Wichita, Kansas

Best weekend slot

Nothing doing

Verdict: Not worth it

conditions never quite get there.

Tomorrow morning is your first decent window.

Next mow

Tomorrow 8am–9am

Verdict: Good

barely growing — growth potential 0.13

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 33.3°C cooling to 0.0°C

Tuesday 1 September: Not worth it. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.15.

Tuesday 1 SeptemberConfident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.15.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.15
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress29°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.13

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–9amConfident

8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.13

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.13
Poor:Temperature
Cool26°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts at first light

Limiting factor:growth

Thursday 3 September: Good. 8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.12

Thursday 3 September · 8am–9amConfident

8am–9am — barely growing — growth potential 0.12

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.12
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress26°C
Good:Wind
Wind light13 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts at first light

Limiting factor:growth

Friday 4 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.

Friday 4 SeptemberConfident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.08.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.08
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress26°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Saturday 5 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.

Saturday 5 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.04.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.04
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress29°C
Good:Wind
Wind light14 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Sunday 6 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.02.

Sunday 6 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.02.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.02
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress30°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Monday 7 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.01.

Monday 7 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.01.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.01
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress32°C
Good:Wind
Wind light13 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Tuesday 8 September: Good. No — barely growing, growth potential 0.01.

Tuesday 8 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — barely growing, growth potential 0.01.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.01
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress32°C
Good:Wind
Wind light15 km/h

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 dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.01
Poor:Temperature
Heat stress32°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 dryno rain in the record
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm0mm rain over the last week
Poor:Growth
Barely growinggrowth potential 0.18
Poor:Temperature
Cool25°C
Good:Wind
Wind light20 km/h

Limiting factor:growth

Soil temperature

96°F35.4°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.

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

  • 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.

One email when the app is ready, and nothing else. Unsubscribe in one click. See the privacy notice.

Forecast from Open-Meteo, refreshed hourly. Soil temperature is modelled, not measured — how that works and where the thresholds come from.