Carlisle, England

Best weekend slot

Saturday 8am–8pm

Verdict: Good

rain earlier today, ground firm

Next mow

Tomorrow midday–4pm

Verdict: Good

grass dry — rain earlier today

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 15.6°C cooling to 12.5°C

Wednesday 2 September: Marginal. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.

Wednesday 2 SeptemberConfident

No — 0.1mm of rain falling.

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass wetrain 5 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm19mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Thursday 3 September: Good. midday–4pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Thursday 3 September · midday–4pmConfident

midday–4pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm21mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light20 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Friday 4 September: Good. 1pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 27mm rain over the last week

Friday 4 September · 1pm–8pmConfident

1pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 27mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 4 hours ago
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places27mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.67
Good:Temperature
Temperature13°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:ground firmness

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 firm28mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.52
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°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: Not worth it. No — 0.7mm of rain falling.

Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.7mm of rain falling.

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass wetraining now
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places27mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.80
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Monday 7 September: Good. 9am–11am — grass dry — rain earlier today

Monday 7 September · 9am–11amReasonably confident

9am–11am — grass dry — rain earlier today

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places30mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.53
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light15 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–10am — grass slightly damp — rain earlier today

Tuesday 8 September · 8am–10amReasonably confident

8am–10am — grass slightly damp — rain earlier today

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft41mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.40
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Wednesday 9 September: Good. midday–8pm — ground soft — 46mm rain over the last week

Wednesday 9 September · midday–8pmReasonably confident

midday–8pm — ground soft — 46mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft46mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.28
Good:Temperature
Temperature10°C
Good:Wind
Wind light21 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Thursday 10 September: Good. 9am–8pm — barely growing — growth potential 0.20

Thursday 10 September · 9am–8pmLow confidence this far out

9am–8pm — barely growing — growth potential 0.20

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places46mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.20
Good:Temperature
Temperature10°C
Good:Wind
Wind light3 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:growth

Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 39mm rain over the last week

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

8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 39mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places39mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.36
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light14 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Soil temperature

14.1°C57°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 14.1°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 14.1°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

  • Worth watching: Ground still soft

    41mm rain over the last week. A mower will mark it, and a ride-on will rut it.

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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.