Sowing Shady Lawn Seed

It is possible to have a lush lawn in a shady area. All you need is lawn seed that is designed to trump shade.

We show you how easy it is to do. And you are not going to have to wait an eternity to see success either, as germination is quick (7 – 10 days) with a reasonable cover in 6 – 8 weeks.

The secret is soil prep

The area we wanted to seed with Mayford Shade Over was very compacted with poor soil, the result of trees and large shrubs with competing root systems and dense crowns casting lots of shade.

Water the shady area the day before to make your work easier.

Grab a garden fork and dig the soil over to about 15cm deep, removing old roots and stones.

Spread a generous layer of compost over the tilled area.

The next step is soil amendments in the form of superphosphate and Atlantic Bio Ganic Lawn fertiliser – the information on the bags will tell you how much of each you should use to cover the area you intend to lawn up.

Work everything into the soil and rake it to a fine tilth.

The seed for shady areas

The Shade Over lawn seed is packaged in a handy seed shaker box with full instructions on how to disperse it.

After seeding, use a steel rake to cover the seed with about 1cm of soil. Do not fret if some of it is still visible.

Tamp it down gently with the back of a spade to bring it into contact with the soil.

Water gently afterwards with a fine rose spray avoiding puddles. Keep the soil moist until germination.

Germination should take 7-10 days. This lawn will take a few months to reach full maturity.

Note:

Sometimes your lawn becomes patchy in the shade of the overhang of trees. This is easily fixable by inter-seeding the patches. The best time to do it is in the cooler months of autumn or spring. In the patchy areas, sow seed using the same method as above. You can use this lawn seed in other shady areas caused by walls, for example.