Correct way to use horticultural fleece over new grass

[russellpeters]

Hello Forum Members,

What is the correct way to use horticultural fleece? Can I just lay it on the ground and secure the sheet at the edges? Or should I fix the fleece so that it is held a few cm off the ground? (for e.g. by using pipes, timber or string tied between fence posts)

On the 1st of October I sowed grass seeds in my small (25 meter square) garden. Before sowing I prepared the soil in the recommended way and I used the correct type and quantity of grass seeds for my garden soil and aspect.

I would like to use horticultural fleece to support the tufts of grass that have appeared in many places as well as encourage the seeds to germinate where the soil is still completely bare.

Also has anybody used this product called Thermacrop? ( http://www.garden-netting.co.uk/acatalog/Thermacrop.html ) Is it any better than standard fleece?

 

[Deleted2797112]

Unless you've got birds eating the seed (for which I'd have used nets), I wouldn't bother. Fleece will reduce the light level for the seedlings that have germinated and weaken them. This late, I'd say pretty much anything that was going to germinate has already done so.

 

[wrathkeg]

I sowed a lawn about the same time as you (maybe a week or so earlier) last year and didn't protect it with anything. Almost as soon as it germinated it was vigorously trampled by three stray dogs for about 3 hours. Even so, it has been fine. So unless I wanted a bowling green - and maybe even if I did - I wouldn't bother with any cover.

 

[russellpeters]

Thanks for your answers.

I am a bit confused. If horticultural fleece is unnecessary why is it recommended in almost all the online articles for establishing a lawn from seed? Am I missing something?

I have been away for the past 5 days and will return to my home and garden tomorrow. Before I left, due to lack of time, I hurriedly draped the lawn area with fleece with just the edges weighed down using bricks or heavy pieces of timber. Tomorrow I will come to know what the state of my garden is and I will report back accordingly.

Thanks.

 

[Deleted2797112]

Thanks for your answers.

I am a bit confused. If horticultural fleece is unnecessary why is it recommended in almost all the online articles for establishing a lawn from seed? Am I missing something?

I have been away for the past 5 days and will return to my home and garden tomorrow. Before I left, due to lack of time, I hurriedly draped the lawn area with fleece with just the edges weighed down using bricks or heavy pieces of timber. Tomorrow I will come to know what the state of my garden is and I will report back accordingly.

Thanks.

The only places I've seen it mentioned do so as an alternative to nets to keep birds from eating the seed. I certainly wouldn't leave fleece lying on top of newly-sprouted grass seedlings.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Unless you've got birds eating the seed (for which I'd have used nets), I wouldn't bother.

Too late now, but did I read once that another idea is to make the seeds wet, so that they start to germinate, and then sow, 'cos birds won't go for them then?

Or am I imaginifying that?

 

[wrathkeg]

I am a bit confused. If horticultural fleece is unnecessary why is it recommended in almost all the online articles for establishing a lawn from seed? Am I missing something?

It's quite possible there's evidence it leads to better results. But there again a lot of gardening advice gets passed along without anyone questioning it, and without any good evidence in its favour. So I just described what I did, apparently without any harmful effects.

 

[kbdiy]

I think fleece is really designed to protect from frost rather than keeping the birds off - for which I would use netting rather than fleece. Also I think it would be better suspended slightly above the area not laid directly on it.

 

[russellpeters]

Unfortunately it seems that my first foray into the world of gardening has not been a success. Lo and behold my patchy lawn!

Untitled

• russellpeters
• 16 Oct 2013
• 1

Where there is grass it is growing quite well. This is just 1 week after the first shoots shot up through the soil. However the bare patches have almost no grass at all.

I am not sure where I went wrong. Because of the extremes (lots of grass vs. no grass) I am inclined to think that I did not prepare the soil correctly or sow the seeds as evenly as I thought I did.

I did overseed and used about 100 g/m2 instead of the recommended 70 g/m2. I bought the seed from a reputed manufacturer (Lawn UK). The seeds were a composition of 3 grass varieties - 50% dwarf perennial ryegrass, 40% slender creeping red fescue, 10% bentgrass.

I put in new topsoil from a reputed seller (Springbridge) and the soil did look, feel and smell like good topsoil so I am positive the problem does not lie there.

I had quite a bit of seed left over. I mixed it with sieved soil and spread it i the bare patches but because it is quite late in the season I do not expect this 2nd round to germinate.

Ah well... I will let the lawn be for the next 4-5 months (with the mandatory mowing at the end of 6-7 weeks) and then will probably start all over again.

 

[russellpeters]

Oh! Regarding the original discussion from the replies on this thread and from some more reading online I have concluded that:

(a) Horticultural fleece is useful but much more so in persistent cold weather (less than 5 degrees).
(b) Above 5 degrees it is probably better to let the grass be as it is to get as much sunlight as possible.
(c) Fleece also protects against persistent strong winds. However my garden is tiny and relatively sheltered by walls on all 4 sides so this is less of an issue.
(d) The best way to lay the fleece (especially the heavier 30 gsm version) over the grass is to have it just 1-2 cm above the grass supported as much as possible by a frame or stakes or ropes/string tied between opposite fence panels.
(e) The corner of my garden has a large evergreen bay laurel tree that sheds leaves throughout the year but especially so in cold, dry, windy weather. To prevent the leaves from accumulating on the new grass (it is difficult to blow or rake these leaves) I have put a pond net over the grass that will allow me (with the assistance of one more person) merely lift the net off the grass every week to get rid of the leaves).

Whew!

 

[wrathkeg]

Where there is grass it is growing quite well. This is just 1 week after the first shoots shot up through the soil. However the bare patches have almost no grass at all.

It may look like that for months over the winter. Certainly mine did, and is now a healthy, complete lawn. You could always overseed at some point if you're concerned. For now, I think you should marvel at just how much green you have in one week, given that you just sprinkled on some relatively inexpensive seed. In October.

 

[Deleted2797112]

Oh! Regarding the original discussion from the replies on this thread and from some more reading online I have concluded that:

(a) Horticultural fleece is useful but much more so in persistent cold weather (less than 5 degrees).
(b) Above 5 degrees it is probably better to let the grass be as it is to get as much sunlight as possible.
(c) Fleece also protects against persistent strong winds. However my garden is tiny and relatively sheltered by walls on all 4 sides so this is less of an issue.
(d) The best way to lay the fleece (especially the heavier 30 gsm version) over the grass is to have it just 1-2 cm above the grass supported as much as possible by a frame or stakes or ropes/string tied between opposite fence panels.
(e) The corner of my garden has a large evergreen bay laurel tree that sheds leaves throughout the year but especially so in cold, dry, windy weather. To prevent the leaves from accumulating on the new grass (it is difficult to blow or rake these leaves) I have put a pond net over the grass that will allow me (with the assistance of one more person) merely lift the net off the grass every week to get rid of the leaves).

Whew!

I still don't understand. Who seeds a lawn when the weather is less than 5 degrees?

As for the rest of it, grass is tough. It doesn't need mollycoddling.

Your bare patches just look like uneven seeding to me, or perhaps you fed the birds for a few days until the seeds started germinating. Re-seed the bare patches in the Spring and you'll soon have a full lawn - net to keep the birds off. Make sure you use the same seed.

 

[russellpeters]

I still don't understand. Who seeds a lawn when the weather is less than 5 degrees?

As for the rest of it, grass is tough. It doesn't need mollycoddling.

Your bare patches just look like uneven seeding to me, or perhaps you fed the birds for a few days until the seeds started germinating. Re-seed the bare patches in the Spring and you'll soon have a full lawn - net to keep the birds off. Make sure you use the same seed.

Because the garden is tiny the seeds work out to be very cheap so I decided to take a punt and seed the remaining seed anyway. The temperature here in London ranges from a minimum of 5 degrees to a maximum of about 14-15 degrees so I suppose there is still a tiny chance that they might germinate.

I will follow the rest of your advice when I reseed in spring.

Thanks Ceres.