Shaded Lawn

Thank you for your question. The minimum soil temperature we would recommend for uniform germination would be a soil temperature of 9 degrees centigrade although 12-15 degrees centigrade would give you a far more assured result. On the basis that the top 1 - 2cm of the soil were you should be aiming to place the seed will track the ambient air temperature by approximately 2 -3 degrees centigrade then at average ambient air temperature of 12 degrees would be your minimum air temperature. Typically in the UK these conditions are reached in early to mid-April. Remember though that if you are sowing a shades area the temperature are likely to rise more slowly. Our advice would be that if you can wait then with regards sowing an area in a shady spot in the UK, then hold off until late April or early May. However if you have to or want to get the area sown then you can sow in early April, but be mindful that the seed may take longer to germinate. It will come to no harm while it waits for soil temperatures to rise. If you do sow early and germination is taking a while be mindful that so long as you are getting some rainy days a lack of germination is most likely due to low temperature rather than lack of moisture, don’t be tempted to overwater the area.