How to lay a lawn: simple steps to creating a vibrant green space

A healthy lawn becomes a beautiful, fresh green centrepiece in your garden. We tell you how to lay a new lawn and take care of it.

14.07.2023

Close-up of green blades of grass in sunshine.

Choosing your grass type
How to lay a lawn: step-by-step instructions
Rolled turf or grass seed?

How to choose the right grass type for your lawn

The right grass variety depends on how you use your lawn and how it is situated. You can choose a hard-wearing variety or opt to lay a lusher lawn that requires more care. The classic lawn types are:

For sport and leisure
Ornamental
For shade
For hot, dry locations

The respective lawn mixes contain a blend of grass varieties in different ratios, with the following basic types included in all lawn mixes:

Ryegrass (lolium perenne): grows and germinates quickly. It is a robust variety, so you do not need to worry about walking on it – but it does need a lot of water.
Smooth meadow-grass (poa pratensis): grows densely and forms a lot of runners. It takes 3 to 4 weeks to germinate and will die if not cared for adequately.
Red fescue (festuca rubra): hard-wearing grass with relatively broad blades; will thrive even with less intensive care. It is also suitable for keeping very short.

Sport and leisure lawn

A large lawn in a garden with trees, freeform flower beds and a tree house.

A sport and leisure lawn is ideal for running around, playing and lying on. It forms a robust and resilient turf, making it perfect for family gardens: any bare patches created by lively dogs or footballing children will recover quickly.
All types of smooth meadow-grass are especially suitable for this robust type of lawn. Bear in mind that the germination time is 3 to 4 weeks, and don’t forget that this variety requires plenty of water and fertiliser. Creeping bentgrass is also often used in robust lawn mixes. It can withstand damp conditions, is resilient enough to be walked on and effectively repairs bare patches. However, it is susceptible to lawn thatch and, as such, needs to be scarified regularly.

Ornamental lawn

Ornamental lawns have very fine, lush green grass and dense, uniform turf. You can mow it with a very low cutting height so that it resembles the ever-popular golf course style. Ornamental lawns are very delicate, though, and as such, not suitable for playing on. Nevertheless, this high-maintenance choice makes a wonderful feature if you lay it between garden paths – to be enjoyed only with the eyes! Ornamental lawn mixes consist almost entirely of red fescue and fine varieties of ryegrass. These are also susceptible to lawn thatch and need to be scarified regularly.

Lawn for shady areas

A plot with trees and a garden bench on a shaded lawn in front of a house.

Don’t be misled into thinking this lawn type is suitable for full shade. Any lawn you lay needs direct sunlight, but these mixes can stay healthy with as little as 3-4 hours of sun exposure every day, making them ideal for partially shaded locations – so you can use them if you need to lay a lawn under large trees, for example. It is suitable for walking on but needs to be generously watered and well cared for. You should keep these lawns on the longer side, cutting no shorter than 6 to 8 centimetres.

Lawn mixes for shady areas generally contain the four following varieties: supina bluegrass (poa supina, also known as ‘Supranova’) is light green to lush green, has runners above the soil and is generally considered robust enough to walk on. It requires a lot of water and fertiliser but not too much sunlight; tufted hairgrass (deschampsia cespitosa) has similar needs. Red fescue is an addition that has wider blades than other more common grasses. Sheep’s fescue (festuca ovina duriuscula) not only tolerates shade well; it also doesn’t require much in the way of nutrients, so it thrives even in dry and light soils.

Lawn for hot, dry locations

Hot summers can be challenging for lawn care, so you might prefer to lay a lawn featuring grasses that are well-adapted to hot, dry locations, with deep roots which draw water from lower layers of soil. For the first year after you lay a lawn with heat-resistant grasses, be sure to water normally and regularly so the roots establish and grow sufficiently deep – the lawn will be ready and at its best in its second year. Lawns for dry locations are characterised by more broad-bladed varieties than other mixes; this means that if you need to overseed this type of lawn, you must use the same seed mix to ensure the turf remains a uniform colour.
The best time to lay a lawn from drought-resistant seed is between September and the start of October, as this means it has time to establish strongly before hot weather arrives. Lawn mixes for dry locations usually consist of up to 70% tall fescue (festuca arundinacea), a broad-bladed, deep-rooted variety that is particularly resilient to heat and dry conditions. The remainder is made up of smooth meadow-grass (20%) and perennial ryegrass (10%).

When should I lay a new lawn?

Laying a lawn can be done at any time of year, but between March and mid-May is ideal. It means the early growth phase will not be disturbed by chilly temperatures, and there is still likely to be enough moisture to get the grass off to a good start. If you lay a lawn in spring, you can expect it to withstand frost, moisture and weeds better than a lawn laid in the autumn. Alternatively, you can lay your new lawn between August and October. Sowing grass seed in summer is also theoretically possible, but water it well to compensate for high temperatures.

How to lay a lawn: step-by-step instructions

You don’t need a great deal of expertise to lay a lawn yourself, but you will need a bit of patience. It can take a while after sowing for grass seed to germinate or for turf to take root. While grass seed from cheaper seed mixes starts to germinate in a few days, high-quality mixes take at least 2 weeks.

STIHL pro tip: The longer germination time and extra expense of a high-quality lawn mix is a price worth paying. As well as being longer-lived and hardier, you can also mow it less frequently. After a couple of years, cheaper lawns start showing problems that cannot be corrected even with premium care. So we recommend you invest in a high-quality mix for your lawn – it will pay dividends over the years.

Tools and materials required

Before you buy spiked rollers or other such tools to lay your new lawn, check if they are available to rent from your local DIY store or STIHL dealer.

Large and small rake, preferably wooden
Spade
Shovel
Wheelbarrow or basket (for collecting larger stones)
Spiked or grid roller
Spreader
Garden hose with spray nozzle
Grass seed (approx. 20 to 30 g per square metre) or turf (order 10% more than you need, for wastage)
Fertiliser
Tiller

You should ideally first loosen up compacted areas with a tiller or cultivator. This breaks up deeper soil, which prevents waterlogging of the surface.
Remove stones and roots and dig over the soil.
Add some sand if the soil is heavy and contains a lot of clay; for light and sandy soil, add cheap potting soil or weed-free compost. Rake the ground over roughly.
Add lime to the soil if the pH is below 5.5.

Now the soil needs to settle, ideally for a week before you lay the lawn – do not skip this step, or you may well end up with lumpy grass!
On dry ground, you can use a light roller to speed up the settling process; this helps prevent sagging and unevenness further down the line.

Level off any uneven patches with a wooden rake.
The soil should be fine and crumbly for the grass to grow as effectively as possible.
Leave the soil to rest for another week; this allows weeds to germinate so you can easily remove them before sowing the grass seed. Hoe the weeds out or kill them with hot water. The soil is now ready for sowing.

STIHL pro tip: Set aside around a quarter of the grass seed and then sow the rest as directed. Use the seed you set aside to fill any gaps or thicken the edges later.

If you’re using rolled turf for your new lawn, you can start to lay it straight away. Take care not to walk on the prepared soil and use a knife to cut the turf if necessary. Don’t let it dry out as you work.
For seeding lawns measuring up to 20 square metres: mix the seed with potting soil and spread it. There are three benefits to this method: the seeds are in contact with soil and remain moist; it’s easy to see when you need to water as the soil visibly dries out; and the potting soil protects the seed from being eaten by birds.
Scatter the grass seeds and starter fertiliser (if using) evenly with a spreader or by hand. We recommend sowing the seed by hand, as spreaders may damage the fine seeds.
Distribute around 20 grams of seed per square metre. There’s no real advantage to sowing more densely, so we recommend instead keeping any extra seed for later use.
The stress in transitional areas is hard on young grass. It’s a good idea to sow more thickly at the edges of your lawn so that firmer turf forms at the edges of beds, paths or patios, and the grass is more robust in these places.
Work the evenly distributed seed into the soil using a spiked or grid roller to a maximum depth of 1 cm.
Water the ground well with as gentle a stream of water as possible. Use a spray nozzle or hold the hose vertically so that you do not accidentally wash away the seeds.

Watering is essential: keep your new lawn moist for 3 to 4 weeks after laying the turf or sow seed.
To check on turf after a few weeks, try to lift a corner of it – if it has rooted into the ground, you can get the mower out.
Wait until newly grown grass has reached a height of approximately 10 cm before you mow it for the first time – be very careful not to cut it too short. It is not advisable to cut off more than a third of the length.
Avoid walking on the area while the seeds are germinating, so you do not damage the sensitive grass seedlings. The lawn will not be durable enough to walk on until you have mown it for the first time. The new lawn will generally reach full strength after 2 to 3 months.

How long do lawn seeds need to germinate?

When you lay a new lawn from seed, the germination time depends on several factors such as the weather, soil temperature, type of grass seed used and amount of water it gets. If conditions are perfect, germination takes around seven to 20 days. Steady temperatures plus plenty of sunshine, abundant water and high-quality seed will deliver the best germination germination. Lawn mixes usually germinate after a few days. High-quality mixtures need between 2 and 4 weeks to germinate.

A woman relaxes on a garden swing next to a STIHL RMA 339 cordless lawnmower on a green plot

Petrol-powered, electric or cordless lawn mower: the right option for you

Choosing the right lawn mower is the first step to achieving a well-maintained lawn. All of our models combine high quality, clever features and an attractive design.

Note: Make sure your mower blades are sharp before mowing your lawn for the first time, to ensure the delicate blades are cut cleanly, rather than torn and damaged.

See lawn mowers

Rolled turf or grass seed?

Although sowing a new lawn from seed is not difficult, it does require a lot of patience. If you lay rolled turf, you will see instant results. Ultimately, it depends on how quickly you want an attractive lawn.

Advantages of turf	Disadvantages of turf
You just need to unroll turf to lay it, so it becomes a usable lawn much more quickly than seed.	If you have a large area to cover, turf is much more laborious to lay than seed.
Turf is already covered with dense grass and so is more resistant to weeds.	Using turf is considerably more expensive than sowing grass seed.
Turf is simple to lay.	Turf must be laid immediately after delivery; otherwise, there is a risk of rotting and discolouration.