Tips:
- The ideal cutting height of an established residential lawn is about 20mm – 25mm.
- Lawns containing brown top can form thatch which requires dethatching on a regular basis. This can be problematic in a home lawn if the dethatching equipment is not available.
- Fescue grass seed is slow to germinate (7-20 days), sow late spring or early autumn while soils remain relatively warm (10-18°C).
- The playing area of a tennis court is 260 m2
Preparation:
Preparing a level lawn and good seed bed is the key to establishing a successful new lawn.
- Eliminate existing grass, weeds with a glyphosate weed killer, or by hand before starting to prepare the seed bed.
- Dig or cultivate the site to a depth of 20-25cm (8-10in).
- Rake and remove rubble, rocks, and roots etc.
- Work in any additional material like topsoil, well-rotted manure or other organic matter (especially on a sandy soil) to hold moisture into soil.
- It’s a good idea to apply some Lime at this stage, approximately 200g/square metre.
- After cultivation, leave to settle over several weeks or roll.
Sow:
- Remove any weeds that may have germinated between preparation and sowing.
- For the best lawn you will need to level out any humps or hollows that have appeared since cultivating. Tread or roll the area several times in different directions filling in dips and leveling out humps with rake between rolls.
- Once leveled and firmed, create a fine seed bed by raking several times in different directions.
- Mix correct quantity of seed and Yardlands lawn starter fertiliser into seed bed then roll or tread seed bed to remove air from seed be and maximise seed soil contact.
- If the weather remains dry for two or three days, water gently with a light sprinkler.
- If dry conditions persist, repeat watering as necessary while the seeds are germinating, and the young seedlings are becoming established.
Aftercare:
- Mow new lawn at about 5-7.5cm (2-3in) high, ensure the mower blades are sharp.
- Try not to overuse the new lawn during the first season.
- Feed new lawns with Yardlands Lawn Food three months after sowing.
- Weeds are usually killed when mowing begins, but the seedlings of perennial weeds are best weeded out by hand. Coarse grasses may appear in new lawns, these are best removed promptly by hand, as they can’t be killed by lawn weed killers.
- Weed killers should not be used on a new lawn earlier than six months after germination.