Laying Turf – a guide to using turf to create a lawn
Laying a lawn from turf is one of the most self-satisfying jobs
that you can do as it is a fairly quick process and you get instant
great looking results. The wonderous green ‘quilt’ on
your garden unfolds before your very eyes. Laying turf is a job
like most others - it pays to plan and prepare well, after that
the final stages of laying turf should be pretty straight forward.
You should lay turf when the temperature isn’t too hot, early
spring and Autumn are recommended as the turfs are less susceptible
to the parching effects of the sun and there should be enough moisture
in the soil to help the roots establish and develop downwards. When
ordering turf be sure to have your ground preparation done before
your turf arrives. This will ensure that your turf isn’t sitting
around for extended periods before laying it as the turf condition
and vigour will deteriorate the longer it is kept in storage.
Preparing the site for turf laying
Along with choosing good quality turves (see buying
turf from turfing suppliers) - the key to laying a good lawn
from turf is the preparation of the ground the turves are to be
laid on. In brief summary preparing the soil involves
- removing and burning weeds
- removing bricks, stones and other objects that will inhibit
root growth.
- Skimming off any existing turf
- Cultivating the soil to about a spades depth with an even surface,
free of lumps / hollows
- Testing soil type and taking appropriate action
It is definitely worth spending the time and effort here to ensure
that you have a good foundation for siting your lawn on, for more
information see preparing the soil for a lawn.
After your hard work (depending on what your lawn site was previously
like) you are now ready to lay the turves. To lay turf start by
marking out a lawn edge with a garden line string by driving two
canes into the soil at each end of the lawn and securing the garden
line to them. You will use this straight line as a guide to where
the edge of your first line of turf should appear.
Turves tend to come in lengths of about 1m and vary in width from
1 to 2 feet. Lay your turves snugly together so that they ends actually
overlap by ½ an inch so that the edge of each turf is slightly
raised where the turves meet. This will encourage the turves to
grow ‘together’ and also prevent any unwanted ‘gaps’
or holes appearing in the lawn. Work along the garden line until
you have finished and then start the next row.
Stagger the alignment of turfs adjacent rows so that a continous
join line does not appear across the whole lawn which will be far
more noticeable than if the join only crosses one row. See the diagram
below.
When laying turf it may be necessary to walk back over the turves
that have already been laid. This can mess the turves up and cause
compaction if done repeatedly so laying a plank across the turves
and resting / walking on the plank can help distribute weight across
the turves more evenly and prevent footprints, particularly in wet
weather.
If any gaps are found after laying the lawn you can fill them with
a top dressing mix, for more information see applying a top dressing
to the lawn.
After you have finished laying the turf you need to ensure that
it is in contact with the soil it is laid on so that the lawns roots
can bond with and penetrate into the soil. You can use the reverse
side of a spade to do this by stamping the turf, alteratively you
can ‘walk’ the turf in by side-stepping a foots width
at a time. Do not overdo the stamping of the turf as this can damage
the grass.
That’s it, you have laid your even turf lawn and it should
now successfully establish its root system in your well prepared
soil. You should refrain from mowing your lawn until you can clearly
see new growth from the turf, this lets the roots establish themselves
before any stress. If periods of dry weather follow the date of
laying your turf then you may need to water the new lawn if cracks
start appearing.