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Grass Seed Information

Grass established from seed as opposed to being laid as a turf thrives better and is easier to establish on slopes and in awkward corners. Seeding also offers the user a greater degree of mix and grass species choice than turf options, meaning that you can create a surface tailored to your requirements and that of the natural environment. Both surfaces require preparation, which is the key to success, and also a degree of aftercare.

We recommend sowing grass seed between Spring and mid Autumn. Lawns sown in Spring and Summer will likely require additional irrigation to provide adequate soil moisture level to achieve a good level of germination. The late Summer period through to mid Autumn will likely provide optimum levels of natural soil moisture for germination, if additional irrigation cannot be provided. There are specialist seed mixes we have available that can establish in temperatures as low as 7 degrees celsius for emergency Winter establishment.

The seedbed should be prepared to ensure that the seed comes into contact with the soil to ensure a good level of germination is achieved. Weeds need to be minimised to reduce competition (consult a technical advisor for the correct recommendation on weed control products - applications of some weed killer can prevent germination and affect the establishment of new turf). Adequate nutrients and moisture need to be readily available to establishing plants.

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Different grass species provide different characteristics, i.e. they can be used in different situations to naturally provide specific benefits:

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Perennial Rye-grass, Lolium perenne, is commonly grown within winter sports surfaces and lawns that require a reasonable level of ware tolerance. Rye grasses grow rapidly and responds well to fertiliser applications, typically between 100-300 units of nitrogen per year depending on how much wear it is subject to. Perennial Rye-grass does not possess rhizomes or stolons which enable it to spread vegetatively, and therefore requires seeding where it has been damaged or removed. As a species it is less susceptible to a lot of the turf diseases and it establishes relatively easily and quickly which is why it is commonly found in a lot of seed mixtures. Today's Rye-grass cultivars have been selectively bred to have finer leaves, be resistant to low temperatures and be more tolerant of low mowing making them a highly popular choice for amenity use.

Fescues, Festuca, have fine leaf blades that provide a fine, ornamental turf, they are not particularly tolerant of low mowing and require a free-draining substrate to thrive. They are better suited than most species to poor soils, shaded areas and are more drought tolerant. They will be pushed out by more competitive species if they are over-fed and are not particularly hard wearing. They also produce a lot of roots and require seasonal scarification to ensure the thatch level, amount of undecayed root and organic matter, does not prohibit water percolation. Fescues are relatively tolerant of disease although they can be prone to suffer from red-thread, Laetisaria fuciformis, a fungal disease in the autumn. Fescue commonly requires 30-60 units of nitrogen per year.

Bents, Agrostis, also thrive in areas of relatively low nutrient. Bents are used in fine turf lawns and sports surfaces because they are more tolerant of wear. They produce less thatch than Fescue but are prone to diseases such as Anthracnose, Colletotrichum graminicola, and Take-all Patch, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis, particularly when newly sown. They require slightly more feed per year than Fescue but less than other grass species, i.e. 60-100 units of nitrogen per year.

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Grass Seed | Lawn Seed | Pitchcare Shop