Have I left it too late to sow grass seed this year?

[numpty with a crowbar]

Evenin' all,
For some random reason me and the thinking half of the relationship have decided to pull out all the stops and try to get a big chunk of our garden finished off before the frosts come (which is cutting it a bit fine since there was frost on the car this morning)

Is it too late to sow grass seed if I can get it done in the next week or so?? Or failing that when can I sow it safely early next year?

Ta

 

[breezer]

try it and see

 

[Thermo]

sow it now, what doesnt germinate now will come through in the spring (hopefully) But id still use turf!

 

[numpty with a crowbar]

But id still use turf!

I'm broke

In an ideal world I'd love to get nice turf and make a good fist of it but looking for a cheap way to do it so sadly looking to go down the seed route...

OK then - off to a shed I shall go for some seed tomorrow...
Cheers for the advice folks

 

[breezer]

buy a bigger bag than you think you need

 

[2scoops0406]

In Newcastle, yes you are way too late. Turf, well possibly but unlikely

 

[andycoull]

Presumably - so have I

I have a garden which I am converting. There is a large area that I want to convert to lawn and can be split into three sub areas.

Area 1 - Earthen border - used to house a horrid hedge thing that I removed at the weekend there.

Area 2 - grass of the poorest quality which was being affected by the hedge.

Area 3 - Hard core area that was used as a drive way by the previous owners.

What advice Thanks in advance

 

[2scoops0406]

dig it all over, generous covering of manure, cover with black plastic, let winter work it's magic, remove plastic, break up soil and turf in late March. Just what I'd do mind.

 

[andycoull]

dig it all over, generous covering of manure, cover with black plastic, let winter work it's magic, remove plastic, break up soil and turf in late March. Just what I'd do mind.

Eddie - is it a factor that we are not getting any frost at the moment ??

 

[Thermo]

have a search through the posts, i did one on preparing and sowing/laying turf back in the summer which was quite comprehensive.

 

[2scoops0406]

dig it all over, generous covering of manure, cover with black plastic, let winter work it's magic, remove plastic, break up soil and turf in late March. Just what I'd do mind.

Eddie - is it a factor that we are not getting any frost at the moment ??

That's really difficult to answer. Unfortunately gardening comes down to generalisation a lot of the time, generally speaking it's really too late. Autumn has been very late this year so a lot of places have escaped frost. Sadly that doesn't mean we couldn't be in for a prolonged cold snap anytime now.

For my money, it's just risky, you could lay turf, have a couple of nights of hard frost, and bang, it's all dead, similarly, you could get away with it. From your location, Moray, East Scotland, I'm guessing it would be unwise.

 

[Yarn]

Grass grows above roughly 4 degrees C.

Grass seed takes about 6 to 8 weeks to become hardy.

The question is, in 8 weeks time do you think the temperature will have remained above 4 C. (ideally a bit higher..)

Err, NO!

 

[carpenter les]

dig it all over, generous covering of manure, cover with black plastic, let winter work it's magic, remove plastic, break up soil and turf in late March. Just what I'd do mind.

Eddie - is it a factor that we are not getting any frost at the moment ??

That's really difficult to answer. Unfortunately gardening comes down to generalisation a lot of the time, generally speaking it's really too late. Autumn has been very late this year so a lot of places have escaped frost. Sadly that doesn't mean we couldn't be in for a prolonged cold snap anytime now.

For my money, it's just risky, you could lay turf, have a couple of nights of hard frost, and bang, it's all dead, similarly, you could get away with it. From your location, Moray, East Scotland, I'm guessing it would be unwise.

how do football pitches manage over the winter?? surely the turf gets replaced in lots of places throughout the winter

 

[2scoops0406]

A lot of pitches have under pitch heating.

 

[Thermo]

the grass for pitches is grown at seperate locations and laid as turf. As eddie says the heating prevents any problems with laying turf, however with turf you only really need to make sure theres no frost on the ground, so it doesnt get trapped and kill the roots.