Any advice on laying turf on a newly dug patch?

"Timothy Murphy" wrote in message
...
Any advice on laying turf on a newly dug patch?


Green side up?

I would say don't let it dry out after laying, but that's probably not going
to be an issue.

Steve

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:56:08 +0200, Timothy Murphy
wrote:

Any advice on laying turf on a newly dug patch?

Hi Timothy. How's the border coming?

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.

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.

It's best to order the turf, either for delivery to you if it's a lot
or to a local garden centre if the load is small enough to get in your
car, rather than just take what might be on offer at the garden centre
- the rolls there could have been waiting for a buyer for a long time
and will have deteriorated. Aim for a delivery date no more than a
week before you plan to lay the lawn. The turf will come in rolls
which can be stored for about 3-4 days but if you need to store them
for longer before laying, unroll them.

Again about a week or two before laying, feed the soil (Growmore for
example), rake the feed in and do a final prep job on the soil to get
it nice and level,a good tilth, weed free and all that.

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!

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

Then choose a dry day, when the ground isn't waterlogged but is a bit
moist, start along one edge of the patch and lay a line of turves,
make sure the edges are butted close together and use the tamper to
gently but firmly press the turves onto the soil. Then start the
second row, placing the turves so that the joins are half way along
the length of the first row (like a brick wall would be). And so on.

Fill the cracks between the turves with your filler mix and work it in
with a broom or back of a rake. If you want curved edges, you can cut
them at the end of the job or leave for a while to let the turves
start to knit into the soil and then cut them after a few weeks.

Then stay off the lawn. If you must go onto it to remove a weed or
something, use your plank. If the weather gets dry make sure the lawn
is watered (the October/November weather usually takes care of that!)
In the spring, the lawn should start to grow. Around April give it a
good feed with a lawn fertiliser (check the label to make sure it's
suitable for a young lawn - some are not). And now you don't need your
plank! Enjoy the new lawn. But remember if you get weeds, check any
weedkiller instructions carefully - best not to use most until the
lawn's a year old, removing them by hand is better.

That's my method but remember that if you assemble 10 gardeners there
will be 10 different methods. Others will no doubt offer alternatives
- take your pick. Enjoy.

Jake

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:56:08 +0200, Timothy Murphy
wrote:

Any advice on laying turf on a newly dug patch?

Years ago I watched a huge area of a company car park being turfed.
The whole lot was first turned over and leveled up with sand (don't
know what sort it was) and then on the following day a layer of soil
was raked into the sand. Then the turf was rolled out. The operation
was done by machines until the last hour or so when the men doing the
job walked the area pushing the turf to close any gaps. They left the
water sprinklers running for the next 24 hours. The result was an
immaculate lawn. A few years later the lawn was dug up and replaced by
a row of flats with car parking areas!

Steve

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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.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:16:38 +0100, "shazzbat"
wrote:

Green side up?

Ugh...thats was baaaad.

"Paul Starship" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:16:38 +0100, "shazzbat"
wrote:

Green side up?

Ugh...thats was baaaad.

He beat me to it though.

Mike

"Paul Starship" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:16:38 +0100, "shazzbat"
wrote:

Green side up?

Ugh...thats was baaaad.

.....but very predictabubble:-)

Bill

Timothy Murphy wrote:
[...]

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.

Whoa, there! The roller is a bad idea, especially on wet heavy soil: it
may give the appearance of levelling, but I reckon the high spots will
pop back up in due course. You also want a rather loose tilth for the
turf to get its roots into, not a compacted surface.

Jake's advice is excellent. (Though I favour seed, myself, unless speed
is of the essence.)

[...]

--
Mike.

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:34:15 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Timothy Murphy wrote:
[...]

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.

Whoa, there! The roller is a bad idea, especially on wet heavy soil: it
may give the appearance of levelling, but I reckon the high spots will
pop back up in due course. You also want a rather loose tilth for the
turf to get its roots into, not a compacted surface.

Jake's advice is excellent. (Though I favour seed, myself, unless speed
is of the essence.)

[...]

Tim - If you want to use a roller on wet, heavy soil, I'll go further
than Mike (thanks for the compliment by the way) and suggest you save
yourself a lot of work and just chuck the turf on a compost heap.
Plus, if the soil is waterlogged, turf isn't going to bind to it well
and even standing on a plank to lay it you're going to compress the
soil. Sounds like you need to let it dry out for a while.

FWIW, I also prefer seed. A neighbour dug up some bushes recently and
sowed some fast growing grass seed he got from B&Q. Fast is the
understatement - the stuff was over an inch high and looked really
thick as well within a week!

Mike Lyle wrote:

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.

Whoa, there! The roller is a bad idea, especially on wet heavy soil: it
may give the appearance of levelling, but I reckon the high spots will
pop back up in due course. You also want a rather loose tilth for the
turf to get its roots into, not a compacted surface.

Thanks for the warning.

Actually the soil is very dry at the moment,
as the temperature here (Tuscany) is around 30,
and there hasn't been any rain for a week or so.

The roller is quite light,
and didn't in fact seem to have much effect.
I'll rake the soil before laying the turf,
and maybe even fork it over.

Sacha wrote:

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.

Whoa, there! The roller is a bad idea, especially on wet heavy soil: it
may give the appearance of levelling, but I reckon the high spots will
pop back up in due course. You also want a rather loose tilth for the
turf to get its roots into, not a compacted surface.

Thanks for the warning.

Actually the soil is very dry at the moment,
as the temperature here (Tuscany) is around 30,
and there hasn't been any rain for a week or so.

The roller is quite light,
and didn't in fact seem to have much effect.
I'll rake the soil before laying the turf,
and maybe even fork it over.

Would you be better waiting to lay turf until the weather is wetter but
the soil will still be warm, i.e. September/October?

Unfortunately that is not an option,
as I have to return home to Dublin (to mark exams)
at the end of this week.

It isn't then end of the world if it doesn't work.
I planted potatoes on this patch 2 years ago,
and they did extraordinarily well- too well, in fact.

Sacha wrote:

It isn't the end of the world if it doesn't work.
I planted potatoes on this patch 2 years ago,
and they did extraordinarily well- too well, in fact.

Turf must be less expensive in Italy!

Actually, it seemed very expensive to me - €8 per square metre.
They call it "grass carpet" (tapeta erbosa)
which made me think a wool carpet might be cheaper.

Mind you, this was an extremely expensive local garden centre.
But everything they have sold us has done very well,
so I suppose one can't complain.

Our worst problem is an enormous sharon fruit tree,
which it is quite dangerous to sit under
as the falling fruit seems to aim for people's heads.

Sacha wrote:

Mind you, this was an extremely expensive local garden centre.
But everything they have sold us has done very well,
so I suppose one can't complain.

So can you get someone else to water it etc. while you're away?

Hopefully the automatic watering system will work.

In article ,
says...
Any advice on laying turf on a newly dug patch?


Prepare the ground well, get it level and compacted, traditional this is
done by sort of shuffling across the area many many times on your heels
with occassional light raking.

After laying don't let it dry out (fat chance at the moment!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea