jacobsdad wrote:
Hi all, this is my first post, so be gentle!

I moved into my first home in August 2005 and the garden was a concrete
jungle - paving slabs etc. so I decided that as well as planting some
flower boxes I would lay some turf. I know nothing about gardening but
wanted to be a bit more green.

I took up an area 3m x 5m of paying slabs to find about 8 inches of
sand underneath. Because I live in a town house, it wasn't practical to
dispose of the sand so I simply visited B&Q and brough enough turf to
cover the area of, now levelled, sand.

The next day I spoke to a friend who said there was no chance of the
grass surviving on sand. I was a bit upset by that notion but have
continued to water the lawn and today have cut the now very thick, long
and green grass (it's been 2 months since I laid it). It appears to have
knitted together very well and looks healthy (although I know little
about these things). I have not fed it yet as the plant food labels are
against this for the first 6 months of laying the turf. I have tried to
uproot the turf on a corner to see if it has rooted - the result is
that I actually can't pull up the turf easily becuase it has rooted so
well.

When I cut it today I left the cuttings on the lawn (this is called
"mulching" so I understand and helps?).

My question is 1.) do you think it will survive all year and, 2.)
should I feed it now? Any tips would be brill.

"brill" ???

Anyway, guessing that you are in the UK, say near London. I recommend
a light feeding with a "starter" fertilizer. You don't want to have
the lawn trying to grow fast during the hot summer months. Be sure to
water it. You can read up on that numerous places on the web. It's
fine to leave the clippings on the lawn unless they are so heavy that
they smother the lawn.

You won't have to worry about crabgrass because you don't have any bald,
unshaded spots. Hopefully the dandelions and other broad leaf weeds
haven't taken hold yet. Good luck.