Is it too late to sow a garden?

bazfan, Apr 19, 8:38am
Hi Guys,

Our front garden has a pohutakawa and another large tree. The lawn below it is sparse and a bit patchy. I spoke to some people at a garden store and they recommended putting some lawn mix on and some shady places grass seed. Its been a week and nothing has come up so I used some everyday grass seed today, raked and watered. We did have a cold snap in Auckland middle of the week but weather is meant to get warmer in the coming week so hopefully will help with germination. Our soil is clay so retains a lot of water. Am I being unrealistic hoping for the lawn to grow at this time of year?

pico42, Apr 19, 11:36am
This time of year is best for sowing lawns. But it may only come good in spring.
But, under a tree?

lythande1, Apr 19, 8:13pm
In Auckland? No. but it will be slower now than if you had done it in spring.

bazfan, Apr 20, 10:28am
Front lawn is about 60 sqm but is shaded by two large trees so grass coverage is patchy

tweake, Jan 29, 2:05pm
all you can do is keep it moist and wait.
if nothing comes up just redo it in spring. a week is a little early to tell. will take a bit longer in cooler weather.
i had the same thing in spring, nothing came up, so redid it later.

being clay soil doesn't mean much, you need to keep the surface damp. easy enough with recent rain. if the seeds dry out its stuffed.
i would put some slow release fert on.