York, England

Best weekend slot

Sunday midday–8pm

Verdict: Good

ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Next mow

Today 8am–10am

Verdict: Good

ground soft in places — 38mm rain over the last week

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 16.7°C cooling to 14.2°C

Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–10am — ground soft in places — 38mm rain over the last week

Wednesday 2 September · 8am–10amConfident

8am–10am — ground soft in places — 38mm rain over the last week

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Monday
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places38mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.82
Good:Temperature
Temperature15°C
Good:Wind
Wind light8 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Thursday 3 September: Good. midday–6pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Thursday 3 September · midday–6pmConfident

midday–6pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places50mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
Good:Temperature
Temperature17°C
Good:Wind
Wind light17 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Friday 4 September: Good. 1pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Friday 4 September · 1pm–8pmConfident

1pm–8pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places50mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.81
Good:Temperature
Temperature15°C
Good:Wind
Wind light9 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 57mm rain over the last week

Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — ground soft in places — 57mm rain over the last week

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Marginal:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places57mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.68
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Sunday 6 September: Good. midday–8pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Sunday 6 September · midday–8pmReasonably confident

midday–8pm — ground soft in places — 50mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 5 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places50mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.94
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light17 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Monday 7 September: Good. 8am–2pm — rain earlier today, ground soft in places

Monday 7 September · 8am–2pmReasonably confident

8am–2pm — rain earlier today, ground soft in places

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground soft in places44mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.70
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light15 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–11am — ground soft — 34mm rain over the last week

Tuesday 8 September · 8am–11amReasonably confident

8am–11am — ground soft — 34mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground soft34mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.55
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light16 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Wednesday 9 September: Good. No — 5.5mm of rain falling.

Wednesday 9 SeptemberReasonably confident

No — 5.5mm of rain falling.

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground saturated64mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.38
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Thursday 10 September: Good. No — ground saturated, 89mm rain over the last week.

Thursday 10 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — ground saturated, 89mm rain over the last week.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground saturated89mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.29
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light5 km/h

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Friday 11 September: Good. No — ground saturated, 84mm rain over the last week.

Friday 11 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — ground saturated, 84mm rain over the last week.

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Poor:Ground firmness
Ground saturated84mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.44
Good:Temperature
Temperature10°C
Good:Wind
Wind light3 km/h

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Soil temperature

15.3°C60°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 11 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 15.3°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 15.3°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

  • Worth watching: Ground still soft

    34mm rain over the last week. A mower will mark it, and a ride-on will rut it.

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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.