As the days get shorter and the garden begins to go into dormancy, autumn is the best time to sow lawn seed if you want great results and more enjoyment from your garden. Having done the hard work of preparing the site in the summer, sowing seed is relatively easy – but choosing the wrong type of seed can undo all your hard work, say the UK’s number one brand of lawn seed, Johnsons Lawn Seed.
Before you shop for lawn seed, says Johnsons Lawn Seed’s Guy Jenkins, it’s vital that you decide first how much use – or abuse it’s likely to get…
If you know you’re going to use your lawn for playing outdoor games and sports and hosting regular family barbecues, you need to aim for an amenity lawn, made up of mixtures that contain hard wearing ryegrass. If you want your lawn to be the envy of all to see, second only to the local golf course – you’ll need to employ mixtures that feature bents or fescues.
Choosing your seed
Looking at the Johnsons Lawn Seed range, it couldn’t be easier to see what type of lawn you’ll be aiming for – and which breeds of grass are included – simply by just looking on the packet.
For amenity lawns, products available with ryegrass include Tuffgrass, General Purpose, Quick Lawn, Quick Fix, After Moss, Any Time, and The 1. Johnsons Lawn Seed’s Luxury Lawn and Shady Place are most suited to ornamental use as they eschew ryegrass for close cropping bents and fescues. Bestselling Quick Lawn actually features both types of grasses so it is possible to have the best of both worlds.
How much seed do I need?
Each of Johnsons mixtures cover different areas, due to the nature of the unique combinations of grass plants contained within. On the pack you will find the total area coverable in metres squared, so before you head into the garden centre, first check how many square metres you need to cover. Most lawns are not a precise geometric shape of course, but the following guidelines should help:
- For circular lawns measure the diameter at its widest point
- For triangular lawns measure the base and the height by measuring from the middle of the base to the tip of the triangle
- For oval lawns measure its overall length and its width at the widest point
Taking Johnsons Lawn Seed’s Quick Lawn for example, 250g covers up to 10 m (RRP £5.49), 500g covers up to 20 sq. metres (RRP £9.49), 1.5kg covers up to 60 sq. metres (RRP £22.99) and 5kg covers up to 200 sq. metres (RRP £51.99).
Varieties featured within the mix include Fine-leaved Dwarf Perennial Ryegrass, Strong and Slender Creeping Red Fescue together with a special GroMax lawn seed dressing. The Red Fescue and Ryegrass varieties give a fine appearance with added drought and flood resistance. The addition of GroMax will not only spur seeds on to establish quicker, it will also add extra nourishment to the root system – ideal for poorer quality soils.
Recent advances in lawn seed
To lessen the chances of purchasing a blend that has been bulked out with unsuitable agricultural ryegrasses, it used to be that one should simply avoid mixtures containing ryegrass altogether. However, with recent advances in breeding by Johnsons Lawn Seed, who have always made a point of keeping agricultural varieties out of its products, consumers can enjoy even greater confidence. In fact the modern ryegrasses developed by the company are now of such high quality that one would be foolish not to employ them in the creation of an amenity lawn. New Green Lawn Technology perennial ryegrasses used in mixes such as Quick Lawn, Tuffgrass, Quick Fix and General Purpose mean faster germination and establishment, the ability to sow at temperatures as low as 3°C, improved colour, better drought tolerance and also less watering and fertilising – so it doesn’t take a seed scientist to work out the benefits provided by the new breeds!
Find out more
The Johnsons Lawn Seed website, www.johnsonslawnseed.com, has a wealth of hints and tips to help find the right grass seed for any garden, whilst also showing the additional benefits to using each blend.
For more information, interviews or images please contact:
Kimberley Hornby & Robbie Cumming, DLF/Johnsons Lawn Seed PR Team, Hornby Whitefoot PR
Kimberley Hornby Tel: 01858 681122 Email: kimberley@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk
Robbie Cumming Tel: 07765251173 Email: robbie@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk