Dorchester, England
Best weekend slot
Sunday 10am–5pm
Verdict: Good
no rain since Friday, ground firm
Next mow
Today midday–1pm
Verdict: Good
grass slightly damp — rain earlier today
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 17.4°C cooling to 15.2°C
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — ground firm — 43mm rain over the last week
Wednesday 2 September · 2pm–8pmConfident
2pm–8pm — ground firm — 43mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm43mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.93
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature17°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light14 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:ground firmness
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 firm46mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature18°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light19 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 5pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Friday 4 September · 5pm–8pmConfident
5pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm35mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature19°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light20 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:none
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 firm37mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Sunday 6 September: Good. 10am–5pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm
Sunday 6 September · 10am–5pmReasonably confident
10am–5pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Friday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm17mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.95
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature16°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Monday 7 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Monday 7 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident
8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm9mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.89
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Marginal. No — 0.5mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — 0.5mm of rain falling.
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Sunday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.73
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light14 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Wednesday 9 September: Good. 8am–8pm — wind light — 20 km/h
Wednesday 9 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident
8am–8pm — wind light — 20 km/h
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm17mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.57
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature13°C
- Marginal:Wind
- Wind light20 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:wind
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — 0.1mm of rain falling.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm14mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.28
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light5 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Friday 11 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 firm15mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.52
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature11°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Soil temperature
16.2°C61°F
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.2°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.
| Species | Soil temp | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Perennial ryegrasslikely yours | 8°C | 5–10 |
| Red / chewings fescuelikely yours | 8–10°C | 10–14 |
| Tall fescue | 10–12°C | 10–14 |
| Browntop bentColonial bentgrass | 10–12°C | 14–21 |
| Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrass | 12–13°C | 14–28 |
What this means right now
Good: Seeding window open
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.2°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.
Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.