Cheltenham, England

Best weekend slot

Sunday 10am–8pm

Verdict: Good

rain earlier today, ground firm

Next mow

Today 8am–10am

Verdict: Good

ground soft in places — 34mm rain over the last week

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 16.8°C cooling to 15.0°C

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–10am — ground soft in places — 34mm rain over the last week

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–10amConfident

8am–10am — ground soft in places — 34mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places34mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.92
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Thursday 3 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 35mm rain over the last week

Thursday 3 September · 2pm–8pmConfident

2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 35mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places35mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
Good:Temperature
Temperature17°C
Good:Wind
Wind light13 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighbours

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Friday 4 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 22mm rain over the last week

Friday 4 September · 2pm–8pmConfident

2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 22mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places22mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
Good:Temperature
Temperature19°C
Good:Wind
Wind light22 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places24mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.81
Good:Temperature
Temperature10°C
Good:Wind
Wind light4 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Sunday 6 September: Good. 10am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Sunday 6 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident

10am–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 wellgrowth potential 0.99
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light14 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 Sunday, ground firm

Monday 7 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

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

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Sunday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm10mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.82
Good:Temperature
Temperature13°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.

Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.3mm of rain falling.

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass wetraining now
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm9mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.65
Good:Temperature
Temperature13°C
Good:Wind
Wind light12 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — 0.7mm of rain falling.

Wednesday 9 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.7mm of rain falling.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places20mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.47
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Marginal:Wind
Wind light21 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Thursday 10 September: Good. 9am–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

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

9am–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places24mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.28
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light3 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 24mm rain over the last week

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

8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 24mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places24mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.53
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Soil temperature

15.8°C60°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 15.8°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 15.8°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

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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.