-looking lawn in the area: one that resembles a bowling green or the finest garden lawn found on the grounds of an English stately home.

This seed is for ornamental use and is not intended for a garden that often has people walking over it!

IMPRESS: Clay Master

Our IMPRESS: Clay Master seed mix includes tall fescues and perennial ryegrass seed types. This blend offers a beneficial balance of deep-rooting seeds that penetrate clay soils and fast-growing seeds that offer all-season durability. In addition, this seed mix is tolerant against dry weather and drought conditions!

You can combine IMPRESS: Clay Master with our STEADFAST: Shade seed mixes if areas of your garden are covered in shade throughout the day.

THRIVE: Sandy Soils

THRIVE: Sandy Soils contains 100% fescue seed and is your answer to finding grass seed that grows thick and luscious in sandy soil. This seed mix rejuvenates your lawn and gives you the vibrant green grass you’ve dreamed of, where most other grass seed types would struggle.

RESTORE: Self-Repair Lawn Seed

We wanted to offer a self-sufficient grass seed mix to eliminate the need for overseeding to keep your garden looking its best – and our solution is our RESTORE: Self-Repair Lawn Seed. This seed mix includes Zurich seed, a revolutionary creeping perennial ryegrass that is durable and hard-wearing, covers up damaged areas of your lawn, and thickens up on its own.

STEADFAST: Shade / STEADFAST: Ultra Shade

Our STEADFAST range is ideal for shaded garden areas - where large trees, hedges and fences or walls limit the amount of sunlight getting to your grass.

There are two options in our shade-tolerant grass seed range:

• STEADFAST: Shade is suited to partially shaded areas of your lawn. When the shade moves across your grass throughout the day. This shade-specific mix contains 20% perennial ryegrass to ensure durability, and 70% of the mix is fescues (a blend of Strong Creeping Red Fescue, Chewings Fescue, and Hard Fescue) for lushness. The remaining 10% comprises Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass, providing the shade tolerance that your lawn needs.
• STEADFAST: Ultra Shade, on the other hand, is the ultimate solution for garden lawns with permanent shade all day long. Poa Supina grass seed is the special addition to this seed mix that grows exceptionally well in little to no light conditions caused by large overhanging trees, dense hedgerows and tall walls and fences.

Prep work to prepare the seedbed before sowing

Once you have a good idea of the coming weather in your area and the seeds that suit your garden and its soil type, you are ready to begin the prep work.

Remove weeds and moss

Start by removing weeds and moss from the soil. If there are only a small number of weeds, then you can remove them by hand or using a trowel – and be sure to remove them at the roots. Alternatively, you could use a selective weed-killer spray to tackle specific weeds. Moss can be removed by mowing and raking. However, if you have a lot of weeds in your garden, then a Feed, Weed & Mosskiller is the best option. This will eliminate the weeds and moss while also feeding your soil nutrients.

Level the seedbed

A level seedbed ensures your grass grows evenly, helps avoid flooding puddles when it rains and makes it easier to mow your lawn. You can level your seedbed using a garden rake to break up the earth and even everything out. But if you find your soil too clumpy to level with a rake, use a rotavator to break up the soil. This will make the soil fine and crumbly, making raking and levelling much more straightforward.

Sowing your grass seed

When sowing grass seed on a new lawn, we recommend sowing the seed at 50g per m2. However, if you are overseeding an existing lawn, it’s best to plant the seed at 35g per m2. Either way, you don’t want your seeds too close or far apart, which will cause patchiness.

A good rule to follow when sowing the seed is to sow the seed to a soil depth around the thickness of three £1 coins stacked on top of each other.

Watering your seed after sowing the seed

Now you have your seed sown into the soil, the next step is to water your seed. You will then need to water it daily for the first six weeks so it can germinate and grow properly. Then, on days when it rains outside (likely to happen in the UK), you can let nature do the work for you. When your lawn is fully established, you can water it less frequently. A good rule for this is to water your lawn once a week and add one inch of water across the surface each time.

When should you mow your lawn?

Don’t be too quick to get the mower out! Even though it may be tempting once you see grass growing across the surface of your garden. And be sure to wait until your grass is 7cm tall before you mow it for the first time.

When it’s time to mow, refrain from cutting your grass too short. Instead, we recommend only adjusting your mower height by a third of its total height for each cut. This will keep your grass growing strong and healthy!

Our video below explains how to mow your lawn correctly. This will help your grass grow as thick and as lush as it can be!

Fertilise your lawn to help your grass grow

The first season of a new lawn, when it looks lusciously and vibrantly green, can be mesmerising – and everyone wants their grass to always look that good. The key to achieving this is feeding your lawn with fertiliser; a regular feeding routine is also a good idea. However, it would be best to wait 6 – 8 weeks before applying fertiliser to a newly sown lawn.

Our Quick Release: Spring / Summer fertiliser or our Slow Release: Spring / Summer fertiliser are both ideal for use once your lawn is 6 – 8 weeks old. However, we would recommend using the slow release to help feed your lawn over a more extended period. Avoid applying a Feed, Weed and Moss Killer product until your grass is at least six months old – you can find out more about weed control in a newly seeded lawn guide. 

Another tip is to mow your lawn before applying fertiliser. This will help you see where you are spreading the product. You also need to water the fertiliser to ensure it’s fully dissolved, as it will scorch the grass blades otherwise.

Now you know how to make grass grow, but if you have any questions that might be specific to your lawn, please get in touch, and we will be happy to help.