Replacing an old lawn with turf
 

I am in the process of replacing my tired old front lawn. I plan to use turf rather than seed. The soil is poor underneath, the site sloping and south facing (so gets very hot and dry especialy in summer).

I have dug the ground, raked and firmed it down. I now need to get it nice and level across the slope (cant flaten the slope completely) I need some tips as to how best to get the ground level ready for turfing, please.

I also need a few recomendations as to turf suppliers. i intend to order onlne and get it delivered. I am also on a budget, but require a good drought resistant turf. Any ideas I have done a search and know some names but any recomendations from you would be helpfull. Thanks.

Replacing an old lawn with turf
 

"GardenCadet" wrote in message
...

I am in the process of replacing my tired old front lawn. I plan to use
turf rather than seed. The soil is poor underneath, the site sloping
and south facing (so gets very hot and dry especialy in summer).

I have dug the ground, raked and firmed it down. I now need to get it
nice and level across the slope (cant flaten the slope completely) I
need some tips as to how best to get the ground level ready for
turfing, please.

I also need a few recomendations as to turf suppliers. i intend to
order onlne and get it delivered. I am also on a budget, but require a
good drought resistant turf. Any ideas I have done a search and know
some names but any recomendations from you would be helpfull. Thanks.




--
GardenCadet

Where are you and what type of grass do you desire - bermuda, zoysia,
fescue, centipede, etc?

To smooth/level the area, you can build a drag, which is a piece of chicken
wire attached to a 2"x4" (or some similar strait edge), and pulled across
the lawn. Similar to what is used between innings on a baseball field, but
with a coarser mesh. It'll more or less pull dirt off of the high spots and
pull it to the low spots. The more times you go back and forth over the
lawn, the smoother things will get.

Replacing an old lawn with turf
 

Kyle Boatright wrote:
"GardenCadet" wrote in message
...

I am in the process of replacing my tired old front lawn. I plan to use
turf rather than seed. The soil is poor underneath, the site sloping
and south facing (so gets very hot and dry especialy in summer).

I have dug the ground, raked and firmed it down. I now need to get it
nice and level across the slope (cant flaten the slope completely) I
need some tips as to how best to get the ground level ready for
turfing, please.

If the soil is poor, no amount of leveling is gonna fix that.
Depending on what "poor" means, I'd either get topsoil or else soil
ammendments like organic matter added. You have a great opportunity
now to fix things right and avoid years of trouble, for which the
solution at that point is very difficult.



I also need a few recomendations as to turf suppliers. i intend to
order onlne and get it delivered. I am also on a budget, but require a
good drought resistant turf. Any ideas I have done a search and know
some names but any recomendations from you would be helpfull. Thanks.




--
GardenCadet

Where are you and what type of grass do you desire - bermuda, zoysia,
fescue, centipede, etc?

To smooth/level the area, you can build a drag, which is a piece of chicken
wire attached to a 2"x4" (or some similar strait edge), and pulled across
the lawn. Similar to what is used between innings on a baseball field, but
with a coarser mesh. It'll more or less pull dirt off of the high spots and
pull it to the low spots. The more times you go back and forth over the
lawn, the smoother things will get.

Replacing an old lawn with turf
 

"GardenCadet" wrote in message
...

I am in the process of replacing my tired old front lawn. I plan to use
turf rather than seed. The soil is poor underneath, the site sloping
and south facing (so gets very hot and dry especialy in summer).

I have dug the ground, raked and firmed it down. I now need to get it
nice and level across the slope (cant flaten the slope completely) I
need some tips as to how best to get the ground level ready for
turfing, please.

I also need a few recomendations as to turf suppliers. i intend to
order onlne and get it delivered. I am also on a budget, but require a
good drought resistant turf. Any ideas I have done a search and know
some names but any recomendations from you would be helpfull. Thanks.




--
GardenCadet

Can't see your incline/slope from here. If sufficiently inclined/sloped, I
would consider a retaining wall. Then backfill with new soil as you said
your current soil is poor. Do this in a manner that would reduce the
incline/slope, but still maintain some natural drainage.

The type of grass depends on your locale, availability of irrigation water
to substantially irrigate, and natural rainfall. You can probably find that
out locally.
--
Jonny

Sorry I should have been more clear. I live in the UK. I am unfamiliar with lawn mixed used elsewhere. I guess I am looking for advice from UK members.

Thanks for replies.