Keen gardeners are being urged to overseed their lawn to guarantee healthy grass for the upcoming season – and a gardening expert has shared a step-by-step guide
As spring beckons, gardening enthusiasts are being encouraged to get their hands dirty and overseed their lawns for a lush green canvas in the coming months.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has reported that lawn seeds thrive best in the springtime, thanks to the moist conditions and warming soil temperatures. The RHS’s gardening gurus have pointed out that sowing seeds can be a more cost-effective option than laying turf, and with the right approach, it can yield equally stunning results.
Gardening whizz Michael Griffiths has come to the rescue with his easy-to-follow guide on how to sow seeds perfectly in March or April. On TikTok, where he goes by @themediterraneangardener, the lawn aficionado advises: “Before you start, you ideally want to scarify and aerate your lawn, but as a minimum you want to mow it.”
READ MORE: ‘I tried Treatwell and booking a beauty treatment has never been easier’
Boston Seeds backs up the importance of scarifying, highlighting its role in removing layers of thatch and moss, which paves the way for robust grass seed growth. In a trending TikTok clip, Michael demonstrates this using a rake, followed by aerating the ground with a garden fork.
Aeration is crucial as it creates holes in the earth, allowing air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the soil. Michael points out that trimming the grass helps highlight areas that need extra seeding.
This process also tends to expose perennial weeds, which often lurk among the blades of grass. “You want to get them up now and fill the holes that are left behind,” Michael warns, ensuring a weed-free, even lawn.
Michael, a gardening expert, shared his top tips for achieving the perfect lawn, starting with filling any holes with earth and moistening the soil in areas that need overseeding.
He then advised applying grass fertiliser to promote strong growth, adding: “You can plant grass seed immediately after applying the fertiliser, just make sure there is no weed or moss killer in it, as this will also prevent the grass seed from germinating.”
When selecting the ideal grass seed, Micheal recommends choosing one that suits your garden’s conditions. For general-purpose lawns with regular foot traffic, children, and pets, the RHS suggests a mix of perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, red fescues, and browntop.
For those with luxury or fine lawns, which are less robust and have fine-leaved turf grasses, the RHS advises using a blend of Chewing’s fescue, strong and slender creeping red fescue, and browntop. In shady areas, the RHS recommends hard fescue, strong and slender creeping red fescue, and browntop.
Micheal added: “Shake the box and spread the seed, a light covering is fine. You should still be able to see the soil through the seeds.”
He stressed the importance of watering the lawn daily until the grass is established and keeping it free from traffic for about two to three weeks. The seeds should begin to sprout within seven to 10 days, Micheal concluded.
Viewers bombarded the comments section with queries after watching the gardening tips video. One user, seeking to protect their precious seeds from hungry birds, asked: “How to stop birds just eating the seeds?”
Michael offered a clever solution: “If that’s a problem you can light a small amount of topsoil over it to cover the seeds. It needs to be light though as too much will stop germination.”
Another pressed for advice on lawn maintenance, inquiring: “How long do you wait to cut it again?” Michael advised waiting “until it’s already 5cm tall.”
A third question arose about moss killer, with someone asking: “How long should you wait to seed after a moss killer treatment,” to which Michael suggested a two-week interval, replying: “I would give it around two weeks.”