Doncaster, England

Best weekend slot

Sunday 10am–8pm

Verdict: Good

rain earlier today, ground firm

Next mow

Tomorrow 10am–8pm

Verdict: Good

dried off since a shower 3 hours ago, 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 16.8°C cooling to 14.8°C

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

Wednesday 2 SeptemberConfident

No — 0.1mm of rain falling.

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Monday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places46mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light12 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Thursday 3 September: Good. 10am–8pm — dried off since a shower 3 hours ago, ground firm

Thursday 3 September · 10am–8pmConfident

10am–8pm — dried off since a shower 3 hours ago, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 3 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm54mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
Good:Temperature
Temperature18°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:none

Friday 4 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 35mm rain over the last week

Friday 4 September · 2pm–8pmConfident

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

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places35mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.94
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light14 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed

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 0.82
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

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 firm26mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature
Temperature15°C
Good:Wind
Wind light13 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:none

Monday 7 September: Good. 8am–2pm — no rain since Sunday, ground firm

Monday 7 September · 8am–2pmReasonably confident

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

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Sunday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm23mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.80
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light18 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–11am — ground soft in places — 20mm rain over the last week

Tuesday 8 September · 8am–11amReasonably confident

8am–11am — ground soft in places — 20mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places20mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.67
Good:Temperature
Temperature13°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

Wednesday 9 September: Good. No — 3.5mm of rain falling.

Wednesday 9 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 3.5mm of rain falling.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground saturated37mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.43
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Thursday 10 September: Good. 11am–8pm — ground soft — 51mm rain over the last week

Thursday 10 September · 11am–8pmLow confidence this far out

11am–8pm — ground soft — 51mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft51mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.38
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighbours

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–2pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Friday 11 September · 8am–2pmLow confidence this far out

8am–2pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places50mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.49
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Soil temperature

15.5°C60°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 15.5°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 15.5°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

  • Worth watching: Ground still soft

    37mm 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.