Soil temperature in Chelmsford, England
Soil temperature
16.6°C62°F
at 6cm — germination depth
Cooling over the next 11 days.
Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.6°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.
| Species | Soil temp | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Perennial ryegrasslikely yours | 8°C | 5–10 |
| Red / chewings fescuelikely yours | 8–10°C | 10–14 |
| Tall fescue | 10–12°C | 10–14 |
| Browntop bentColonial bentgrass | 10–12°C | 14–21 |
| Smooth-stalked meadow grassKentucky bluegrass | 12–13°C | 14–28 |
Soil temperature at 6cm in Chelmsford, England is currently 16.6°C, and falling about 2.9°C over the next 11 days. That depth matters because it is where grass seed sits and where roots start working, and it lags air temperature by days — which is why a warm afternoon here tells you very little on its own.
Lawns in this area are typically perennial ryegrass with fescue, which is what most lawns round here are sown with. That blend needs the soil to hold above 9°C before seed germinates reliably. Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.6°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.
10 of the next 10 days are good mowing days. The best weekend slot right now is Saturday 8am–8pm, on the basis that rain earlier today, ground firm.
The next recommended window in Chelmsford opens at 8am on Wednesday 2 September, because anything earlier is the hour your neighbours will remember. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 21mm rain over the last week.
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 17.7°C cooling to 15.8°C
Wednesday 2 September: Good. 8am–8pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm
Wednesday 2 September · 8am–8pmConfident
8am–8pm — no rain since Monday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Monday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm21mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.97
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature16°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light11 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
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 firm20mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.98
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature19°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light19 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Friday 4 September: Good. 5pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Friday 4 September · 5pm–8pmConfident
5pm–8pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Thursday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm11mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 1.00
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature20°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light19 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:wind
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 firm8mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.91
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature13°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light9 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 firm2mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.99
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature16°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 firm2mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.96
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light18 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial
Limiting factor:none
Tuesday 8 September: Good. 8am–2pm — dried off since a shower 1 hour ago, ground firm
Tuesday 8 September · 8am–2pmReasonably confident
8am–2pm — 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 firm1mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.77
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature15°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light17 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:none
Wednesday 9 September: Good. 2pm–8pm — ground firm — 9mm rain over the last week
Wednesday 9 September · 2pm–8pmReasonably confident
2pm–8pm — ground firm — 9mm rain over the last week
- Marginal:Grass wetness
- Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm9mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.57
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature14°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light20 km/h
- Sociable hours
- Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed
Limiting factor:ground firmness
Thursday 10 September: Good. 8am–8pm — growing steadily — growth potential 0.37
Thursday 10 September · 8am–8pmLow confidence this far out
8am–8pm — growing steadily — growth potential 0.37
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryrain earlier today
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.37
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature10°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light7 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:growth
Friday 11 September: Good. 8am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
Friday 11 September · 8am–8pmLow confidence this far out
8am–8pm — no rain since Wednesday, ground firm
- Good:Grass wetness
- Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
- Good:Ground firmness
- Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
- Good:Growth
- Growing wellgrowth potential 0.53
- Good:Temperature
- Temperature12°C
- Good:Wind
- Wind light8 km/h
- Sociable hours
- A bit early or late, but finestarts once the dew has burnt off
Limiting factor:none
Nearby
Your own postcode
These are town-centre figures. Yours will differ a little.