Hi - hope someone can help!

I'm not much of a gardener (or haven't been in the past due to my frankly tiny garden) but I'm just about to move into a bigger house and the lawn is a bit of a mess. I've got a young son and I'd like him to enjoy the garden in future so I'm thinking about laying a new lawn.

So... am I best off laying my lawn myself? I've seen a company (Rolawn) who sell turf online (http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/) that one of my more gardening-centric friends tells me is pretty good. There's an online turf-laying guide there which makes it all look pretty easy, but am I letting myself in for loads of problems or should I just get a professional landscaper in (given my track record of killing things!)

Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

Hi there, buying online isn't that scary there are plenty of forums for advise on how to do it and basically its very easy! check out www.turfshop.co.uk they have a wider selection of turf.
good luck

turf doc

carps writes

Hi - hope someone can help!

I'm not much of a gardener (or haven't been in the past due to my
frankly tiny garden) but I'm just about to move into a bigger house and
the lawn is a bit of a mess. I've got a young son and I'd like him to
enjoy the garden in future so I'm thinking about laying a new lawn.

So... am I best off laying my lawn myself? I've seen a company (Rolawn)
who sell turf online (http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/) that one of my
more gardening-centric friends tells me is pretty good. There's an
online turf-laying guide there which makes it all look pretty easy, but
am I letting myself in for loads of problems or should I just get a
professional landscaper in (given my track record of killing things!)

If you have a young son, his idea of enjoying the garden is almost
certain to include football or some other equally exciting ways to
convert grass into mud. If you re-lay the lawn, you are going to want
to cherish it, and find it really hard when he and a group of his
friends want to charge around it on a sunny autumn day after a good
day's rain.

I would consider spending a season simply mowing it regularly and see
what improvement you effect with that. If you're not happy, you can
always re-turf it later.
--
Kay

K wrote:
carps writes

Hi - hope someone can help!

I'm not much of a gardener (or haven't been in the past due to my
frankly tiny garden) but I'm just about to move into a bigger house
and the lawn is a bit of a mess. I've got a young son and I'd like
him to enjoy the garden in future so I'm thinking about laying a new
lawn.

So... am I best off laying my lawn myself? I've seen a company
(Rolawn) who sell turf online (http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/) that
one of my more gardening-centric friends tells me is pretty good.
There's an online turf-laying guide there which makes it all look
pretty easy, but am I letting myself in for loads of problems or
should I just get a professional landscaper in (given my track
record of killing things!)

If you have a young son, his idea of enjoying the garden is almost
certain to include football or some other equally exciting ways to
convert grass into mud. If you re-lay the lawn, you are going to want
to cherish it, and find it really hard when he and a group of his
friends want to charge around it on a sunny autumn day after a good
day's rain.

I would consider spending a season simply mowing it regularly and see
what improvement you effect with that. If you're not happy, you can
always re-turf it later.

Yep. Turf is usually a bad option from several points of view. And a
professional landscaper is even more rarely what you want -- even if you
find one of the few who have a clue. Try K's "just mow it regularly"
approach first. If you buy some weed-killing and/or fertiliser granules,
go the extra yard and buy a cheap spreader at the same time: it'll only
be about a tenner, and will do a much more even job than broadcasting.
If you still don't like what you've got in the autumn, get back to us.

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
... And a
professional landscaper is even more rarely what you want -- even if
you find one of the few who have a clue.

I think that is unfair.

In my experience there are plenty of quality landscapers out there. The
people who have problems are those who go to the cheap cowboys and then
complain an about he quality.

It's a bit like shopping at Lidl, then complaining that the food is not as
good as Waitrose..

Pay the right price and the quality service IS there.

pk

p.k. wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
.. And a
professional landscaper is even more rarely what you want -- even if
you find one of the few who have a clue.

I think that is unfair.

In my experience there are plenty of quality landscapers out there.
The people who have problems are those who go to the cheap cowboys
and then complain an about he quality.

It's a bit like shopping at Lidl, then complaining that the food is
not as good as Waitrose..

Pay the right price and the quality service IS there.

I didn't say there wasn't quality service available (and not always at a
shocking price, either): I do it myself sometimes. But it's visible that
the majority of those who set up in the business have no specialist
knowledge: note that our friend the OP used the term for a turf-layer.
(Like calling the bloke who fixes washing machines an "engineer", which
is actually illegal abroad.)

--
Mike.

There are many good turf companies out there as there are bad but if you use
the large national companies you can't go wrong e.g.. Rolawn, Sovereign
Turf, Inturf to name just a few that I have personally used.
Don't forget the main thing about laying the lawn is about getting the
preparation right get that wrong then you will have years of problems.
If you are unsure then get a professional in to do the work. There are many
cowboys out there check out their qualifications look for a turfculture
qualification with experience in groundsmanship or like myself greenkeeping.
Good Luck Steve Gwynedd Lawn Doctor
"carps" wrote in message
...

Hi - hope someone can help!

I'm not much of a gardener (or haven't been in the past due to my
frankly tiny garden) but I'm just about to move into a bigger house and
the lawn is a bit of a mess. I've got a young son and I'd like him to
enjoy the garden in future so I'm thinking about laying a new lawn.

So... am I best off laying my lawn myself? I've seen a company (Rolawn)
who sell turf online (http://www.rolawndirect.co.uk/) that one of my
more gardening-centric friends tells me is pretty good. There's an
online turf-laying guide there which makes it all look pretty easy, but
am I letting myself in for loads of problems or should I just get a
professional landscaper in (given my track record of killing things!)

Thanks in advance for any help and advice!


--
carps

K wrote:
If you have a young son, his idea of enjoying the garden is almost
certain to include football or some other equally exciting ways to
convert grass into mud. If you re-lay the lawn, you are going to want
to cherish it, and find it really hard when he and a group of his
friends want to charge around it on a sunny autumn day after a good
day's rain.


He could lay a heavy duty turf or even seed it. This might not be a
great year to do it though if the water shortage fears come true.