Dover, Delaware
Best weekend slot
Sunday 10am–8pm
Verdict: Good
no rain since Saturday, ground firm
Next mow
Tomorrow 3pm–8pm
Verdict: Good
grass dry — 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. It crosses the seeding threshold inside this forecast.
12.5°C — seeding
Soil at 6cm 27.1°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — 0.4mm of rain falling.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — 0.4mm of rain falling.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in the record
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.48
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool24°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light8 km/h
Limiting factor:temperature
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 3pm–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today
Wednesday 2 September · 3pm–8pmConfident
3pm–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today
- Poor:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.72
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light10 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–11am — no rain since Tuesday, ground firm
Thursday 3 September · 8am–11amConfident
8am–11am — no rain since Tuesday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Tuesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.49
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 9am–11am — grass dry — dried off since a shower 5 hours ago
Friday 4 September · 9am–11amConfident
9am–11am — grass dry — dried off since a shower 5 hours ago
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm6mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.45
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:grass wetness
Saturday 5 September: Good. 9am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm
Saturday 5 September · 9am–8pmReasonably confident
9am–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 0.94
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature17°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light20 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Sunday 6 September: Good. 10am–8pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm
Sunday 6 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident
10am–8pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Saturday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature17°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light16 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Monday 7 September: Good. 10am–8pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm
Monday 7 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident
10am–8pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Saturday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature16°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–3pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm
Tuesday 8 September · 8am–3pmReasonably confident
8am–3pm — no rain since Saturday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Saturday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.90
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature18°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light14 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.89
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light8 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm7mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.62
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light21 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Soil temperature
83°F28.3°C
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Too warm to seed — the soil is heat-stressed. Wait for it to cool.
Most cool-season lawns in the northern US and Canada are bluegrass, tall fescue, or a mix of the two. We assume that, and use12.5°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 ryegrass | 8°C | 5–10 |
| Red / chewings fescue | 8–10°C | 10–14 |
| Tall fescuelikely yours | 10–12°C | 10–14 |
| Browntop bentColonial bentgrass | 10–12°C | 14–21 |
| Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrasslikely yours | 12–13°C | 14–28 |
What this means right now
Warning: Too warm to seed
Too warm to seed — the soil is heat-stressed. Wait for it to cool.
Warning: Heat stress
Tuesday 1 September gets hot enough to stress the sward. Mow early or late, and raise the height.
Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.