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Old 04-12-2002, 01:42 PM
Martin Freeman
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

We have had builders working at our property and as a result of a
garage being built they have distributed soil all over to level out
the garden area.

Our garden now looks like a lunar landscape and my wife is in tears,
if I was to buy some grass seed and spread it over the soil would it
take.

Any advice gratefully accepted, I'm totally ignorant of anything that
grows in the garden.

Thanks
Martin
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Old 04-12-2002, 02:50 PM
Emrys Davies
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

'Martin',

I, like you, have an area in my garden where I intend to sow grass seed
but I am going to do so in April or thereabouts when conditions are
suitable. Winter sowing is definitely not recommended for many reasons.

In the meantime you can dig over the area concerned, remove stones and
other undesirable objects, and leave it rough so that the frost can
help to break it down and make it pliable.

This site http://www.lawngrasses.com/ will help you determine which
kind of grass seed is best for your particular needs.

Tell your wife that by June you will have a nice green lawn, but give it
time to settle properly before you use it too much.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.








"Martin Freeman" wrote in message
om...
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

We have had builders working at our property and as a result of a
garage being built they have distributed soil all over to level out
the garden area.

Our garden now looks like a lunar landscape and my wife is in tears,
if I was to buy some grass seed and spread it over the soil would it
take.

Any advice gratefully accepted, I'm totally ignorant of anything that
grows in the garden.

Thanks
Martin



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Old 04-12-2002, 06:59 PM
Tumbleweed
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?


"Martin Freeman" wrote in message
om...
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

We have had builders working at our property and as a result of a
garage being built they have distributed soil all over to level out
the garden area.

Our garden now looks like a lunar landscape and my wife is in tears,
if I was to buy some grass seed and spread it over the soil would it
take.

Any advice gratefully accepted, I'm totally ignorant of anything that
grows in the garden.

Thanks
Martin


No. Not jusat because its too cold (its mild at the moment but I uhnderstand
its just about to get colder) but because its so wet.
To sow lawn properly you need to rake over the ground, level it, remove
stones, compress it by walking over it or rolling it lightly, then raking it
again to get a fine tilth in which you sow. Try walking over your earth now
and see what happens.... Doing that in this weather will lead to a
horrendous mudbath. Wait until spring when you can do it properly, anything
you do now wont take properly and will have to be done again (when it will
be more difficult as because you'll have clumps of grass growing and
depressions where the mud was churned up form walking on it.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks before replying (but no email reply necessary to newsgroups)



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Old 04-12-2002, 07:43 PM
Kay Easton
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

In article , Martin
Freeman writes
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

We have had builders working at our property and as a result of a
garage being built they have distributed soil all over to level out
the garden area.

Our garden now looks like a lunar landscape and my wife is in tears,
if I was to buy some grass seed and spread it over the soil would it
take.

Any advice gratefully accepted, I'm totally ignorant of anything that
grows in the garden.


If it were me, I'd put up with the lunar landscape but attract attention
away from it by half a dozen large tubs which I'd fill with crocus,
dwarf daffs, scillas and so on for the spring, and with those semi-hardy
mini cyclamen and violas to provide colour now.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/


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Old 04-12-2002, 09:33 PM
Chris French and Helen Johnson
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

In message , Emrys Davies
writes
'Martin',

I, like you, have an area in my garden where I intend to sow grass seed
but I am going to do so in April or thereabouts when conditions are
suitable. Winter sowing is definitely not recommended for many reasons.


Yep, this question came up on GQT a couple of weeks or so ago.

Bob Flowerdew recommended waiting to March (early march I think - but I
guess it depends where you are and where they were) before sowing.


--
Chris French and Helen Johnson, Leeds
urg Suppliers and References FAQ:
http://www.familyfrench.co.uk/garden/urgfaq/index.html
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Old 09-12-2002, 08:27 PM
tony
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?


"Martin Freeman" wrote in message
om...
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

We have had builders working at our property and as a result of a
garage being built they have distributed soil all over to level out
the garden area.

Our garden now looks like a lunar landscape and my wife is in tears,
if I was to buy some grass seed and spread it over the soil would it
take.

Any advice gratefully accepted, I'm totally ignorant of anything that
grows in the garden.

Thanks
Martin It would not

really be adviseable to sow your seed until april with a mixture of peat
and sand apply liberally!!!!!!


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Old 09-12-2002, 10:25 PM
hugh
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

In article , tony
writes
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

Snip Basically, no. Too cold by far for seed to germinate. Leave it
til Spring. Pre-germinate the seed and it will grow much more quickly.
--
hugh
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Old 09-12-2002, 11:32 PM
Tumbleweed
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?


"Paul Mc Cann" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 10:56:32 -0000, "flake"
wrote:

"Paul Mc Cann" wrote in message

I beg to differ. I would be prepared to sow grass seed at any time as
long as there was no danger oif it beingb washed away, as happened me
once.

There is certainly growth still as evidenced by the untidy height of
our grass and the weed still pushing up.

Sow it and be d****d :-)


But if you put grass seed down now, surely all you'll be doing is feeding
the birds ? Keeping the birds off for a week or so whilst the seed
germinates is one thing, trying to do so for a few months is another
(assuming any growth isn't killed off by frosty damp conditions first).

At
best I think the results would be very patchy and would need redoing in

the
spring.

Try it by all means, but your I think you'll have 2 chances of success -
one's fat, the others' slim ;o)
Cheers, Diane




The birds are always with us and very few that I know eat grass after
it has started to sprout apart from hens etc.


And its going to take weeks to months to sprout, if it sprouts at all. WHich
was Diane's point I think.


Grass is incredibly tough and doesn't need nambt pamby treatment.


And its a plant and its seeds need a certain amount of warth to grow. And
the ground needs a certain amount of preparation.

If the ground is prepared and you wait till spring I can guarantee the
weeds will beat you to it hands down.


Which is why you shouldnt waste any time trying to prepare the ground now
(let alone the practical difficulty of doing so)

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks before replying (but no email reply necessary to newsgroups)







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Old 09-12-2002, 11:34 PM
Paul Mc Cann
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 21:25:50 +0000, hugh ] wrote:

In article , tony
writes
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

Snip Basically, no. Too cold by far for seed to germinate. Leave it
til Spring. Pre-germinate the seed and it will grow much more quickly.



I beg to differ. I would be prepared to sow grass seed at any time as
long as there was no danger oif it beingb washed away, as happened me
once.

There is certainly growth still as evidenced by the untidy height of
our grass and the weed still pushing up.

Sow it and be d****d :-)


Paul Mc Cann


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Old 10-12-2002, 08:45 AM
Tumbleweed
 
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Default To late to sow grass seed?

"Paul Mc Cann" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 21:25:50 +0000, hugh ] wrote:

In article , tony
writes
Could one of you knowledgeable people tell me if it would be possible
to sow grass seed in December and have any hope of success?

Snip Basically, no. Too cold by far for seed to germinate. Leave it
til Spring. Pre-germinate the seed and it will grow much more quickly.



I beg to differ. I would be prepared to sow grass seed at any time as
long as there was no danger oif it beingb washed away, as happened me
once.

There is certainly growth still as evidenced by the untidy height of
our grass and the weed still pushing up.

Sow it and be d****d :-)


Paul Mc Cann

Imagine sowing it in these conditions! Try and rake the lawn level and you'd
have huge clods of mud being raked up. And depressions underneath you as
your feet squelch into the mud, making an uneven mess. If it did germinate,
you'd have a patch and uneven mess that would need to be sorted next spring.
There is a difference between grass growing slowly, and grass seed
germinating. Thats why you dont see grass seed on your grass at this time of
year, because it germinates very slowly or not at all in the cold.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks before replying (but no email reply necessary to newsgroups)




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Old 10-12-2002, 11:56 AM
flake
 
Posts: n/a
Default To late to sow grass seed?

"Paul Mc Cann" wrote in message

I beg to differ. I would be prepared to sow grass seed at any time as
long as there was no danger oif it beingb washed away, as happened me
once.

There is certainly growth still as evidenced by the untidy height of
our grass and the weed still pushing up.

Sow it and be d****d :-)


But if you put grass seed down now, surely all you'll be doing is feeding
the birds ? Keeping the birds off for a week or so whilst the seed
germinates is one thing, trying to do so for a few months is another
(assuming any growth isn't killed off by frosty damp conditions first). At
best I think the results would be very patchy and would need redoing in the
spring.

Try it by all means, but your I think you'll have 2 chances of success -
one's fat, the others' slim ;o)
Cheers, Diane





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Old 10-12-2002, 08:01 PM
Paul Mc Cann
 
Posts: n/a
Default To late to sow grass seed?

Xref: 127.0.0.1 uk.rec.gardening:163294

On Tue, 10 Dec 2002 10:56:32 -0000, "flake"
wrote:

"Paul Mc Cann" wrote in message

I beg to differ. I would be prepared to sow grass seed at any time as
long as there was no danger oif it beingb washed away, as happened me
once.

There is certainly growth still as evidenced by the untidy height of
our grass and the weed still pushing up.

Sow it and be d****d :-)


But if you put grass seed down now, surely all you'll be doing is feeding
the birds ? Keeping the birds off for a week or so whilst the seed
germinates is one thing, trying to do so for a few months is another
(assuming any growth isn't killed off by frosty damp conditions first). At
best I think the results would be very patchy and would need redoing in the
spring.

Try it by all means, but your I think you'll have 2 chances of success -
one's fat, the others' slim ;o)
Cheers, Diane




The birds are always with us and very few that I know eat grass after
it has started to sprout apart from hens etc.

Grass is incredibly tough and doesn't need nambt pamby treatment.

If the ground is prepared and you wait till spring I can guarantee the
weeds will beat you to it hands down.


Paul Mc Cann
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