Free lawn tips emailsYour Questions Answered
As Europe's largest producer of cultivated turf and Britain's leading supplier of high quality soil, we are often asked for advice on all aspects of laying, seeding and maintaining a beautiful lawn. The most frequently asked questions are detailed below. You can subscribe to this information through our RSS feed. Click here to learn more about this service, or contact us to ask any questions we haven't covered.
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6. How do I overseed my lawn?
Overseeding is an important part of any lawn maintenance regime.
How to over seed your lawn:
- Mow the lawn to approximately 25mm.(1")
- Use a spring tine rake to break up and remove the layer of dead matted grass known as thatch. Dependent on the depth of thatch on a lawn this process (scarification) may require a powered scarifier, which can be hired from most hire shops.
- Using a garden fork, spike the lawn to a depth of approx. 150mm (6") at 300mm (12") intervals.
- If your lawn has not been fed in the last 4 - 6 months we recommend feeding it before over seeding. The lawn can be overseeded 3 to 4 days after applying GroRight Autumn Lawn Food, however you should wait 4 weeks after applying GroRight Lawn Fertiliser, Weed & Moss Killer before over seeding.
- Sow the seed evenly across the lawn.
- Rolawn Lawn Seed can be mixed with Rolawn Lawn Top Dressing and applied to the lawn jointly.
- The seeded area must be kept moist, therefore, water your lawn after 2 or 3 days of sowing if no rain has fallen.
- Specific bare patches can be sown without treating the whole lawn. Apply the same procedure as above, but use sowing rates as for a new lawn - Medallion® Premium Lawn Seed at 35g per square metre and Minster Pro® Ornamental Lawn Seed at 38g per square metre.
- To protect specific areas from birds consider covering with netting or garden fleece. This should be removed when new shoots start to come through the soil.
- Try to keep traffic on a freshly over seeded lawn to a minimum for 7 to 21 days.
- Raise mowing heights to approximately 50mm (2") for the initial 2 or 3 cuts, then reduce down to 25mm (1") over the next 2 or 3 cuts. Never remove more than ⅓ of the grass blade length at any one time, on new sowings ideally never more than ¼.
- When is the best time of year to lay turf?
- How long after delivery can I leave my turf rolled up before laying?
- How much soil do I need to lay my turf onto?
- Is Rolawn turf suitable for shady areas?
- How do I grow a lawn from seed and when is the best time to do this?
- How do I overseed my lawn?
- How do I calculate the amount of turf required for a circular lawn?
- How do I remove my old lawn before laying new turf or seeding?
- What depth of play grade bark do you recommend?
- How soon after laying turf can I walk on my lawn?
- How soon after laying turf should I mow my lawn?
- How soon after laying turf can I apply Rolawn GroRight Autumn Lawn Food?
- Will my turf contain Annual Meadow Grass?
- How should I remove toadstools from my turf?
- Is Rolawn topsoil free of Japanese Knotweed?
- During the winter my lawn has become sparse and died back, resulting in bare patches. What should I do?
- My lawn needs feeding and overseeding. Which should I do first?
- My lawn is covered in worm casts. Is there anything I can do?
- My dog is urinating on my lawn and it is discolouring the grass, what can I do to stop this and how can I repair the damage?
- My lawn has developed patches of white cotton-wool or cobweb-like mould?
- How do I improve the soil in my garden?
- I will be laying turf next to a path or mowing strip and need to bring the soil up to the correct level. What is the thickness of a roll of Rolawn turf?
- My new lawn is very spongy. Should I use a roller on it?
- Can Rolawn biological pest control products be used on a vegetable patch?
- Medallion® Premium Lawn Seed should be applied at a rate of 25g per square metre.
Minster Pro® Ornamental Lawn Seed should be applied at a rate of 28g per square metre.
