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Laying Turf: A Guide to The Perfect Lawn

What better way to spruce up your lawn than by laying some brand new top quality turf. It's quite a straightforward job to lay, and with the appropriate tools and materials, along with the right aftercare, you can get the lawn of your dreams. Follow our step by step guide and you'll have a beautifully turfed garden to be proud of.

Materials and Tools Checklist

Materials checklist

Please use Personal Protective Equipment when carrying out this work, such as safety shoes, gloves, safety goggles, dust mask, ear defenders and knee pads. Your safety and the safety of others should always be a priority. Work should only be carried out by competent and appropriately trained tradesmen. Power tools should only ever be used by trained personnel.

Getting Started

Turf can be laid all year round, however it's best to avoid laying it in frosty conditions or in extended periods of hot weather, due to the additional care required. It's also a good idea to prepare your area for turfing in advance so that's it's ready to lay as soon as soon as your receive your turf.

The first job you'll most likely have to do is to remove the existing lawn from the area you wish to lay new grass upon. You can treat the existing lawn with a weed killer designed for killing grass. This has the added benefit of preventing weeds coming up through your new turf.

Once your existing lawn is dead you can hire a turf cutter from a tool hire shop. This will make removing the old turf easy. Remember you can compost the old turf and re-use it in your garden. 

Topsoil

Ideally you should use a rotavator to turn the soil over to a depth of 100-150mm. It's a good idea to try and break up any compaction and it is also worth considering introducing a Horticultural Grit at this stage which is perfect for breaking up clay, dense subsoils and will help improve drainage. Having loose soil has the added benefit aiding root development. Remember to get rid of all surface weeds, roots and stones. Alternatively, if you feel your existing soil is not suitable for turf laying, you can excavate to a depth of approximately 150mm and replace with a good quality topsoil. AWBS provide a range of topsoils that are ideal for laying turf, such as our AWBS Blended Loam or AWBS Planting Topsoil and we also supply Rolawn Soil Improver that can be used to enhance existing soil.

Healing In & Preparation

To give your soil the best possible start you can now apply Rolawn Groright Lawn Establishment Fertiliser, which is available at AWBS, to the top 25mm of your topsoil. Rolawn's Lawn Establishment Fertiliser is a unique mini-granular slow release pre-turfing fertiliser, that when incorporated into your topsoil promotes rapid root growth, accelerated lawn establishment and can improve lawn resistance to disease, drought and heavy use. Rake the fertiliser into your topsoil to create a consistent and level surface which will make laying your turf easier. Two days before your turf arrives ensure the soil is moist to a depth of 75mm.

Now you're ready to lay your your turf!

How much will you need?

At AWBS we sell our turf in rolls that cover 1m² (rolls measure approximately 610mm X 1640mm) making is easy to work out how much you need. Simply measure the length and width of the area to be turfed and multiply the two figures together. This gives you the square metre area to be turfed, and thus the number of rolls you'll need. It's a good idea to add 5% for shaping just to make sure you have enough for any corners or curves etc. Remember, you can also use our handy calculator to work our how much you'll need. Please note the calculator is based on a metre square area using full rolls. 

Use our turfing calculator

Laying the turf

It's best to start laying out your turf rolls along a straight edge, butting up closely end to end. On subsequent rows stagger the joints in a brickwork fashion. If you're laying a circular lawn start in the middle and work your way out. You can avoid walking on the newly laid turf as you're laying it by standing on planks. Make sure you press your turf down firmly using a rake held vertically.  

If you're laying turf in hot weather it's advisable to water your laid turf as you go, this is very important for the health of your grass. Turf needs to be handled carefully, never stretch or pull the turf, and always take care when pushing it in to joints. You can trim the turf with a long knife to shape around paths, beds or trees. Where the outer edges of the turf are exposed it's a good idea to cover them in a light topsoil to prevent them from drying out. 

Aftercare

You should be prepared to mow your lawn as soon as it needs it, which will likely be within the first week. However you should only mow your new lawn if it can be done without disturbing the new turf. If it's dislodged at any time you can replace it and allow it more time to establish. You can tell if your new turf has taken root to the soil underneath by carefully lifting the corners. If the turf is easy to lift up, it needs more time to establish and root so you should not mow your lawn until this has happened. 

Never remove more than one third of the grass blade at any one time and for the first few cuts remove just the top quarter of the grass blade. Over the next few cuts gradually lower the mowing height down to 25mm. If there are small amounts of grass clippings they do not need to be collected they return nutrients to the soil if they are minimal.

Careful maintenance is the key to a beautiful lawn and the overall appearance of your lawn will be affected by the environment and how well looked after it is. A healthy lawn requires a balance of air, food, water and light, so if you want to keep your lawn looking it's best it's a good idea to follow a maintenance program to keep these elements in balance.

Regular mowing will help maintain the appearance of your grass. Adjust how often you mow your lawn dependent on how quickly the grass grows, which will change with the seasons. Frequent mowing can dramatically enhance your lawns appearance at peak growing times, and it's best to adopt a "little & often" approach.

You should feed your lawn so it receives sufficient nutrients which are vital to it's long term health. Most garden centres will sell fertiliser products that are suitable to use in new lawns. 

Overseeding an already established lawn is another important part of your lawn's ongoing maintenance. Adding additional seed to your lawn can fill in worn or damaged areas, improve the colour and reduce possible weed and moss invasion by creating a thicker and denser lawn. Remember too that shaded areas can struggle to sustain lawn quality, so additional seeding is recommended in these areas. Rolawn Medallion grass seed, in various quantities, is available at AWBS.

We also supply Rolawn's Lawn Top Dressing, which is a high quality, sand based, multi-purpose lawn dressing. Applying this to your lawn will actively enhance your lawns appearance by stimulating new grass growth and increasing tolerance to wear and tear. This can be applied anytime when the grass is growing.  Finally, it is important to aerate your lawn, especially in Spring and Autumn. Simply use a garden fork to spike your lawn especially before applying a lawn food or top dressing. This will help to relieve compaction and assist with drainage.