Topeka, Kansas
Best weekend slot
Monday 10am–midday
Verdict: Good
barely growing — growth potential 0.18
Next mow
Tomorrow 8am–9am
Verdict: Good
barely growing — growth potential 0.10
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 33.8°C cooling to 0.0°C
Tuesday 1 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.16.
Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.16.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.16
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress35°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light15 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.10
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–9amConfident
8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.10
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.10
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 3 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.
Thursday 3 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.08
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light15 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 4 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.06.
Friday 4 SeptemberConfident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.06.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.06
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool25°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Saturday 5 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.03.
Saturday 5 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.03.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.03
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress27°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light13 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Sunday 6 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.
Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident
No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain in over a week
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.04
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool26°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light6 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Monday 7 September: Good. 10am–midday — barely growing — growth potential 0.18
Monday 7 September · 10am–middayReasonably confident
10am–midday — barely growing — growth potential 0.18
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.18
- Poor:Temperature
- Cool23°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light18 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:growth
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.29
Tuesday 8 September · 8am–11amReasonably confident
8am–11am — growing slowly — growth potential 0.29
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm2mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Growth
- Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.29
- Poor:Temperature
- Temperature21°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light12 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:growth
Wednesday 9 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Wednesday 9 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm4mm rain over the last week
- Poor:Growth
- Barely growinggrowth potential 0.12
- Poor:Temperature
- Heat stress30°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light17 km/h
Limiting factor:growth
Thursday 10 September: Not worth it. No — ground frozen.
Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out
No — ground frozen.
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm4mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.78
- Marginal:Temperature
- Temperature17°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light17 km/h
Limiting factor:none
Soil temperature
93°F33.8°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.
Worth watching: Growth has stalled
The lawn is hard and barely growing. Cutting it now takes more than it gives — leave it longer and wait for rain.
Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.