How to Turf Your Garden
Step 1 – Prepare the Ground
First of all, you should mark out the exact boundary for where you want your lawn to be. We recommend doing this by using sharpened wooden stakes and string to get straight lines around the perimeter.
Once you know where you want your lawn it’s imperative that you remove any weeds or debris such as stones or old roots that lie within the area. For the best results, it’s worth spending a few hours digging to a depth of about 15cm (6 inches) to remove anything that isn’t soil. If you’re serious about having a premium lawn then we recommend filling any gaps with high quality, nutrient-rich compost before levelling the surface out with a rake to avoid lumpy, bumpy or uneven lawn.
In our experience, another way to prepare a flat soil surface is to use a garden roller to firm the soil down. This helps to remove any pockets of air within the soil which could prevent your lawn being nice and flat.
Step 2 – Lay your Turf
The next thing to do is to lay your turf along the boundary perimeter before trimming any excess with a sharp garden knife. Once your borders are in place, start laying your strips of turf from left to right while ensuring you stagger the joints between each row to avoid gaps. An effective way to ensure there are no gaps is to gently squash the ends of the turf together. Once the turf is all in place, you should secure the edges of each strip of turf either by foot, by using the flat end of a garden rake or by using a garden roller again. This will level your lawn, and help the turf to bed into the soil so it can establish.
Step 3 – Water
As soon as you are satisfied that your lawn is laid, you should immediately water the lawn with a generous amount of water. To be environmentally friendly, you could reuse rainwater (if you have a water butt) but if not then you can also do this with a hose on a gentle rain setting, or by using a sprinkler. Avoid flooding the lawn to the point where it becomes a marsh, but the surface should be very moist when complete. As always, we recommend watering your garden every evening when the lawn is back in the shade. This will reduce the chance of evaporation due to less sunlight and reduced air circulation and it will increase your absorption chances. You should water your turfed lawn on a daily basis for at least the first couple of weeks until there is definite proof that the turf has established.
Step 4 – Lawn Care
We have outlined a guide on general lawn care here but for the purpose of caring for your recently turfed lawn our advice is as follows:
- Avoid walking on your new lawn for at least two weeks so the turf has chance to bed in and establish with the ground.
- Leave the lawn to noticeably grow before its first mow. It may look a little long, but some areas will naturally bed quicker than others, so mowing the entire lawn too quickly could kill patches of your lawn if some strips have not been established.
- For your first cut, ensure your lawnmower blades are set at the highest possible setting so you only do a light trim on fresh turf.
- Consider using lawn feed 6 weeks after laying your turf. This will help to feed the lawn and give it a suitable amount of nutrients for it to grow and establish.
Step 5 – Enjoy your new Lawn
Whether it is for hosting garden games like croquet or bowls in the summer, or for children or pets to roam and play, a lawn should be enjoyed. In the warmer months, it is a wide, open space to use so try not to get too obsessed with how it looks when in use; any damage or divots are very repairable if you take the right approach. If you’re short on time we offer regular lawn care on a fortnightly, monthly, or seasonal basis to help you get the most out of your lawn.