This is the woman whose full time job is to watch grass grow.

Helen Southall works as a grass seed analyst and spends her working day making sure blades of grass on lawns and fields are growing to the right length.

It might sound the dullest job in the world, but Mrs Southall, who plants seed samples and reports on their growth, thinks her job is terrific because she loves the outdoors.

World’s most boring job? Helen Southall works as a grass analyst, making sure gardeners and groundsmen have cut their lawn to the right length

The green-fingered grass expert works at British Seed Houses, Lincolnshire making sure the grass is growing in the most efficient way possible.

The 43-year-old said: ‘People do think it’s strange when I tell them my job is to watch grass grow, but I think it’s fascinating and I wouldn’t do anything else.

‘I monitor different types of grass seeds and make sure they grow properly and the plants are fit for purpose.

‘It’s so rewarding seeing a stretch of perfect green grass and knowing that it has grown right because of my work.

Green-fingers: The grass expert works at British Seed Houses, Lincolnshire, making sure the grass grows in the most efficient way possible

Scientific: Helen Southall will take some samples into a lab where they are tested

Tedious: Her working day begins by counting out 400 grass seeds and goes through each blade by hand every week to ensure the growth is right

‘Sometimes grass grows too tall too quickly which damages the roots, and sometimes it doesn’t grow enough because of disease. It’s my job to watch for this and discover the reason why it is happening.’

Mrs Southall from Timberland, Lincolnshire, went straight into seed testing after leaving school and has taken special grass related courses to build up her knowledge.

A typical day’s work sees her individually counting out 400 grass seeds – and going through each blade by hand every week to measure growth.

Perfect length: The grass experts says blades of grass should grow by about 5cm every two weeks

She added: ‘I have to make sure that each grass seedling is not damaged, broken or split.

‘The grass should reach about 5cm in 14 days and if I can see it hasn’t grown that much then I know there is a problem.’

Mrs Southall looks after the quality control of the seed and ensures the grass seed meets standards for germination and purity so that grass seed buyers get high quality seed and value for money.

She said: ‘We plant grass seed in fields in September and inspect the grass in its natural environment.’

Passionate: Her job might sound boring, but the 43-year-old tells people it is fascinating and loves spending all day outdoors

Despite her seemingly dull job description, Helen loves her job and the challenges involved in creating golfing greens and well seeded sports pitches.

She said: ‘Although aspects of my job can be a bit tedious, like individually counting out grass seeds, it changes throughout the year with the agricultural season.

‘The weather is different every year and that creates different problems and changes to how the grass grows.

‘I love doing grass inspections out in the field, I can be outside looking at the grass for days at a time and it’s great to be outdoors.

‘There are so many different species of grass seed to test and you always see new patterns with the grass, it’s always fascinating when you find a new seed type.’

Routine: Helen Southall walking around a field as she goes through her daily inspections

Read more: Daily Mail