Landscaping Seed

• If possible, spray off existing weeds and undesirable grasses with a glyphosate weedkiller such as Roundup.
• After the vegetation is dead, generally 10 days later, cut off and remove or rotavate into the surface to a depth of 150mm existing turf including roots. Remove stones and debris and roughly level. Limit the amount of top soil removed as your soil is a valuable asset. Heavy clay soils might benefit from using granular seaweed that will help provide a better soil structure.
• If undertaken over winter allow frost to kill germinating weeds and break up the seedbed.
• Consolidate the seedbed with a light roller or tread, then rake to produce a fine tilth.
• Apply a pre-seed fertiliser that contains phosphate that will assist in establishing young plants.
• Sow seed at an appropriate rate: different mixtures and species require varying rates, this will be clearly indicated on the web-page and on the label.
• If the seed is being sown directly into a sward make sure the seed is covered with an appropriate top-dressing, typically to a depth of 4mm.
• Lightly roll to consolidate the seed within the seedbed: this provides better seed to soil contact ensuring a better and more even germination.
• Once the grass is established apply a suitable fertiliser to encourage growth.

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 ware 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.

Smooth-stalked Meadow-grass, Poa pratensis, suits very free-draining soil that warms up quickly in the spring. It is notoriously difficult to get established, mainly because people don't recognize that it is suited to certain substrates and not others. It is rhizomatous, it produces under-ground stems which provide a carbohydrate reserve for recovery from drought stress and dormancy, this provides more recovery than alternative species such as Perennial Rye-grass. Smooth-stalked Meadow-grass also suffers from fungal diseases such as Leaf Spot, Drechslera poae, and Rusts, Puccinia spp. Once established it can form a valuable addition to the composition of a sward commonly requiring between 60 and 100 units of nitrogen per year.

These are the most common species although there are a number of other species that are desirable within a grass sward depending on the ground, environmental and management conditions. The vast majority of grass seed mixtures are a blend of several species which enable the different characteristics of each species to be of benefit within the sward. Choosing the correct seed mix for the individual site or surface will depend upon a number of factors:

1. What the area or pitch is being used for.
2. The local conditions, soil types and environmental factors such as irrigation availability, nutrient programmes, thatch levels, compaction etc.
3. The available seed sowing windows during the year.
4. Soil temperatures and moisture level control.
5. Post germination maintenance inputs and regimes.
6. The amount of use a surface will have to withstand.

The use of coated seed will improve germination speed and establishment and is a useful benefit to the seed particularly in the spring when weather and ground conditions can make germination difficult.

Protect newly sown areas from birds and prevent areas from being walked over or disturbed. Weeds should also be discouraged, certain selective herbicides can be used relatively early on in the development of the plant. For specialist advice on weed control, contact a technical advisor on 01902 440250.

Mowing can commence when the new plants are 5cm high, the initial cut should be set to 2.5cm, this should be done with a rotary mower as a cylinder mower is inclined to dislodge new plants that don't have established root systems. Rake up the clippings otherwise this is likely to encourage moss. Mow the turf four times before gradually reducing the cutting height. Mow regularly but do not remove any more than a third of the plant as this would place the plant under too much stress, remember the root system is reliant upon all the available plant leaves to provide energy for development. As the end of the growing season draws nearer gradually increase the height of cut to reduce disease pressure and stress on the plant.

When selecting a suitable seed mixture, advice is at hand by calling 01902 440250 and speaking to a technical sales advisor. The seed mixtures that we stock have been carefully selected to offer an extremely wide range that suits all customer requirements.