Harrogate, England

Harrogate, England53.9908, -1.5373

Mowing

When you can next cut it, and the best slot this weekend.

Best weekend slot

Sunday 10am–8pm

Verdict: Good

no rain since Friday, ground firm

Next mow

Today 8am–9am

Verdict: Good

grass slightly damp — rain 1 hour ago

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 17.7°C cooling to 13.4°C

Thursday 3 September: Good. 10am–6pm — grass dry — dried off since a shower 2 hours ago

Thursday 3 September · 10am–6pmConfident

10am–6pm — grass dry — dried off since a shower 2 hours ago

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 2 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm25mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.87
Good:Temperature
Temperature16°C
Good:Wind
Wind light12 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Friday 4 September: Good. midday–8pm — ground firm — 26mm rain over the last week

Friday 4 September · midday–8pmConfident

midday–8pm — ground firm — 26mm rain over the last week

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm26mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.69
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light14 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:ground firmness

Saturday 5 September: Good. 8am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Saturday 5 September · 8am–8pmConfident

8am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm23mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.64
Good:Temperature
Temperature12°C
Good:Wind
Wind light15 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–8pmConfident

10am–8pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm20mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.94
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°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–5pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Monday 7 September · 8am–5pmReasonably confident

8am–5pm — no rain since Friday, ground firm

Good:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Friday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm11mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing wellgrowth potential 0.66
Good:Temperature
Temperature14°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:none

Tuesday 8 September: Good. midday–2pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Tuesday 8 September · midday–2pmReasonably confident

midday–2pm — rain earlier today, ground firm

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryrain earlier today
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm15mm rain over the last week
Good:Growth
Growing steadilygrowth potential 0.42
Good:Temperature
Temperature10°C
Good:Wind
Wind light10 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:none

Wednesday 9 September: Good. 8am–8pm — growing slowly — growth potential 0.32

Wednesday 9 September · 8am–8pmReasonably confident

8am–8pm — growing slowly — growth potential 0.32

Good:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 1 hour ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm15mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.32
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts once the rain has passed

Limiting factor:growth

Thursday 10 September: Good. 8am–2pm — growing slowly — growth potential 0.31

Thursday 10 September · 8am–2pmReasonably confident

8am–2pm — growing slowly — growth potential 0.31

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass dryno rain since Wednesday
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm15mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.31
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light7 km/h
Sociable hours
A bit early or late, but finestarts when it stops being antisocial

Limiting factor:growth

Friday 11 September: Not worth it. No — 0.3mm of rain falling.

Friday 11 SeptemberLow confidence this far out

No — 0.3mm of rain falling.

Poor:Grass wetness
Grass wetraining now
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm12mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.33
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light5 km/h

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Saturday 12 September: Good. 1pm–2pm — grass slightly damp — rain earlier today

Saturday 12 September · 1pm–2pmLow confidence this far out

1pm–2pm — grass slightly damp — rain earlier today

Marginal:Grass wetness
Grass drydried off since a shower 0 hours ago
Good:Ground firmness
Ground firm23mm rain over the last week
Marginal:Growth
Growing slowlygrowth potential 0.30
Good:Temperature
Temperature11°C
Good:Wind
Wind light19 km/h
Sociable hours
Fine by the neighboursstarts once the dew has burnt off

Limiting factor:grass wetness

Growth

How fast it is growing, and when it will need cutting again.

0.87Growing strongly

Growth potential, 0 to 1 — the turf-industry measure of how fast grass can grow at today's temperature and day length.

Putting on about 5.2mm a day. A lawn cut today would be ready for another in around 4 days.

Worked out from the PACE Turf growth potential model and day length —how and why.

What this means right now

  • Good: Seeding window open

    Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.4°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

Seeding

Soil temperature at germination depth, and when the window opens.

Soil temperature

16.4°C62°F

at 6cm — germination depth

Cooling over the next 10 days.

Seeding conditions are open — soil is 16.4°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

Cross-checks against an independent estimate from air temperature (16.5°C), which agrees to within 0.5°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

Feeding

Why timing decides whether a feed does anything at all.

Coming in the app

Grass takes up nitrogen when it is growing. Feed a lawn that has stopped and most of it washes past the roots — which is why timing beats product choice.

Right now this lawn is growing well enough to use a feed.

The app will work out the actual feeding windows for your lawn — along with weed control, scarifying and moss treatment — and tell you when they open without you having to check.

Why timing beats product choice

Harrogate, England in detail

Soil temperature at 6cm in Harrogate, England is currently 16.4°C, and falling about 4.5°C over the next 10 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 16.4°C at 6cm and holding above 9°C.

9 of the next 10 days are good mowing days. The other one is held back by wet grass or soft ground. The best weekend slot right now is Sunday 10am–8pm, on the basis that no rain since Friday, ground firm.

The next recommended window in Harrogate opens at 10am on Thursday 3 September, because the rain clears by then. Underfoot, the ground reads as firm after 25mm rain over the last week.

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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.