Among specialized specialists, not to mention ordinary summer residents, there is no consensus on the timing of planting lawn grass. Some people think that doing this better in spring, others insist that the most favorable period for such agricultural activities is autumn. So who is right and is there even a side that is wrong?

The reader will be able to determine for himself when it is better for him to plant lawn grass, if you familiarize yourself with all the pros and cons and correlate them with the characteristics of the site, weather conditions in the place of residence in the fall or spring, and take into account a number of other specific points. For example, your own capabilities, free time.

Lawns are classified according to various parameters - structural composition, arrangement technology and a number of others. If we summarize everything, then there are 3 main types of them - ready-made, rolled and seeded. Speaking about the timing of planting lawn grass, the author means the last option, when the owner independently (having previously prepared a certain segment) plants seeds in the soil.

There are no strict time frames for this. You can start arranging your acres from the first warm days, as soon as the soil warms up well enough. This work is usually carried out until frost approaches. But each area has specific weather conditions, and for a specific area an important detail is its location. For example, how wind-blown it is, and whether it has a slope.

A comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of spring and autumn lawn planting is based on personal experience author. To agree or criticize is at your discretion, reader. But one thing is certain - this information will give you the opportunity to independently determine when it is best to do this work.

Features of sowing lawn grass

Spring

• Any lawn grass develops quite intensively. Having planted it in the spring, the summer resident will receive a full-fledged " green carpet».
• It becomes possible to “adjust” the lawn, promptly identify and eliminate mistakes made during its formation. All shortcomings (for example, uneven planting of seeds) will immediately be visually noticeable as soon as the first shoots hatch.

Cons:

• With the onset of the season, there is already enough work on the acres - plowing the land, whitewashing trees, fighting weeds and pests that have survived the winter. The list can be continued indefinitely, if you consider that it is in the spring that we often have to repair the perimeter fence, replace burst pipes, paint the peeling facade of the house, swings and much more. Will a summer resident have time to plant lawn grass, given that this work is quite extensive?
• The soil on which the “green carpet” is supposed to be grown will have to be prepared in advance. Even earlier than for garden crops. It is advisable to keep the soil fallow for 2 to 4 weeks, depending on local specifics. This means that agricultural work will have to be carried out in not the most favorable conditions - it is cold, the earth is not warmed up enough and is difficult to cultivate. And the roads are not yet dry everywhere, so getting to the site is often a big problem, especially since country buses have not yet started their routes.
• The difficulty of caring for lawn grass spring period. Regular irrigation, fertilization, combating the dominance of weeds (and with the end of the cold weather they develop very rapidly), pests, cutting - all this requires time and effort.

In order for the lawn to form faster in the spring, it is necessary to feed root system herbs with preparations with a high nitrogen content. It promotes the active development of green mass.

Autumn

• You don’t have to waste time on large-scale preparation of a plot of land for lawn grass. Any summer resident knows how much work has to be done in the spring before starting to plant annual garden crops. In this regard, autumn is preferable. After harvesting, there is time to take care of the lawns, especially since summer period the main agrotechnical measures have been carried out (plowing, fertilizing, etc.), therefore, the territory is sufficiently landscaped and well-groomed. This means that it is almost completely prepared for the installation of the “green carpet”.
• The saturation of the soil and air with moisture is optimal, and summer heat is no longer expected, and the temperature is most favorable for vegetation. From this point of view, it is, of course, better to plant lawn grass in the fall.
• During this period, the growth of weeds slows down significantly and then completely stops. This means that it consumes less and less nutrients from the soil. This favors a more intensive formation of the root system and promotes the development of its shoots (if it is planted at the very beginning of autumn).
• As soon as favorable weather sets in in the spring, the summer resident constantly experiences a lack of time. There is so much that needs to be done in a relatively short period that there are literally not enough hands to do it all. And if lawn grass is planted in the fall, then after the snow melts it will not require any care - it will immediately please the owners of the site with a wonderful “green carpet”.
• Grass planted in late autumn develops quite rapidly with the onset of spring. Consequently, weeds will not be able to “strangle” its strong shoots.

• Difficulty in choosing a grass mixture. It is necessary to select seeds only from those plants that will safely survive the winter, and in this particular region. More details about the choice.
• If the amount of precipitation in winter time small, you will have to think about artificially insulating the soil in the area where the lawn is laid out. Naturally, take appropriate measures. For example, cover it with peat and lay spruce branches on top. All this requires time, which is usually not enough in the fall.
• One of the disadvantages of planting lawn grass before winter is that the end result is extremely difficult to change. After the spring emergence of the sprouts, all that remains is to state what happened and how. That is, “what has grown has grown.” The issue of lawn adjustment is quite specific and requires professional approach, and sometimes, with significant shortcomings, all the work done in the fall has to be redone almost from scratch. Those who are arranging a “green carpet” for the first time need to prepare especially carefully, and first of all, be savvy in terms of theory.
• Limitations due to terrain. If the site has a slope, then planting grass in the fall is pointless. In spring, melt water will easily wash out of the soil and carry away most of the seeds.

Autumn is a three month period. When determining the time to begin work on sowing lawn grass, you need to rely on weather forecasters. It is best to start it when the days are warm and precipitation is not so intense. But here there is a nuance regarding specific deadlines. To get a truly “strong” lawn that develops resistance to local climate grass, its seeds should preferably be planted in soil slightly touched by frost.

What does this give? Over the winter they will completely adapt (or, as they say, undergo stratification), so in the spring they will sprout together, and the shoots will easily tolerate any diseases.

Vegetation that is planted in the fall will have to endure severe trials in the form of low temperatures, deficit nutrients, oxygen. Based on this, it is recommended to plant not just one type of lawn grass, but several, and choose the most resistant to winter conditions copies. Then the chances that most of the flora will safely survive the cold season increase many times over.

Conclusion

There is no fundamental difference between starting to plant lawn grass in spring or autumn. Each period is characterized by both advantages and a number of disadvantages. Consequently, only you, dear reader, will have to decide on the timing of the implementation of your plans for landscaping the territory. When it’s more convenient, then start improving the area.

And yet, most experts are inclined to believe that the best period for sowing lawn grass is the end of summer. The reasoning is simple - there are a minimum of weeds, the soil is almost completely ready, the weather is stable, and the seeds have time to germinate and take root reliably before the first frost.

Lawn grass, like all garden plantings, throughout summer season needs to be fed. From the end of summer, it is necessary to limit (and gradually eliminate from the “diet”) the use of nitrogen-containing preparations. Given chemical element(as well as its compounds) reduces frost resistance. But supplements based on phosphorus and potassium are just right. For example, superphosphate wood ash, humus.

Regardless of the period chosen for planting, you should focus on calm weather. Or install an artificial fence for a segment of the territory on which a “green carpet” is being organized. Lawn grass seeds are so light (and sowing involves scattering them around the area) that only a weak gust is enough for them to migrate to another place. Consequently, we are no longer talking about the formation of a lawn as such. Grass will grow anywhere, randomly. You shouldn’t forget about this.

After all the seeds have been planted, the area where the lawn is being established needs to be watered generously. How much time this will take - half an hour or two - is determined individually for each site. The criterion for sufficiency is the penetration of water into the soil by at least 25 - 30 cm. This is easy to control with the help of a strong twig or a piece of thick wire.

To grow a beautiful lawn, it is not enough to learn how to care for it. This knowledge will be useful to you when the English ground floor or golf course is already available. In the meantime, when you have a bare piece of land in front of you, you need to think about how to properly plant lawn grass. The decorative qualities and vitality of the future lawn will depend on this. It is imperative to understand the main points of this process. Let's do it right now.

To create a decorative lawn, you will need to study the technology of its creation, starting with planting lawn grasses

Let's start by choosing seeds for your lawn. There are many ready-made mixtures available for use on lawns. for various purposes. Their names usually coincide with the target orientation of the future lawn - “sports lawn”, “fast lawn”, “decorative lawn for shady places”, etc.

When choosing a mixture for your lawn, pay attention to its species composition

Typically, consumers do not think about which lawn grass is best to plant. They are guided only by the name, without looking at the composition. They buy any “universal” lawn, and then they are surprised that already in the second year the lawn is almost completely frozen or covered with ugly bald spots. And all because most manufacturers bring their compounds from Western Europe or compile them according to local standards. And therefore, very often ready-made grass mixtures contain seeds of non-frost-resistant plants that are not adapted to our climate.

For example, the most famous such representative is ryegrass . It is found in almost every ready mixture, and quite large quantities(sometimes – up to 50-60% of total number seeds!). For Europe, ryegrass is an excellent lawn grass. It sprouts very quickly and covers large areas, is highly decorative. The only “but”: the lifespan of ryegrass even in ideal European conditions does not exceed 5 years. And in our country, ryegrass freezes almost completely in the first winter, leaving bald spots on the lawn.

Ryegrass is often used to create "quick" lawns, for example, before commissioning a commercial landscaping project

For climate middle zone the best lawn grasses are red fescue And meadow bluegrass. They form a dense herbaceous cover of bright green color, have high frost resistance and durability. Fescue is more unpretentious, shade-tolerant, and grows quickly. Bluegrass gains strength more slowly, but in terms of decorative qualities it exceeds fescue. It is not for nothing that many gardeners admit that the most beautiful parterre lawn grows from meadow grass, ideally when using one variety of this grass.

Bluegrass lawn is one of the most decorative. In addition, it is durable and resistant to trampling.

If you find a mixture on sale consisting of different varieties bluegrass and fescue are wonderful. For example, the “Ideal” mixture from “Premiumline” contains only these herbs in a 50:50 ratio. You can purchase fescue and bluegrass separately, mix them and sow them. This is the most win-win option for creating a decorative and, at the same time, sustainable lawn.

You can sow seeds from May to September. The main thing is that before winter the lawn leaves sufficiently strong. And there is one point. If you decide to create a lawn in the spring, then the number of seeds for sowing can be taken a little more than indicated on the package (from different compositions this amount can be 10-25 g/m2). This will allow you to get a thick lawn faster. As the grasses grow, they will begin to compete with each other and by autumn only the strongest will remain alive. They will form a lawn that will survive the winter without loss and will begin to emerge in early spring.

It is not advisable to sow grass in excess in August-September. Strong specimens will not have enough time to defeat weaker neighbors. Strong competition will lead to the fact that the blades of grass will go into winter in the stage of fighting with each other, and therefore weakened. Most likely they will not be able to survive the winter and will die.

In other words, lawn grasses will have a greater chance of forming good, dense turf when spring planting.

Technology for proper lawn planting

Now that you have decided on the planting season and the type of lawn grass, let's start sowing. Let's take a step-by-step look at how to plant lawn grass in your dacha and how to care for the seedlings to get a beautiful lawn.

Step #1. Removing weeds on the site

On the site where you plan to lay out a lawn, it is necessary to destroy all weeds. For this purpose they can be used different methods: manual removal, deep cultivation, mulching, herbicide treatment.

The most in an efficient way is the use of herbicides. For example, spraying with Roundup helps destroy even the smallest roots of all types of weeds. The drug penetrates the plant tissue through leaves and young shoots, then reaches the roots and kills them. Complete destruction of weeds by this method occurs 2-3 weeks after treatment. When this happens, the yellowed and dried weeds are removed, after which they proceed to the next step of soil preparation.

Roundup is a continuous action herbicide. Therefore, weed control with this drug is carried out only before sowing the lawn.

Step #2. Soil cultivation

The earth is dug up to the height of a shovel blade, stones that come across, dried roots are selected - everything that can prevent the thin roots of lawn grass from growing. Large lumps of earth are broken so that the soil thickness is loose and homogeneous.

At the digging stage, they try to level the surface of the site so that there are no bumps or holes left on it. Water will accumulate in the holes, which can cause the grass to become overly wet and rot. On hillocks, it will be difficult for the lawn mower to pass. Leveling is done by adding or, conversely, removing soil in problem areas.

Pre-sowing soil digging to the depth of a spade blade

Step #3. Fertilizing the soil

Lawn grass grows well in neutral soil. Therefore, if the soil is alkaline, it is worth adding peat, if acidic - lime.

It is important to improve the fertile soil layer by applying mineral or organic fertilizers. It is best to use organic matter - compost, rotted manure, vermicompost.

If the soil is too poor and unsuitable for growing plants, it makes sense to improve it more. in a radical way. By complete replacement top layer on fertile soil. To do this, dig a “trough” 35-40 cm deep on the area allocated for the future lawn. The poor soil is removed, and black soil or other fertile, well-fertilized soil is laid in its place. You can use special soils for lawns that contain high-quality peat, sand and required quantity mineral fertilizers.

After cultivating and fertilizing the soil, its surface is leveled with a rake and then compacted. This can be done using a garden roller. If this tool is not available on the farm, an alternative replacement is used - a round metal or asbestos pipe, or a barrel of water. Use any similar object to roll the soil. It is necessary to compact it to such an extent that you can walk on the soil without sinking your feet into its thickness.

Step #5. Sowing seeds

On compacted soil, use a rake to make furrows about 1 cm deep. Deeper is not recommended, since the grain seeds are small and may not germinate at a greater planting depth. Seeds are sown first along the site, and then across.

“Cutting” furrows with a rake

On the packaging of any herbs sold for lawns, the seed consumption rate per 1 m 2 of area is indicated. For example, the number of bluegrass seeds when sowing a single species is 10-18 g/m2, red fescue - 15-25 g/m2, a mixture of bluegrass and fescue seeds (50:50) - 12.5-21.5 g/m2 2. Therefore, you should visually delimit the area into square meters and when sowing, try to adhere to the recommended standards.

After sowing, the seeds are planted with a rake, carefully covering them with soil. Then the soil is rolled again with a roller or pipe.

Sowing lawn grass seeds is most often done manually

Step #6. First watering

The first step in caring for newly planted seeds will be watering. To do this, it is optimal to use sprayers with a fine irrigation mode. Then standing puddles will not form on the surface of the earth and the seeds will not be carried away. garden paths.

System automatic watering allows for gentle irrigation of a lawn that has not yet emerged

If sowing work is carried out in autumn or spring on rainy days, then watering the newly planted seeds is not necessary.

Crop care

At proper care behind the crops, the first shoots will appear in 10-14 days.

“Fast” seeds, such as ryegrass, hatch first

Grass, especially in combined mixtures, grows and develops unevenly. Therefore, at first, voids will be visible on the lawn. An objective picture will begin to emerge only after 3-4 weeks.

Dense grass of emerald green color with proper lawn care is formed no earlier than a month after sowing

In dry weather, the young lawn will have to be watered every day, starting from the moment of planting. Newly emerged sprouts especially need watering; even the slightest drought threatens them with inevitable death.

When the lawn grass grows 8-10 cm, it is mowed for the first time. In this case, the length of the trimmed parts should not exceed 1.5-2 cm, that is, only the tips of the leaves are cut off. This allows you to minimize the stress received by young plants. The positive aspects of haircuts will be visible within a week: the formation of new growth buds will contribute to the rapid development of new shoots. The grass will begin to bush and cover the lawn area with a dense cover.

The further mode of mowing the lawn will depend on the species composition of the grass, time of year, and weather conditions. As a rule, haircuts are performed once every 5-7 days. In early spring and late autumn, the frequency of mowing decreases due to the slowdown in grass growth.

An experienced gardener-agronomist will tell you in more detail how to sow grass seeds for the lawn and show you in practice. Watch the video:

Almost every summer cottage you can see the lawn. It serves both as a family vacation spot and as part of the overall landscape composition. When you are just planning a lawn, you dream of thick, even grass that covers the ground in an even layer and creates the feeling of a green carpet. In reality it turns out differently. Inexperienced gardeners may have a lawn with bald spots, weeds, no grass cover at all at the edges, etc. Most often, unsuccessful sowing is to blame for this. The grass could have been sown at the wrong time, in an uneven layer, without preliminary preparation land, etc. Let's figure out what mistakes summer residents most often make at the sowing stage and how to plant lawn grass correctly so that it takes root and forms a good turf.

The most frequently asked question among summer residents is: how thick to sow grass for the lawn and what is the best way to do it. Let's start with the density of the crops.

The first criterion for a healthy lawn is a properly selected mixture of grasses. Today, both domestic and imported lawn mixtures are sold, and often the high price does not guarantee excellent seedlings. The grass should suit the climate of your area. We wrote about this in more detail in the article “”, so we will omit this question here.

Each package indicates the recommended seed consumption per square meter, but in this case You must also take into account the time of year during which you create the lawn. For example, when sowing in autumn, the manufacturer’s recommendations are followed. But in spring and summer, at least half is added to the norm, increasing seed consumption. During spring floods and snow melting, some of the seeds will go deep into the ground or be washed away with water and will not germinate. In summer, they give more seeds in anticipation of the heat, which has a detrimental effect on young shoots and can mow down up to half of the seedlings if some measures are not taken (more on this a little later).

The location of the lawn also influences the degree of sowing density. On hills, specially made uneven areas or lawns that go downhill, it is worth adding a little more seeds than the packaging recommends. At higher points, seeds will be washed out along with water to lower places during heavy rain, if it falls during sowing.

Sowing methods and their features

Now let’s figure out how to properly sow lawn grass. If with the norm per sq.m. Once you have decided, the second step is to scatter the grass evenly so that you don’t get too dense shoots in one place and “bald patches” in another.

When seeding a lawn, areas near the edge of the lawn, flower beds or paths are sifted thicker than all other areas. If this is done with a seeder, then go through it 2 times

The easiest way to do this is with a seeder, which itself will spread the mixture over the grass with perfect uniformity. But if neither you nor your friends have such a device, then you shouldn’t buy it just for the lawn. You can spread it evenly with your hands. To do this, the seeds are diluted with fine sand 1:1, i.e. if the grass consumption per meter is 50 g, then you need to add 50 g to it. sand.

Some gardeners create homemade seeders from metal or plastic cans, piercing the bottom with a hot nail and creating many holes

If the lawn is large in area, then prepare a sand-seed mixture for the entire lawn at once. They sow bread like in the old days: first along the prepared field, then across it. After this, they carefully loosen the soil with a rake to hide the grass under a layer of soil, and roll it with a heavy roller. If there is no skating rink, put on your skis and walk in them across the entire lawn, trampling meter by meter. You will, of course, surprise passers-by with your unusual appearance in shorts and skis, but the lawn will be compacted as it should.

If you are not sowing a lawn on a large area, but are creating a narrow strip, then you can use wide board, place it flat on the ground and trample on it. Then transfer to the next part of the lawn. Etc.

If you only have a heavy metal rake in your arsenal, it is better to stir the soil first and then sow lawn grass seeds into it

The sown seeds are raked with a fan rake, which is used to collect the mown grass. If you don’t have these, then wide metal or plastic models can rake the seeds too deeply or pull them into one heap. And your shoots will be uneven. In the absence of a fan rake, they sow a little differently: first they loosen the soil with a rake, then scatter the grass and immediately roll it down. The roller itself will press the seeds to the required depth and maintain uniformity of sowing.

How to choose the optimal sowing time?

Any summer resident knows that friendly and quick shoots are obtained only when the soil is moist and there is no heat. Therefore, before planting grass in your dacha in prepared soil, check the weather forecast for the week. If weather forecasters predict +25 and above, leave the seeds alone. They will still germinate poorly. Wait until the weather becomes rainy. Water lowers the temperature of the earth and accelerates the swelling of seeds. In spring and autumn you won’t have to wait long for such weather, but in the summer the wait can last for a month or a month and a half.

1. Wait until evening time (after 19.00).
2. Sprinkle all the soil using sprinkling method to wet it to a depth of at least 40 cm.
3. Wait 1.5-2 hours until the water is absorbed.
4. Scatter the seeds.
5. Loosen the soil with a fan rake.
6. Roll or compact with a board.
7. Mulch with peat and humus (half a centimeter layer).
8. Leave overnight. Re-water in the morning.

If the area of ​​the future lawn is small, you can spread it instead of mulch. non-woven material and press it from the edges with boards, bricks or stones. There will be no heat under the white spunbond, since part sun rays The light color of the fabric will come back. Covering will save the seeds from drying out and maintain air conditions. Every day is carried out directly over the covering material, which will freely allow moisture to pass inside. Remove the cover when the grass grows 2-3 cm, or when the hot weather changes to normal.

The soil is rolled with a roller before mulching, and not after, so that the peat layer does not put pressure on the grass, but only covers it from the hot sun

If you sow grass for the winter, on slightly frozen soil, then by spring the seeds will undergo stratification and sprout very early

Some wisdom of the sowing process can be gleaned from the video:

To achieve good germination, consider the following nuances:

1. Before sowing, the site must stand for at least 2 weeks to allow the soil to settle.
2. In early spring, grass sprouts in about 20 days, in summer – 7-8 days, in autumn – about 10 days.
3. The closer to autumn the lawn is made, the less it will sprout along with the grass.
4. If the soil on the site is good, do not dig the site deeply. Just turn it over top layer and clear it of weeds. This will make it easier for you to achieve flat surface, because the soil will not shrink.
5. If you divide the area under the lawn into squares and sow each part separately with a norm of seeds, it will be easier to achieve the same density.
6. The first week, watering is done manually, using a garden watering can with a sprayer. The hose hits the ground too hard, causing a crust to form in dry weather. And if you put on automatic sprinkling, it is more difficult to control whether the soil is evenly wetted.
7. Always buy seeds with a good supply, because if germination is poor, you will have to reseed empty seats, and if there is no grass left, then it is not always possible to buy exactly such a mixture. As a result, your lawn will have different shades of color.
8. Don't overdo it with fertilizers. If it’s above 30° outside, then you shouldn’t fertilize, otherwise the roots will burn.

The British believe that even with the most careful sowing and care, the grass will create a perfect, uniform surface only after 5 years. So don’t be upset if your lawn doesn’t live up to expectations in the first year. Any plant needs enough time to come into force. And a person can only speed up this process good care, timely watering and fertilizing.

So, you have decided to arrange a lawn on your summer cottage. The right decision, because neatly trimmed lawn grass is the basis of any landscape design. It will be the background against which you can create images that are pleasing to your eye - flower beds, alpine coaster, paths, gazebos and other attributes of a beautiful dacha.

But for the lawn to really fulfill this role, you need to know when to plant it and how to do it correctly. Let's take it in order.

When to plant a lawn

As for the time for sowing lawn grass, there is no strictly designated time frame. All gardeners agree on when not to plant a lawn - in winter. The rest of the year is quite suitable for this. However, each has its own pros and cons.

Planting a lawn in spring

Lawn grass, sown in spring, grows quickly and amicably.

However, the spring lawn will be more difficult to maintain. This is due to the fact that young, immature seedlings will have to grow simultaneously with aggressive weeds and compete with them. After all, by this time you will not have time to destroy them.

Also, spring sowings of lawn grass require much more and regular watering.

Planting a lawn in summer

Lawn seeded during the summer months also grows quickly. But if you plant it in the second half of summer, it will require less of your attention:

• firstly, the seeds are planted in well-warmed and moist soil,
• secondly, you got rid of the already grown weeds preparatory stage, and new ones will not have time to grow.

Planting a lawn in autumn

If you sow lawn grass at your dacha in the fall, it will next year thicker and more seasoned.

It is best to do this in September: the grass will have time to sprout and get stronger before the onset of frost, and it can be properly prepared for wintering.

Selecting lawn seeds

An equally important issue is the choice of herbal mixture. After all, it should not only correspond to the type of lawn you have chosen (sports, ground floor, etc.), but also be maximally adapted to the climatic conditions in your area.

For example, a mixture imported from Europe, where the climate is milder, may not survive our harsh winter. The most suitable in this regard are red fescue, thin bentgrass and meadow grass. Therefore, when choosing a mixture, give preference to the one in which these herbs predominate.

An important condition is the ability of grasses to reproduce vegetatively, since regular mowing of lawn grass eliminates the possibility of seeds ripening, and the prospect of re-seeding the lawn every year is unlikely to please anyone.

As for the number of seeds, do not forget that their consumption per 1 m 2 area is approximately 50 gr.

Choose grass seeds for your lawn that can reproduce vegetatively

Preparing the area for a lawn

As with all seeding operations, the area must be prepared before planting lawn grass. The more carefully you do this, the easier it will be to care for your lawn later. Preparing the site comes down to marking it, getting rid of weeds, digging and fertilizing the soil.

Marking

When marking, it is necessary to take into account the site plan. It is necessary to determine where flower beds, paths, gazebos, etc. will be located.

We remove weeds

After this, you need to start fighting weeds. The area needs to be treated with herbicides, and particularly stubborn weeds (spurge, burdock, etc.) should be treated again after 2 weeks.

It is important to note that spring grass is most susceptible to the effects of herbicides. Accordingly, it is better to carry out this part of the preparation in advance, around May, even if you then want to sow the lawn only in the fall. Since it is pointless to do this in the pre-winter time, since some of the ripened seeds can fall into the soil, safely overwinter there and sprout in the spring, significantly complicating your work in the future.

After the treated grass turns yellow and dries, it must be removed from the area, and also cleaned of remaining roots, stones and other debris, filled in holes, and smoothed out the bumps.

Digging

After removing all weeds, the soil must be thoroughly dug up. At the same time, weed control continues by removing all existing roots.

Also, when digging, we get rid of stones, branches and other debris.

Despite the fact that the seeds will not be sown deeply, the area must be dug to a depth of 20-25 cm. This is necessary so that the lawn grass can take root well without encountering obstacles.

The area for the lawn needs to be well dug up

Fertilizer application

If necessary, fertilize the soil during digging. The choice of fertilizer depends on the composition of the soil, the time of sowing and even the type of grass being sown.

This is how they add it to acidic soil. slaked lime(ordinary chalk is also perfect), in clay - humus, etc.

If sowing is carried out in the spring, then the emphasis should be on nitrogen fertilizers: they contribute rapid growth herbs. A lawn planted in the fall needs large quantities of potassium and phosphorus: they will strengthen the root system of the young lawn and help it survive the winter painlessly.

After all the described measures, the area is left alone for about a week so that the soil “matures out.” If new weeds have appeared during this time, they must be weeded out manually - herbicides can no longer be used.

Sowing lawn grass

Now all that remains is to wait for warm, windless weather, and you can proceed directly to sowing. To ensure even seed consumption, mentally divide the territory into several approximately equal sections, and then divide the prepared seeds into the same number of parts.

In order for the seeds to lie evenly, they need to be sown first along the plot, and then across. Of course, it is better to use a manual seeder: it will ensure uniform sowing and optimal immersion of seeds into the soil (1 - 1.5 cm). But in the absence of it, you can do everything manually - it will also be good, it will just take longer and be more troublesome.

After completing sowing, sprinkle the crops with soil, you can walk around the area with a rake. And then be sure to compact the soil! For this purpose, you can use a hand roller or other available devices - boards, logs, etc.

After sowing lawn grass, be sure to compact the soil

Only then lightly spray with a hose using a fine spray nozzle.

Crop care

First watering

In the first two weeks, the lawn must be watered regularly to ensure that the grass grows well. This is especially true in dry weather. Of course, weeds will also sprout well. But there is no need to rush to pull them out, as this can damage the undeveloped and fragile root system of the lawn grass. When watering, you need to use a sprayer and moisten the soil by 5-7 centimeters.

First mowing

About 1.5 months after sowing, the lawn will need to be mowed for the first time. In this case, it is better to use special scissors, and for the second and subsequent times - a lawn mower.

Machine mowing of the lawn should be done when it is well established.

We hope that these tips will help you do right choice when is it better to plant lawn grass in the country, and also to do it correctly and without mistakes.

A properly planted and grown lawn will serve you for a long time. But, wanting to get lawn grass on their plot, many, especially novice summer residents, are faced with many questions, for example: “How to choose and calculate the seeds?”, “When is it better to sow a lawn - in autumn or spring?”, “What should be the layout? ", "How to prepare the soil?", "How to care for the lawn?". We will try to answer these and some other questions in the article.

Did you know? The lawn is divided into decorative lawn and lawn with special purpose. Among them we can distinguish: sports, parterre, meadow, Moorish, mixed-grass.

How to choose the right lawn grass seeds

One of the most important factors for creating the right lawn with your own hands is the correct choice seed material. First of all, you should take into account the intended purpose of the lawn, because each type requires different grasses or grass mixtures. Although the main components of almost all such mixtures are unchanged (ryegrass, fescue, bluegrass and several others), they differ in the combination and ratio of varieties.

The choice will also determine when you can sow lawn grass, because different types have different frost resistance and growth rates (bluegrass, for example, grows slowly in the first years), what will be the height of the planned lawn at your dacha (fescue tolerates well short haircut), quality of turf (ryegrass has good turf), etc.

Different grass mixtures require different soils and may differ in seeding rates and other characteristics. All useful information you should look for it on the packaging and be sure to read it carefully before purchasing.

Ask the seller whether this or that mixture is suitable for your climate, when it is preferable to plant lawn grass - in spring or autumn. When choosing, take into account the characteristics of your site (what is the illumination, are there any groundwater etc.).

Important! Please note the availability of state or international certificates confirming the quality of the product.

Lawn layout

You can plan and plant a lawn in almost any corner of your property. Shade, sun, horizontal surface, slopes, sandy and clay soils are suitable. The only thing that will differ in each case is the amount of material and physical effort required to plant and grow a truly beautiful and green lawn. It is better if it is a sunny place where melt and rain waters do not stagnate.

Before you start sowing, it is better to think through and even sketch a diagram of the future lawn. Decide whether you will keep trees, create flower beds, or grow individual flowers. It is necessary to pre-plan the places where landscape design elements will be placed, since then difficulties may arise with mowing the grown lawn.

If you use a lawn mower, for convenience, when you sow lawn grass, leave a distance of about 1 meter between it and curbs, walls or fences. Also, do not plant a lawn under a single tree or shrub. Better use it for tree trunk circles decorative crumbs or decorate them with ground cover plants.

How to correctly calculate the number of seeds for planting

To calculate the seeding of the grass mixture for each a separate type herbs included in its composition, use the following formula, and the results are summarized. The seed sowing rate (kg/ha) is multiplied by the percentage of the amount of this species in the mixture and divided by the actual suitability of the seeds. Practice shows: in order to properly sow lawn grass with your own hands, you need to increase the seed consumption by two or even three times.

If you decide to sow only one type of grass, then simply follow the seeding rate of the selected crop. On average, you need to take 30 -50 g of seed per 1 m².

Important! If you are unable to correctly calculate the required number of seeds, you can try to find out the germination density of the variety at home. Select ~100 seeds and plant them at home, and check the results after a week (10 days).

When to plant lawn grass - autumn or spring

Answering the question “When to plant lawn grass – in spring or autumn?”, it should be noted that there is no consensus on the most appropriate time. Sowing is possible at any time from spring until frost. Some gardeners claim that grass planted in May grows better, others that it will green up faster in the summer, and still others are sure that the most best time for sowing it is autumn.

Just don’t go to extremes, don’t rush (sowing a lawn in the spring does not happen until the ground warms up) and don’t wait for snow. At autumn planting you need to time it correctly. Two options are considered optimal.

Either sow the lawn at the very beginning of autumn (then the grass will have time to sprout before frost, and you can cultivate it for wintering), or wait until the ground freezes, but before the snow (sowing in winter the material will pass stratification, will become resistant to diseases and will germinate in spring).

When people plant lawn grass in the spring, they must consider regular watering and weed removal, which is more difficult than planting in late summer. Many experienced specialists tend to consider this period optimal, since the soil is well warmed up and moistened, there are significantly fewer weeds than in spring, and the lawn has time to germinate well before frost begins.

As you can see, neither the season nor the air temperature at which you will sow the grass matters much; each option has its own disadvantages and advantages.

Did you know? The most famous and expensive lawn is the one located near the government building in Canberra (Australia). Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on its maintenance every year. Several dozen workers daily regulate its irrigation, taking into account temperature, air dryness and other criteria.

How to prepare the soil for planting lawn grass

Regardless of the time of sowing lawn grass, it is necessary to prepare the soil for it. This is one of the most important stages laying the lawn. Remove all debris, stones, branches, and uproot stumps from the site. Dig the soil to a depth of about 25 cm. Add sand to heavy soil, and clay soil to sandy soil. If fertility is low, you should use compost. Also get rid of weeds.

A week before sowing, use a complex mineral fertilizer and distribute it evenly over the area using a rake. Level the area, break up large lumps of earth. Use a shovel and rake. Level the soil again with a large board. This will help cut off the bumps and fill in the depressions.

Just before sowing, compact the soil using a hand roller or board (in this case, you need to move it around the site and move from one end to the other).

Important! Whenever you decide to arrange a lawn - in spring, summer or autumn - be sure to keep in mind that the area can only be compacted in dry weather, with dry soil. And only 2-3 days before sowing lawn grass, the selected area should be watered.

How to sow a lawn correctly: the process of planting lawn grass

The weather for sowing should be dry and windless. To distribute the seeds evenly, you should divide the area into square meters and sow as many seeds in each as is recommended for the grass or grass mixture you have chosen.

The seeds are embedded in the soil to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, first they are scattered lengthwise and then crosswise. If possible, use a manual seeder, it is more convenient, but you can also plant the lawn manually yourself. To prevent the seeds from being blown away by the wind, they can be sprinkled with a 1-centimeter layer of peat and rolled.

Lawn care at the dacha: how to grow a good and thick lawn

It is important to properly care for your lawn, otherwise it will begin to overgrow and fade. Watering and mowing play a significant role in this process.

Features of watering a country lawn

Immediately after sowing, if the soil is dry, you should water the area, but carefully, with weak pressure so as not to wash the seeds. During germination and formation of turf, make sure that the lawn does not dry out. Further watering should be regular, but take into account weather conditions.

It is also necessary to water it after cutting (to help it recover, give it a neat appearance and rich color) and feed it (to transform useful substances into a soluble form that is absorbed by the plant root system). Experts advise watering your lawn in the evening.