Massive lawn help

Hi everyone,

I'm a novice gardener but undertook the job of seeding a new lawn as so:

Rotivated 2 areas around 50 square metres each which has old grass on, applied pre-seed fertiliser, sprinkled seed as instructed, laid top soil over and gentle rolled over it. Since this was back early to mid March and was nice weather and hosepipe ban was not in force I did water it every morning and evening without drowing the seed.

The grass grew in patches but I'd say overal only 35% of the seed has grown through and since then obviously we've had nothing but cold weather and rain.

The topsoil I used was from a company in London that provides organic fertiliser as well, this top soil looked more like fertiliser but when I challenged them they said it was a special mix, should it stop the grass growing even if it were?

The only other explanation is birds???? but I put a lot down and can't see birds eathing that amount, maybe overseeding was an issue? Or maybe too much top soil (approc 2cm).

I have spent a lot of time and effort and would love to hear from someone who has some advice.

Regards

There may have been too much soil covering the grass - it is normally sown virtually on the surface, which is why birds eating it is such an issue.

arrr ok that could just be the reason. I take it  the seed will be useless now ?

I think it was probably a bit early this year for sowing grass seed. If I can remember correctly, the ideal soil temperature for germination is 7-10 C, and the seed needs between one and two weeks at this temperature to chit. 

The stock advice is to sow in September for preference, but if you sow in spring then the end of March is the earliest sowing time, but this depends on which part of the country you are in and also on you having normal weather for that time of year. I don't think we have had normal weather. 

As for the condition of the seed, if it's still there and then it should germinate once it has the right soil temperature over a period. It won't spoil,  so don't give up on it yet.  

When you said the topsoil looked more like fertilizer, did you mean 'compost'? A lot of topsoil sold in bags in garden centres is actually a mix of yopsoil and compost. 

A trick I've learn't over the years when seeding grass, covering the area with clear plastic after sowing helps to keep heat and moisture in, aiding better germination -granted, your area is large.