You can sow from March to October, always water with a fine spray keeping the seedbed moist until the lawn is established. Autumn can be the best time to sow as the ground is warm from the summer heat and there's more natural moisture helping to give the grass a good start and minimising the risk of weeds.  Over the Autumn months a good root system will establish giving the lawn a head start in the Spring and help the with stand hot dry spells.

It's a good idea with our unpredicatble Bristish climate to check the forecast before sowing.

All lawn seed sold in the UK has to meet government standards for germination and purity regulated by DEFRA the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  The Johnson’s quality controls are more stringent than these ensuring that the consumer can buy our products with confidence. Weed seed will lie dormant in the ground for any length of time only to appear once disturbed, it's most likely this is whats happened. Most weeds will disappear with regular mowing.  

This depends on the extent of the weed infestation. Prominant weeds can be pulled and the area reseeded. If using a selective herbicide the best time to address the problem is when growth is active, for broad leaf weeds avoid close mowing a few days prior to treatment, then apply the weed killer to the individual plant by painting the leaves,  With smaller weed plants a feed and weed killer may be more effective, once the weeds have died you can remove and reseed the patchy areas.

It's always advisable to have a little extra seed for patches,  it's not unusual for new lawns to emerge patchy in the beginning, after a while it should start to even out.

 If after a period of time there's still patches of little growth it could be due to variations of seed distribution, rake over the patches and reseed.

If applying top soil prior to sowing,it's important to make sure the coverage is even as this can result in patchy areas.

Top dressing can be soil or organic material applied to the surface of the lawn to suit it's needs.  For example if drainage is poor then a dressing of peat and sand would be recomended applied after areating the lawn.

Applying a Top Dressing will improve levels of smoothness, improve soil and drainage, reduce levels of thatch, increase water retention and aids the mower to produce a smooth and even cut.

If you don't have a spreader you can sow by hand, spread from left to right walking from one side of the lawn to the other then turn around and walk back still spreading this will help give an even spread.

There are many things to consider before making a purchase:

Size of the lawn, space for storage.

It's better to chose a mower that collects clippings to save raking.

For a small lawn an electric mower will be suitable, check the area and compare the cable length.  For larger lawns (over 1000m")   a petrol lawn mower is probably more suitable.

For a fine none ryegrass, ornamental lawn, a cylinder mower is probably better as the cutting height can be lowered more than a rotary blade. If you want stripes choose a mower with a rear roller.

For a ryegrass lawn cylinder or rotary can be used.

Once a year is adequate in Spring or Autumn, however if your lawn is subject to a high amount of traffic it may be to your advantage to apply a fertiliser dressing more frequently. 

A Spring feed should be applied once the grass has started to grow again after the winter. Probably the best time is after the first or second cut of the season.

Apply an Autumn feed in September this well help streghten the roots ready for the following season

Cutting your lawn at the right height is crucial in this respect, as leaving large bare patches encourages moss growth. Equally, ensuring adequate drainage helps, as does feeding your lawn regularly.

Preparation is absolutely key! You can’t simply throw seed on the ground and expect a perfect lawn. You have to put the effort in!