Jake wrote:

Any advice on laying turf on a newly dug patch?

Hi Timothy. How's the border coming?

Thanks very much for your lawn advice
which fortunately is more or less what I am doing.

The border has done remarkably well.
Did I mention this is in Italy (Tuscany)?
Two wisteria plants in particular have grown like wildfire.
(I planted two in Ireland at the same time
which are growing at a snail's pace.)

For laying turf, probably best to wait until October. In the meantime,
prepare the ground properly - dig it over, remove all the stones and
get it level. Then leave it to lie for a bit and remove any weeds that
germinate - preparation is the key.

I can't wait till October, unfortunately -
the turf (only 16 square metres) is arriving at our local (rather expensive)
garden centre next week.

I've got the use of a roller,
so I'm going to use that to level it.
The soil is a little heavy here,
perhaps because there has been a phenomenal amount of rain.

Then choose the turf carefully bearing in mind the use the lawn will
have. Type something like "choosing turf" in your browser's seach box
and you'll get links to loads of advice on choosing the type.

Actually, we just followed the advice of our garden centre.

the rolls there could have been waiting for a buyer for a long time
and will have deteriorated.

Fortunately the garden centre is getting them directly
from their supplier, so hopefully it should be fresh.

It's an idea to make yourself a "tamper" - screw a piece of board,
about a foot square, to the end of a pole (at right angles to the
pole) - to use to press (not beat) the turves down as you lay them.
And get a good strong plank of wood - stand on that, not on the newly
laid turf or on the bit of the area you haven't turfed - spread your
weight!

Thanks, I'll do that.

Also make some "filler" for the cracks - something like 50%
horticultural sand, 30% fine loamy compost and 20% peat substitute
(coir) is my formula.

OK.

I have a Hozelock water timer which seems to work pretty well,
so I'm planning on having a sprinkler going off morning and evening
in the middle of the lawn.