If you’ve moved into a new house, chances are you have a nice patch of dirt outside the back of your house. Moving house is expensive, so you could probably do without the expense and time needed to lay turf and it isn’t necessary. Now is the ideal time of year to grow grass from seed but there are a few pitfalls to watch out for.

Preparation
You need to dig over the whole garden, which you’d have to do for turf anyway. There’s no need to kill yourself trying to do it all in one weekend, so take a few weeks to get it done properly. Start by clearing away any weeds, existing grass and other vegetation or rubble. Now before you dig the ground over, take a good look at the soil you have. If it’s quite clay-like, then you’ll need to get some top soil in or nothing will grow. Unfortunately, it’s quite common if you’ve bought a new house. Dig the ground over and work in some good compost or manure.

Flatten The Ground
About a week before you’re ready to start seeding, rake over the ground first, removing any stones or vegetation that’s started to grow back, and trample the ground so that it’s fairly flat and even. Believe it or not, it’s better to do this with wellies than with a roller because your feet will find and deepen any soft patches. The last thing you want is to get a nice, flat lawn growing and then you find that patches sink when you stand on them.

Don’t Forget To Buy The Seeds
When you choose the grass seed, note there is actually a substantial difference in quality. There is a vast range of grass types, so decide what you want. The ‘best’ seed will be quite fine and with proper care will give the appearance of a landscaped posh garden. If you have children or the lawn is likely to be used a lot with parties and so on, try a harder-wearing seed containing dwarf ryegrass. If you want a mature, natural looking garden, try a wildflower lawnseed. Whatever your taste, you’ll need about one ounce per square yard and there are usually guidelines on the back of the packs anyway. Better too much than too little though!

Fertiliser
One or two days before seeding, use a good fertiliser on the ground. For the beginners, it doesn’t sound nice but fish, blood and bone fertiliser is great. Have another rake and flattening session.

How To Seed The Garden
At last, it’s time to sow the seeds. Simply walk up and down scattering the seeds as you go. If you want a really even coverage, divide the garden into four sections, divide the seed into four and do it that way. I’ll say it again, better too much than too little!

If you can, be lazy and time the seeding just before it rains, then it doesn’t need watering. Otherwise, get that watering can out.

Important Note: Cutting The Lawn
You’ll want to leave the grass some time to settle in. When it gets to two or three inches long, cut the tops of the grass with shears. Never mow the lawn to start with. If your garden’s quite large, you might want to use a lawnmower but only if it’s on a higher setting because we don’t want to cut it too short.

Don’t worry about weeds at first, they’ll disappear after the first few cuts when you mow it regularly (you will be mowing it regularly, right?)