Hi,
Got rolls of turf put into the lawn back in early June, went well for the most part. A few gaps between rolls but overall happy with it.
Down one end of the garden where it is typically moister and north facing, so definitely gets less sun there was a patch that I tried to backfill with the same seed used by the suppliers of the turf, however it hasn’t really taken despite being nearly 3 weeks now.l and regular watering (when it hasn’t been raining)
I did try the seed in a couple of tubs and you can see it has grown no problem and one tub was full of topsoil and the other lawn dressing.
Should I just scrape the soil around the patch again and plant more seed and hope it takes now?
I would prefer to avoid the option of transplanting a piece of turf grown in a tray, as I did it in a previous iteration of the garden and it never really took once transplanted into the lawn.
Thanks
by drivingdownthehiway
7 Comments
Yeah scratch it up lightly, sprinkle some seed on it, step on the seed for good soil to seed contact and a small sprinkling of topsoil on top wouldn’t hurt either (although no absolutely needed).
Keep it moist and you should see it take. FWIW Sept-Oct is the best time of year to do this as it’s generally warm enough but wet. I’d you’re in no rush I’d perhaps give it another 3 weeks as this summer has been unusually warm but it’s fine to do now too – you’ll just likely use more water.
Just in case you’re in a new build, also see if you can push a trowel or screwdriver down that patch of soil. Some new builds especially will have rubble in the ground and generally things don’t grow well immediately on top of it.
If you think you need to hack up a load of crap at some point buy yourself a mattock. Don’t spend hours teasing at stuff with the corner of a spade like I did! Best done before the grass is there of course.
Grass seed needs more frequent water than you might expect since in the height of summer the surface dries up in just a couple of hours. I finished renovating my 120m² back lawn late and overseeded in early summer. – it didn’t do well, even got some dead patches caused by tree roots even though I watered heavily. (Red clay, first renovation, I didn’t end up HT aerating it).
Why don’t you use the sprouted contents of the tub to fill the patch?
If you’ve got a soil sieve just do a fine layer of compost over the seed and that’ll keep it damp enough to germinate well normally
Best time to seed is September