Where to buy grass seed in dublin?

mattb

I've just de-thatched my lawn with an electric rake, and it's now looking a bit thin and yellow. I reckon it could do with topseeding, but I've no idea where to by lawn seed in quantity. (As opposed to the little packets in the average DIY store)

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Matt.

GreeBo

B&Q and the others, Homebase, etc do larger bags, enough to cover 200+sqm
what size are you looking for?
You will need to put down something for this seed to grow in, I usuallu seed on to the newly raked/scarified ground, then cover with compost.give it a bit of a brush in to mix it and then lightly water it every day for 2 weeks.
Then give it a deeper water every 5 days or so.

mattb

Thanks - I'll have to have another look - last time I looked in Woodies / Atlantic / Homebase (haven't trid B&Q) they only had small packets for touch-up jobs (20 m sq.).

I reckon about 200 sq m is about right, but my experience with the small packets is that they grossly overestimate the coverage that you'll get. Guess I'll buy two big bags. ;-)

GreeBo

if you can afford it, why not!
I actually discovered that I was sowing the seed too densly, which was causing patches. When it first comes up it will look thin, but once each plant sprouts more than the one shoot it really fills in.
Maybe you have been spreading it too thickly also?
Remember to water like crazy for the first 2 weeks. light and often.

mattb

Could be I'm using too much alright - I was seeding an almost bare patch and ended up using what was supposed to be enough for 20Msq of over-seeding for no more than 4Msq! It came up looking like a nice thick lawn though! ;-)

How do you spread for even coverage? Will a fertilizer spreader do the job if I go across in both directions?

Also, is it appropraite to fertilize either before or after seeding?

Thanks for all the advice!

Matt.

GreeBo

mattb wrote:

How do you spread for even coverage? Will a fertilizer spreader do the job if I go across in both directions?

Best way is to actually mark out the rec'd area and measure what the box says should cover that and do it. Then you will see how dense the seeds should look on the ground.
It will look too thin, but it still comes up a treat once the other stems grow from the original plant.

mattb wrote:

Also, is it appropraite to fertilize either before or after seeding?

You should fertilize about 2 weeks before seeding, you dont want to risk burning the grass.. water in the fertilizer, not too much, but enough to work it into the soil. Then seed.
Be warned, you will need to be cutting the grass about 2/3 times a week...
try to never let it get so long that you are cutting more than 1/3 of its length off, if that means raising the mower so be it.
If you are cutting more off rake/gather up the cut grass, thats too much to leave on the soil.

good luck.

babaduck

We use a lawn spreader - just fill it with the seed & walk around. It distributes the seed far more evenly than chucking it down by hand (too much seed & you end up with "burnt" patches on your lawn... I have a nice one!!)

I maintain our lawn with Evergreen Complete & have found it to be fab - Atlantic have a great deal on for a box of feed & seed at €15.99 to cover 200sq.m - it's in a large purple box & might be made by Westland???

mattb

Thanks for all the advice - I'll let you know how it works out.