London, Ontario

Best weekend slot

Sunday 10am–8pm

Verdict: Good

no rain since Friday, ground firm

Next mow

Tomorrow 11am–2pm

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. It crosses the seeding threshold inside this forecast.

12.5°C — seeding

Soil at 6cm 23.0°C cooling to 0.0°C

Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — cool, 25°C.

Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident

No — cool, 25°C.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Monday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm23mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.69
Marginal:Temperature
Cool24°C
Good:Wind
Wind light6 km/h

Limiting factor:temperature

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 11am–2pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Wednesday 2 September · 11am–2pmConfident

11am–2pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm23mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.64
Marginal:Temperature
Temperature22°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 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 Wednesday, ground firm

Thursday 3 September · 8am–11amConfident

8am–11am — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm24mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.84
Marginal:Temperature
Temperature19°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:none

Friday 4 September: Good. 4pm–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Friday 4 September · 4pm–8pmConfident

4pm–8pm — grass dry — rain earlier today

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm26mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

8am–8pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm34mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.91
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 — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Sunday 6 September · 10am–8pmReasonably confident

10am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm34mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 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 Friday, ground firm

Monday 7 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

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

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm16mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.92
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Tuesday 8 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

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

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 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 dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.88
Good:Temperature
Temperature13°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h

Limiting factor:none

Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.

Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — ground frozen.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm11mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.96
Good:Temperature
Temperature20°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Soil temperature

23.2°C74°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 23.2°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°C.

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.

Soil temperature at 6cm for reliable germination. Sources onthe method page.
SpeciesSoil tempDays
Perennial ryegrass8°C5–10
Red / chewings fescue8–10°C10–14
Tall fescuelikely yours10–12°C10–14
Browntop bentColonial bentgrass10–12°C14–21
Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrasslikely yours12–13°C14–28

What this means right now

  • Good: Seeding window open

    Seeding conditions are open — soil is 23.2°C at 6cm and holding above 12.5°C.

  • Warning: Heat stress

    Wednesday 2 September gets hot enough to stress the sward. Mow early or late, and raise the height.

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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.