A guide to laying lawn turf
We’re covering how to lay a lawn turf and we hope you’ll find it useful for when you’re doing it yourself. Of course, you can always get us to do it for you and save yourself the time, but you may be one of those people who prefers to be hands on and that’s okay too, with our help you’ll be able to lay your lawn down perfectly with no hassle.
When should you lay your lawn?
You’ll need to prepare your soil before laying the turf, so you sowing seeds is much easier. The best time to lay it is in the middle of autumn and before late winter, and the reason for this is that the soil won’t be too hard with frost or too wet from rainfall. You’ll also be able to avoid the watering that’s needed in dry spells over the summer season which can stress the grass. By avoiding the need for repeat watering your giving your turf time to settle.
Clear those weeds away
Always clear any weeds and clean the surface through before starting. You can also remove any grasses or bindweeds which can harm the turf and to do this you can use a weed killer or just weed manually. You may find this is kinder to the environment and if you have pets and children you may not be over keen on using a chemical.
Dig now and get the manure out
Dig to a depth of around 8 to 10 inches, and then place some manure in there or even just some organic matter and this will help hold any moisture. It should be quite well rotted and the reason for this is that it will help the surface to stay even, if it isn’t the surface can sink as it decays.
Leave well alone
You must then leave it alone for several days, preferably just over a month at around 6 weeks. The next step is to remove any more weeds and again using a weed killer or doing it manually. Rake several times and in lots of different directions. Then rake in another lot of fertiliser, possibly around 2oz per square yard.
Turf and trim
Use a spade to help lift the turf and then trim each bit to a suitable size and depth. You can do this by placing it upside down in a wooden box. Always work across from one corner to another and try to avoid leaving any footprints. Butt together the sods while staggering the joins and in a brick wall pattern. You’ll need to ensure the turfs are quite level, you can level it if it isn’t by using a bucket of soil and adding or removing any as needed.
It’s laid now, so what next?
Now you’ve laid it you can use a roller or a piece of flat wood to firm it. Spread soil or sand to work into the joins and you can do this with a brush or a rake, you can fill in any holes or uneven bits with this. These first few days are very important for development of the roots.
Lawn aftercare
Aftercare will include watering in dry weather because you’ll need to keep it moist, but if you do lay it in warm weather make sure you don’t water it too much and always use blades which are quite high when mowing.
Brian’s Garden & Fencing Services – turfing experts
We hope you found our guide to garden turf installation useful, however if you don’t think it’s for you and you’d prefer it if someone else did it for you, then why not give us a call? We can lay your turf for you and do an excellent job, saving you time. Just contact us today.