Successful sowing of grass
Creating a lawn in your garden has multiple benefits. A lawn can visually enlarge small gardens. It also allows you to showcase garden plants, particularly flowers and ornamental shrubs. And, of course, it offers everyone a beautiful green space, perfect for strolling, playing games, and relaxing.
However, laying a beautiful lawn requires some minor work: you need to choose your seed mix carefully, prepare the soil carefully, sow well and know how to maintain the resulting lawn.
Once this work is completed, you will then have the pleasure of enjoying an impeccable ornamental lawn, unless you have opted to create a relaxation and leisure area that is easier to maintain.
Which lawn should I choose?
A quality lawn will grow slowly but steadily. This allows it, among other things, to maintain a lush green appearance year-round, while also providing greater resistance to the ravages of drought and the harsh sun, as well as cold and humidity.
A good lawn is always composed of a mixture of seeds selected and combined to provide the desired qualities. Four criteria must be considered when planting a lawn: its speed of establishment, its longevity, the quality of the carpet, and its resistance to trampling. These four criteria depend on the intended use of the lawn.
We therefore offer you several mixtures of grass seeds which will optimally meet the use you wish to make of the lawned area.
Preparing the soil for sowing grass
Do not hesitate to clear your land as needed to rid it of major weeds.
You will then need to turn the soil over to a depth of 30 to 40 cm, using a spade or a cultivator, depending on the size of the plot to be worked. It is then possible to spread an organic base dressing which will allow the new lawn to flourish properly.
Finally, finish this ground preparation by raking, which will allow you to rid the soil of stones and roots. All that's left is to rake it to obtain a seedbed suitable for the grass seeds.
How to sow grass?
As a guide, you need to allow around 3 to 4 kg of seed to lay a 100 m² lawn.
In order to distribute the seeds as well as possible when sowing, and subsequently obtain uniform growth and an impeccable lawn, we give you a few tips:
Divide the area to be covered into squares, drawing lines. Then, simply divide your seed volume into as many portions as you have squares.
This will allow you to sow more evenly within each of the squares.
You can also combine the seed mix with fine, dry sand to better distribute the seeds. So-called "pure" sowing is perfectly feasible for an experienced sower. But sand allows you to cross-sow your seeds more often and achieve good consistency in your hand.
For a first sowing, add three times the volume of sand compared to the volume of seeds.
Finally, keep in mind that it is good to sow more densely on the edges to harden the lawn.
The main stages of sowing:
1 - Weigh the seeds using a scale
2 - Mix in a bucket with sand
3 - Stir continuously during sowing
4 - Cross your seed several times
5 - Lightly cover the seeds by raking them lightly
6 - Roll the seeds to bring them into contact with the soil
7 - Water with a light rain and keep moist until emergence
8 - Roll when the lawn is 5 to 6 cm high, in damp but not soggy soil, to help it establish by encouraging the roots to multiply (tillering)
9 - Perform the first mowing when the lawn is 8 cm tall. Do not mow too short. Roll the lawn to reattach the young grass to the ground. Water.
When to sow grass?
It is best to sow grass in spring or fall. In any case, avoid the cold winter months and the hot summer months. September and October are the best months for this type of sowing.
Maintaining the lawn
We give you our gardening tips for maintaining your lawn:
Mowing your lawn
Mowing can be done from March to mid-November. It's a simple action that has a positive effect on the lawn's health. Mowing encourages the lawn to grow horizontally; it also becomes thicker and stimulates the growth of its young shoots.
It is generally recommended to mow when the lawn is 8 cm high, and to set the mowers to a cutting height of half the height of the lawn. Short, frequent cuts will develop a dense, fine lawn.
Use grass cuttings
When the cut is very short, there is no need to collect the grass. It can remain in place without disturbing the harmony of the lawn.
A higher mowing height, around 3 to 6 cm, will require collecting the grass clippings. This raw material is excellent in the garden! It can be used to mulch vegetables, thus proving rich in nitrogen. It can also be useful for setting up a vegetable garden where the soil is not of good quality (lasagna bed technique). It can also be composted favorably.
Watering your lawn
To keep your lawn green all year round, it's important to water it at least once a week during hot, dry weather. Water evenly, using a light spray, over the entire lawn to thoroughly moisten the soil. An oscillating sprinkler is best suited for this task.
Fertilize your lawn
Because the lawn stays in place for a long time, and in the long run the soil can no longer provide it with the nutrients it needs, it must therefore be
