Basildon, England

Best weekend slot

Saturday 8am–8pm

Verdict: Good

rain earlier today, ground firm

Next mow

Today 8am–4pm

Verdict: Good

no rain since Monday, ground firm

How you feel about mowing

Sensible middle ground.

Petrol or battery. The baseline.

The next 10 days

Column height is how mowable the day is; the lighter band is the best stretch within it. The line is soil temperature at 6cm.

9°C — seeding

Soil at 6cm 17.9°C cooling to 16.3°C

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–4pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–4pmConfident

8am–4pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Monday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm11mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.96
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Thursday 3 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm10mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature
Temperature19°C
Good:Wind
Wind light17 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Friday 4 September: Good. 8am–2pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm

Friday 4 September · 8am–2pmConfident

8am–2pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm5mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
Good:Temperature
Temperature19°C
Good:Wind
Wind light20 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:wind

Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm5mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.95
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Sunday 6 September: Good. 10am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Sunday 6 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident

10am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm2mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
Good:Temperature
Temperature17°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Monday 7 September: Good. 8am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Monday 7 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

8am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm2mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. midday–2pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Tuesday 8 September · midday–2pmReasonably confident

midday–2pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm1mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.81
Good:Temperature
Temperature15°C
Good:Wind
Wind light14 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Wednesday 9 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm

Wednesday 9 September · 2pm–8pmReasonably confident

2pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.64
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light20 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:none

Thursday 10 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Thursday 10 September · 8am–8pmLow confidence this far out

8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.40
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light7 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm

Friday 11 September · 8am–8pmLow confidence this far out

8am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.66
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light7 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Soil temperature

16.9°C62°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.9°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

Almost every UK and Irish lawn is a ryegrass and fescue mix, whether it was sown or turfed. We assume that, and use9°C as the seeding threshold.

I know what grass I have

The differences are small. Ryegrass is the quickest off the mark; bluegrass is the slowest and wants the warmest soil. Everything else sits between.

Soil temperature at 6cm for reliable germination. Sources onthe method page.
SpeciesSoil tempDays
Perennial ryegrasslikely yours8°C5–10
Red / chewings fescuelikely yours8–10°C10–14
Tall fescue10–12°C10–14
Browntop bentColonial bentgrass10–12°C14–21
Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrass12–13°C14–28

What this means right now

  • Good: Seeding window open

    Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.9°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

  • Warning: Heat stress

    Thursday 3 September gets hot enough to stress the sward. Mow early or late, and raise the height.

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Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.