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Q: My lawn seed grew weeds.

Diagnosis:

This is a common problem and occurs for a couple of reasons:

• Firstly if you have sown a new lawn you may not have sown enough seed to cover the whole area of you lawn.
• Otherwise it could be because your lawn has become stressed at some stage this could because of erratic mowing - i.e. mowing too low (scalping the lawn) or not often enough - causing the grass to have to compete with itself for food and water. Alternatively your lawn may have become to wet or too dry causing the grass to die and weeds to grow in the bare patches
• Choose a high quality lawn seed in which weeds will be highly unlikely to grow due to the fact that these lawn seeds pass a purity and germination test. Tui does not accept any seed into our store without a test that guarantees at least 99% purity of seed. The last 1% is often inert matter such as seed husks.
• A strong, healthy turf will resist weed invasion. Regular mowing, adequate watering and the correct application of fertilisers will assist with this.
• Make sure that you sow the correct amount of lawn seed, if you apply too little, patches will occur.

Q: My lawn seed is slow to germinate.

Diagnosis:

This is a common problem. It may be because you have chosen a coated grass seed and these are slower to germinate but produce a more reliable lawn eventually. Or it may be because birds ate the seeds, or it could have been because your seed may have become too dry or wet. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully on the packet when sowing.

• This is a common complaint with coated seed, which takes much longer to germinate than uncoated seed. Most take up to 2 weeks to get started, however specialty seeds such as Tui Shady Places and Tui Hot & Dry blends can take up to 2 months to get a decent strike. This is due to the seed variety. Some patience is required for the slower germinating varieties, but once established it will do well.
• Time of planting – it is important to realise that cooler weather slows the germination process. Seeds need warm and moist conditions to germinate more quickly.
• Variable watering patterns have a big effect. If it is soaking and then really dries out, the root follicles will dry out and die. The lawn needs to be kept moist (not wet) at all times with a fine spray until germination in completed. Saturaid will keep moisture near the seeds to help with germination.
• Use Tui lawn seed as it is tested for germination before and after it is coated to ensure a high strike rate.