Peterborough, England

Best weekend slot

Saturday 8am–8pm

Verdict: Good

rain earlier today, ground firm

Next mow

Today 8am–9am

Verdict: Good

no rain since Monday, ground soft in places

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 17.2°C cooling to 14.9°C

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 10am–midday — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Wednesday 2 September · 10am–middayConfident

10am–midday — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Monday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places50mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.92
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light11 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 firm51mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
Good:Temperature
Temperature18°C
Good:Wind
Wind light11 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Friday 4 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 26mm rain over the last week

Friday 4 September · 2pm–8pmConfident

2pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 26mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places26mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
Good:Temperature
Temperature20°C
Good:Wind
Wind light21 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 firm14mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.85
Good:Temperature
Temperature13°C
Good:Wind
Wind light11 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 firm3mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light12 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 firm2mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.90
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light17 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–midday — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm

Tuesday 8 September · 8am–middayReasonably confident

8am–midday — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm2mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.74
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light15 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:none

Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — 0.4mm of rain falling.

Wednesday 9 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 0.4mm of rain falling.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places13mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.60
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Marginal:Wind
Wind light19 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Thursday 10 September: Good. midday–8pm — ground soft in places — 19mm rain over the last week

Thursday 10 September · midday–8pmLow confidence this far out

midday–8pm — ground soft in places — 19mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places19mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.37
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighbours

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 19mm rain over the last week

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

8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 19mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places19mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.53
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light5 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Soil temperature

16.5°C62°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.5°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 16.5°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

  • Warning: Heat stress

    Sunday 6 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.