6 Tips for Laying Your Own Turf
We have only just recently laid some fresh turf in our garden. Where you can see grass, it was all covered in sand, cement and concrete patio paving slabs. So we took it all up, got rid of all of the soil and sand and we prepared the ground ready to lay some lawn turf.
It's probably the first time it's had lawn up there for many years, given the state of the garden when we first bought the place. I thought I'd give it a good few weeks to take, and we've just cut it in time before the winter.
Seeing as it's come along in leaps and bounds since we laid it, I thought I'd share with you how we did, so you too can lay turf successfully, like we did! So here are my top tips for laying fresh lawn turf :)
1. Prepare the soil adequately
Take the soil that your grass is going to be laid on and give it a rake. Once you've done this and got some air through it, you need to go around and stamp it all down. it might sound counter-intuitive, but it fills in any voids that might be lurking underneath.
Essentially, it stops the grass from dropping over time, which will then make it really uneven. Once you've stamped over it, give it another rake through and stamp over it one more time, but this time, make sure you're raking some topsoil through it as well, using the top soil to pack out any areas that are a bit low.
Your top soil also needs to be mixed in with some fertiliser, which is something that we'll be getting onto in a moment. Once you've stomped on it one final time, give it one last rake over for good measure, lightly.
2. Make sure you add fertiliser to the soil
We've just touched on the fertiliser side of things, but the fertiliser needs to be mixed in with the top soil you're laying down. This is an essential step as it will provide the new grass roots with plenty of nutrients and food to grow. Only once the soil has been prepared and levelled properly can your turf finally be laid.
3. Lay the turf onto the soil, making sure to tap down the edges
It's now time to lay out your rolls of turf. What you need to do is make sure that you're laying the strips in a brickwork pattern, overlapping the edges as you go. For the edges, where overlapping isn't possible, tap down the turf to seal any gaps and to stop the air from getting underneath it.
If you don't do this, you might find that the edges start to die off. Laying it properly is all part of growing a new lawn successfully. We found that a long piece of wood worked perfectly for tapping the edges down, and we haven't had any issues with the grass dying off at the edges, yet, haha.
4. Water the turf every day for about 2 weeks
Once you've laid the turf, you need to make sure you're out there every single day, watering it. You might be better off with a sprinkler, because you'll likely need one for your lawn during the summer months anyway.
So it won't be a flash in the pan buy, because I know they're expensive. If not, you'd be fine just using a hose with a sprinkler head. Give it a good soak during its first two weeks, watering it every day until it's taken.
You can check if it's take by gently lifting up the edges of the lawn to see if it comes up, almost like a carpet. If not, then your lawn has rooted. However, as a general rule, you should water it once a day for a fortnight if you're wanting healthy, hardy grass.
5. Don't walk on the turf until it has taken
Once you've laid your grass, don't be tempted to go and walk on it straightaway. It needs to develop roots before you do that. Right now, the grass and its blades will be very delicate, so the last thing you want to do is tread it all down.
This could kill off giant patches of it and it will never look the same again. Wait for at least two weeks before walking on it. This is often why people prefer to rely on a sprinkler system rather than a hose, to water their grass, because they don't actually need to go near it.
Although, this does depend on the size of your lawn. We could just about reach the grass when we stood on our decking, which you can see in that picture above. But if it's any bigger than that, then you may struggle. Either way, just remember not to walk on it, as tempting as it might be.
6. Lay the turf within 24 hours of its arrival
Once you have received your turf from your supplier, whether it be from B&Q or Rolawn, which is where we bought ours from, you need to make sure you're laying it within 24 hours of getting it. I know that seems near enough an impossible task, but trust me, it will do wonders when it comes to how well your lawn takes.
The sooner you lay the turf, the better. Ideally, it should be within just a few hours. Also, while you're waiting to lay the turf, make sure you water the rolls periodically to stop the soil from drying out. The wetter the better when it comes to rolls of fresh turf. Just remember to lay the turf within 24 hours of getting it, as a general rule of thumb.
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I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and that you found it useful? Let me know in the comments below if you have any other tips for laying fresh lawn or turf and I'll see you again very soon with some brand new content :)
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