Laying a Turf Lawn
Planning your lawn

As with everthing in life planning and preparation makes things easier.
Many of the popular garden makeover programs seen on T.V. show turf being layed and the garden finished in one or two days, but to ensure that your lawn has a long and healthy life it is better to prepare for the arrival of your turf as it arrives in rolls and deteriorates quickly if not laid immediately.

Order turf to arrive after the site has been thoroughly prepared.
Preparing the soil  

Proper ground preparation is essential for the establishment and future well-being of your new lawn. Inadequately prepared ground will never produce the best results.

First you will need to kill all the existing plants and weeds in the new lawn area. You can either remove the weeds by hand i.e. digging them up or you can use a weed killer such as glphosphate trade name tumbleweed or round up.

We don't often recommend chemical weed killers but in the case of lawns using a small amount at the beginning can save a whole lot of chemicals being used later to try to control existing weeds.

Ideally you should hoe or spray the weeds and leave the ground for a couple of weeks to see is any further weed try to establish themselves.
After digging over the site to mix in some compost and condition the soil, break down any lumps. Make sure the area is free from weeds, stones and any debris.
Before laying the turf or sowing the seed the lawn area should be raked and compacted using a roller or your feet by walking over the area walking on your heals. The more time spent on this preparation task the better the final lawn will be. As you rake and compact the area you should remove any stones over 12 mm in size. By working in different directions the surface will become level losing all the small dips and rises.
Use a wide rake to produce a fine surface tilth to the soil. Check that the surface is even across the whole site, with no bumps or hollows. Use a plank of wood to check this.
To encourage strong lawn growth, sprinkle a base fertiliser evenly on the soil. Choose a slow-release organic feed or a fertiliser. Rake lightly into the soil.
Turf won't root into dry soil, so water the entire area if the weather is dry. A fine nozzle attached to the hose makes this easier than watering with a can. Now lay the turf.
Step-by-step guide

Laying the turf

On delivery, stack the rolls in a cool position out of the sun, then sprinkle with water and cover with a sheet of polythene to prevent the turf drying out, it deteriorates quickly if not laid immediately.
Starting along one edge, slowly unroll the first roll of turf, setting the edge exactly. Once unrolled, tamp down firmly with the back of a rake to settle the roots into the soil. This needs to be a flat back rake rather than a spring tine.

Flat Back
Spring Tine
Continue unrolling, butting each length of turf tightly up against the previous one.
Never stretch the turves to fit as this will result in shrinkage and hence later gaps, instead butt, fold and push the edges together.
Use the teeth of the rake to pull or push the turf into position before firmly tamping it down.

Place boards over the row that you have laid and use these to carry the rolls along to lay the next row (do not walk on your prepared soil).
This second row should be laid with the joints staggered (brick-work fashion) so that the turves interlock.
You may find that an old kitchen knife is useful for cutting off excess turf.

Turf can be run beyond the edge of the lawn, then cut back to create a pristine line. Use a straight-edged board and edging iron to trim it, pushing down to ensure a clean cut. Fill any gaps with off-cuts.

If you come to an area where a cut will leave a small section of turf at the edge of the lawn it is better to leave the large piece and the cut off the excess when the turf has become established. This will stop the small peice drying out and dying.
Finally the turf will need watering. Put soil along the edges of the turf to prevent it drying out, then set up a lawn sprinkler to water the entire area and settle the turf.

The best advice we can give in connection to watering at this stage is little and often. It is important to keep the whole area moist to help quick establishment.

Try not to walk on newly laid turf until it has rooted down into the soil, which could take several weeks. Walk on boards if necessary.

Once the leaf blade length reaches 40- 50mm in length (just under 2") and provided the turf has sufficiently anchored its roots into the soil. Mow the lawn with a very sharp bladed mower (ensuring that you do not tear the grass off). Set the height of cut so that you remove only 25% of the leaf blade length at a time and fit the grass box so that you remove the cuttings.

Mow your lawn regularly, feed it at least twice a year and keep it moist and you should have a lawn to be proud of.
Why do turfed lawns fail?

1. Leaving the turf rolled up on the pallet too long - be prepared for the delivery and lay turf as soon as it arrives.

2. Laying on poor topsoils and/or not preparing the soil thoroughly.

3. Laying on top of a layer of sand or grit sand or gravel because you are too lazy to prepare the topsoil properly.

4. Not applying sufficient water, often enough.

5. Letting the grass grow too long before mowing it and then razoring the grass down to ground level - the best way to ruin a perfectly good lawn.

6. Laying the turf in excessively high temperatures - the rate of water loss through evaporation is greater than the amount of water being applied.

7. Laying turf onto frozen or frosted soil. This will cause damage to the turf roots and inhibit establishment into the topsoil.

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