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#1
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My new lawn
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. Thanks, JACOBSDAD. |
#2
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My new lawn
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. |
#3
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My new lawn
I think it's doubtful this sod, laid on only sand, will survive long
term. Turf needs some amount of decent topsoil and all this has is the tiny amount that came with the sod. Even if it does survive, it will likely present future problems, like needing a lot more water because the sand will drain quickly. And grass in less than optimal conditions gets stressed easier and hence becomes more prone to disease and insects, etc. I'd would definitely fertilize it now and using a starter fertilizer is a good idea too, though not critical. |
#4
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My new lawn
"jacobsdad" wrote in message ... 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. Thanks, JACOBSDAD. What type of grass did you plant? Some have deeper roots than others. Given your climate, I imagine you'll get enough rain to allow the sod to survive. The key to long term success for you is infrequent, deep waterings. The idea is to get the roots to go deep. Frequent waterings will encourage shallow roots, which is what you'd like to avoid. Feeding is good. Use a fertilizer with a medium to low nitrogen content and high content of the other components. Again, this will promote root growth over blade growth. |
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