Jul 25, 2012
How to lay a turf lawn
How to lay a turf lawn
Laying a new turf lawn can instantly change the image of your garden from a drab colour less garden in to a hassle free green oasis without the time consuming task of seeding.
It is imperative to prepare the ground for the turfs arrival as with every task the hard work and key to it all is in the preparation. This will all pay off in the long run with the finished look of the lawn and help protect your investment.
If you follow the advice below it will help your new turf lawn establish itself and flourish.
Your new lawn should establish itself and "knit" with the ground usually within two to four weeks during spring summer and four to eight weeks during autumn winter.
Tools required
PPE (personal protective equipment) Turf cutter, rotavator, wheel barrow, rakes, spades, shovels and a brush for cleaning up!
Preparation is the key
1. Start by removing any old lawn using either a sharp spade or if you have a lot to do hire a turf cutter from your local hire shop.
2. You will now need to turn all the soil over. This can be done with a spade and rake or by hiring a rotavater from a hire shop. You need to turn it over to a depth of 100mm - 150mm to create a good top soil bedding for the new turf lawn.
3. Make sure as your raking the soil level you remove all the perennial weeds and large stones.
4. Your nearly there now. You now need to lightly compact the soil by "heeling it in" basically walking all over it. Then run over the area with a rake removing any foot prints and getting a final level. Its good to compact the top soil as this stops it sinking and you ending up with your new lawn turf being all uneven.
5. If your soil is low on nutrients you can at this stage apply a general fertilizer and rake it into the top of the soil. We would recommend a K-Bone organic fertilizer this is usually what suppliers use when growing the turf. This type of fertilizer will not burn the root system of your lawn turf.
6. Finally rake the top soil to a fine tilth and that's it you are ready to lay your new turf lawn.
Laying the turf lawn
1. We suggest having your turf delivery timed so you will be laying it either immediately after delivery or within 24 hours. If your turf stands un layed for anything longer than this it will start to turn yellow. Worst case scenario if you don't have too much you may be able to at least roll it out to stop it fom deteriorating.
2. Start laying the first row of turf rolls end to end against a fence or clear boundary line. If one is not available you can use a string line. Make sure the rolls actually touch and there are no gaps between the turf rolls.
3. Rest a scaffolding board or a plank of wood on the turf you have just rolled out and work from the wood to lay each row of turf. This will stop you from treading all over the turf rolls and moving them around breaking the joints. If possible try avoid leaving small pieces of turf on the ends or edges as these tend to dry out quicker and shrink as a small piece of turf cannot hold enough moisture.
4. We always suggest laying the turf rolls away from the property but if you are laying on a steep banking it's sometimes better to lay from side to side.
5. Once the turf lawn has been laid it will need watering. It will take a lot of water to soak all the way through the turf roll. You can check if it has soaked through by gently lifting a corner of the turf if the back is wet that's good if not it will need watering until this happens. We suggest using a sprinkler as this gives a good spread of water as opposed to a hose pipe soaking one area.
6. Watering is very important if your new turf lawn is starting to turn brown or gaps are opening up it's highly likely that it's drying out. So keep your eye on your investment.
Keep your eye out for our guide on how to maintain your lawn in our DIY guides section.