New grass sown into the lawn you already have, in the few weeks of the year when the soil is warm enough for it to come up.
soil still warm from summer, ground reliably moist
below that, seed sits on the surface
once the soil is warm enough
the mid-spring fallback, and the slower of the two
we say how much, and for how long
that is turf, and a different job
Lawn repair is sowing fresh grass seed into a lawn that has gone bare or thin, rather than patching turf over it. The surface is raked out, seed is sown at a measured rate and a light topdressing is worked in, so the new grass comes up as part of the sward that is already there instead of sitting on top of it as a visible repair.
Against turfing the patch
A square of turf dropped into an existing lawn is a different grass at a different height, and it reads as a repair for years. Seed sown into the sward that is already there comes up as the same lawn, and it needs no separate watering regime once it has rooted.
Against the shop seed box
Grass seed needs the soil at 7 °C or above to germinate. The box from the garden centre is the same seed as ours; sown in the wrong month it does nothing, and the commonest reason an overseed fails here is the date on it rather than the bag.
Against leaving it
Bare soil is where weeds germinate, and on this ground it also moves. Both the Ormskirk sand and the mossland peat carry a spring wind erosion risk on open unstable ground, the peat specifically on newly seeded bare ground, so soil left open in spring takes the seed with it.
Soil temperature decides this, not the calendar. Grass seed needs the soil at 7 °C or above to germinate, and there is a free field test for it: if nothing is coming up in the borders, grass seed will not come up either. Sown below that threshold the seed simply sits on the surface until something eats it.
Most lawns on this round sit on the Shirdley Hill Sand, where the profile dries through summer and thins from the Crannymoor hillocks first, so the bare patches open in the same places every year. Fine fescues cope best with sandy ground in UK seed mixtures, and autumn establishment is easier than summer here because this soil holds moisture only while something is resupplying it. Out on the Tarleton and Banks peat the ground behaves differently again, and levels are as likely to be the problem as the seed.
It sits alongside the rest of our garden services in Ormskirk, and is often booked with lawn mowing & edging. The ground changes across the patch — see Ormskirk.
Wear, shade, pet damage, summer scorch, compaction or grubs under the turf. Seed sown over an unfixed cause thins out again in the same spot, so this comes first.
Dead grass and moss come out of the areas to be sown and leave site, so the seed lands on soil rather than on a mat it cannot reach through.
Part of the visit
A seed mixture chosen for the ground, spread at a measured rate rather than by handful, so the repair comes up at the same density as the lawn around it.
A light topdressing worked in to cover the seed, hold moisture around it and keep it away from the birds. Germination takes seven to ten days from here.
New seed lives or dies on water for the first few weeks. We say how much and how often, and if a temporary use ban is in force we check the position with United Utilities before we sow.
How it is priced
By the area sown, whether it is a few patches or a whole-lawn overseed, and how much dead material has to come out before the seed goes down. Ground that needs aerating or scarifying first is a separate line, and access affects it as it affects everything. You get a written quote after we have seen the lawn.
The commonest one
Below 7 °C in the soil, seed does not germinate. It lies on the surface, birds take most of it, and the owner concludes the seed was poor. November onwards is out here even though it is still open further south.
Grubs
Chafer grubs and leatherjackets feed on the roots, and birds and mammals tear the turf apart getting at them. A sandy lawn with a shallow root system has less to lose before the turf lifts. There is no chemical control a householder can buy, and the biological option depends on the soil being moist and warm enough at the time, so the timing of that comes before the seeding.
The ground underneath
On made ground in Skelmersdale and on the newer estates there is often a pan at spade depth under a thin skim of topsoil. Seed germinates into it and the patch re-thins within a season, because nothing above the pan was ever the problem.
Expectations
Spring-sown grass may not root in as quickly, because it puts its energy into flowering instead. It is a real window and we use it, but it is the fallback rather than the equal of September.
This is the general position, not a decision about your property. We confirm it with the authority named above before we quote.
Dan came and did a day clear up on our garden, he then scarified, fed and seeded our lawn. We then booked him to come back, put down sacking, edging and stones. Dan works hard from start to finish and leaves your garden clean and tidy, taking away debris. My daughter is getting married on Monday so we are having a garden party, we are now party ready! Thank you 😊
Tell us roughly what the garden looks like now and we will say what it needs and when.
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