How Do You Plant Grass Seed in the Spring?
18 March 2020
If you’ve been wondering when to plant grass seed in order to have the perfect rich lawn in time for the summer months, your best bet is to opt for spring. Grass seed usually takes up to 30 days to germinate, or even longer if the weather’s particularly cold, so it’s best to be prepared!
You can find out when to sow grass seed by checking the weather forecast, as heavy rain and strong winds can drown the seeds or wash or blow them away. Because of this, it’s best to wait for a still, relatively dry period. Mid to late spring tends to see slightly drier weather than the earlier months.
Cheap grass seed that is entirely affordable yet still of impressive quality is available at all B&M Garden Centre stores, and many non-GC B&M stores too. This helpful guide will assist you in choosing the equipment you’ll need, then take you through the simple, step by step process.
What You Need to Sow Grass Seed
Once you’ve decided when to plant grass seed for a lawn, meadow or other feature, it’s important to first ensure that you have everything you need to do so. We recommend that you invest in:
- High quality, cheap grass seed (70 grams per square metre)
- Top soil
- Child and pet friendly lawn feed
- Lawn weedkiller
- Patch fix
- A lawn rake
- A garden trowel and fork
- Gardening gloves
- A watering can or hose with spray nozzle
How to Plant Grass Seed
When you’ve collected everything you need, follow these steps to create your lawn.
- First, rake the area you wish to be your lawn, loosening the soil to turn up rocks and debris. You may either wish to treat the area with your weedkiller and leave it for a few days or, if there are only a few unwanted plants, use your trowel, fork and gloves to pull them up.
- Remove large stones and other debris.
- Check how level the area is. Extreme slopes may see your seeds being washed to the bottom by rain, or your topsoil sliding down. If certain areas needs building up, add topsoil until they are level.
- Add an even layer of topsoil.
- Tread the soil down underfoot to compact it so that the ground is level. Do this several times in as many directions as you can.
- Once you’re sure the ground is even, rake it again to allow the grass roots to penetrate it.
- Rake over some lawn feed to make the ground nutritious for your seeds (about 70 grams per square metre).
- Divide your new lawn into square metres. You may wish to use string to mark out the squares. Sprinkle 35 grams of lawn seed from left to right over each square, then another 35 grams from front to back. This should create an even coverage.
- Very gently rake each square over to make sure the seed has a covering of soil.
- If the weather is dry after you sow your grass, water it daily with a light sprinkling from your watering can or hose spray nozzle, being careful not to wash it away.
You may need to tread the soil down again gently once the grass is over two inches long, as it may have raised slightly. Once you’ve mowed the grass for the first time a couple of days later, you may need to treat it with patch fix to fill in any gaps.
It’s best to avoid using your lawn too much in the first couple of months, as you don’t want to kill the fresh seedlings. Keep your lawn topped up with grass feed every six weeks or so. Try to do this when rain is due, as this will help to distribute the nutrients.
The cheap grass seed from Westland at B&M establishes 25% faster than average, so your lawn should be beautiful and green in no time at all.
B&M Top Tip: Once you’ve decided when to sow grass seed, you may also wish to look into including some colourful lawn flowers for a rustic meadow effect. Distribute their seeds in set patches after the grass seed has been laid, or find little pockets and corners that need some colour. We love adding pansy, aster, dahlia, godetia, sweet sultan or nemophilia seeds - all of which you can find at both B&M Garden Centres and some non-GC stores - for a splash of something different.
Proud of what you’ve achieved with cheap grass seed from B&M? Share images of your lawn and tips for its care via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!
