Lawn seeds: can you sow too much?

A beautiful green lawn should not be missing in any garden, whether as an ornamental lawn or a play area for romping children. Not only the type of lawn is important, but also the amount sown. We answer the question of whether you can sow too much lawn seeds.

Large amounts harm

Some hobby gardeners let themselves be guided by the motto "A lot helps a lot" when creating a lawn, in order to perhaps get to a beautiful, green and dense lawn more quickly. However, this principle should not be taken into account when sowing lawn seeds. Only with a correct dosage of the seed will a sustainable and very robust lawn area develop over the long term. On the other hand, if you sow too many lawn seeds, this can have serious consequences, because a grass plant measuring 8 x 8 cm grows from one seed:

• young seedlings compete for water, nutrients and light
• Plant roots get little air
• Obstruction of the plants to one another during development and growth
• increased seedling death
• Formation of increased thatch
• as a result, poorer ventilation of the soil and the lawn area
• The lawn has to be scarified frequently
• sometimes changing the composition of the lawn mix
• because some varieties are more competitive than others
• This also changes the properties of the mixture (load capacity, etc.)

In addition, however, too little application of the corresponding seeds has a decisive effect on the creation of a lawn, for example

• bald spots in the lawn
• larger spaces between individual grass plants
• rapid spread of weeds such as horn clover, dandelion or daisy

For the reasons mentioned above, it is therefore important to know the exact amount of lawn seeds required.

Note: Most lawn mixtures mainly consist of two different types of grass, the meadow bluegrass (Poa pratensis) and the German ryegrass (Lolium perenne). The mixing ratio is different depending on the use.

Calculate the ideal amount

The individual manufacturers give instructions on how to use the amount on their packaging so that you do not sow too much lawn seeds. However, it must be said that not every lawn mixture is created equal here. As a rule, 30 to 40 g per square meter are specified depending on the type of lawn:

• Sports and play lawns an average of 30 g per square meter
• Ornamental lawn 25 g per square meter
• to repair gaps 5 g per square meter

In addition, the manufacturer's information can vary, especially in the case of seeds of inferior quality, i.e. cheaper varieties, often larger quantities are required because the germination rate is low. In general, the following formula should be used when calculating the ideal amount of seed:

Sown area in square meters x seed quantity in g per square meter (to be found on the packaging) = required seed quantity

Here is an example: 100 square meters of area x 30 g of seeds per square meter = 3000 g

You should not use more seeds for this area either.

Note: Not only the ideal amount of seeds is important for success, but also the right time to sow. The floor temperature should always be above 10 ° C. The months of April / May and August / September are ideal for this.

Right technique

Even with the wrong sowing technique, you may not be able to spread the lawn seeds over the entire area and you will sow too little or too much in isolated areas. Therefore, when sowing, you should consider the following:

• Divide the area into three or four pieces
• Spreading with spreader
• set this correctly
• Move along with it bit by bit
• Finally, drive across the surface again in a transverse direction
• Lightly distribute small piles of seeds with a rake
• go backwards when spreading by hand
• evenly distribute the seeds with a swing

Note: Work in lawn seeds only lightly with the rake, do not cover with soil (light germs). Then press down well with a roller, alternatively kick it down with a board.

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