We know this scenario all too well, so we’ve put together our top tips for improving your new build lawn. The first step in this process often involves using grass seed suited to your new property's clay soils!

Although a mud pit isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing, it represents a blank canvas to start a new, improved lawn from scratch! Transforming your new build garden into a space for family, friends, and furry pals is easier than you think, and with our help, you will be well on your way to creating a showstopping space that will take pride of place on your Insta grid!

Before planning your garden furniture, hot tub and twinkly lights - it’s time to assess the soil on your new build lawn!

Sussing out the soil in you new build lawn

A new build home with a new build lawn will normally always come with a clay soil foundation. Unless you have requested topsoil or drainage to be installed as part of your contract, you will likely face the same perils as many other new build homeowners.

It’s normally quite easy to tell clay soil from sandy or loamy soil, and at a glance, you should be able to tell if you have clay soil or not. Clay soils will be wet and muddy during rainy seasons and become almost baked in the hot weather, with cracks on the surface.

If you’re still unsure, pick up some of the soil, and if you can easily form a ball without parts crumbling off, then you can be pretty certain that you have clay soil.

So, what can you do with clay soils?

Making the right choices

Choosing the right type of grass seed for your new build lawn is crucial. While you might be tempted to throw down any seed and hope for the best, it’s better to try and get it right from the start. Typically, new build homes have heavy clay soils, making lawn growth challenging. Even if you turf over clay soils, you may find that the seed will struggle as it hasn’t been designed for your soil type.

Well, that’s where we come in! Our New Build Dream Lawn seed mix has been designed to overcome the challenges that clay soils will present and leave you with a thick green lawn that will have your neighbours peeking over the fence!

If your clay soils also suffer from shaded spots, you might need to look at a lawn seed that is able to establish even with partial sunlight. Our Shade Supreme Lawn seed can be mixed with our New Build Dream Lawn to give you a lawn seed that covers all problems and leaves you with a show home-worthy lawn!

Now that you have a lawn seed, it’s time to talk about feeding your lawn…

Feeding

Giving your lawn a good feed of nutrients will help significantly increase the quality of your new build lawn. Before you start sowing, we recommend using our Pre-Seed First Feed lawn food. This will provide your soil with a whole range of beneficial nutrients. This will help to give your seedlings the very best foundation for growth. If it’s your first time using lawn food, you can follow our guide on how to use lawn food where we break down each step to make sure you know exactly what you are doing! 

Once your new lawn is fully established (6-8) weeks, we recommend that you try and feed your lawn twice a year. And depending on the time of year it is, you could opt for our All-Summer Long feed or our Winter Remedy lawn food. Both of these will provide a long feed of nutrients for your lawn and help keep it healthy, thick, and green year-round.

If you want to give your new lawn a quick boost, you can try our Oh So Green lawn food. It is specifically designed to give your lawn a quick 6-week boost of essential ingredients to bring your new build lawn back to life!

Know how to get the most from your new build lawn!

Now that you have the right lawn seed and food sorted, it might feel like you might have all the gear and no idea? Fear not, we have a whole range of how to guides that will help you transform your new build garden from a blank empty space into place to be proud of!