Laying a New Lawn: Step-By-Step

Table of Contents

Introduction

laying a new lawn can be pretty much painless; thus, as long as you understand the best time to apply it and you can equally acquire good turf raised from seeds, you can also establish a lush green lawn with just minimal effort. If your goal is to have a healthy lawn, then it’s best to purchase your turf from a supplier who is reliable and trustworthy. Moreover, if you aim to cover a large area, as per your desire, you can have your turf delivered to your door, which makes the whole procedure even simpler.

It is good to prepare the place you will lay your turf before purchasing it to have the best conditions. The best seasons for laying a new lawn are spring and fall because then your soil should be warm. Fall is a great option to help keep the soil hydrated, as you could benefit from some of the rain during that period. This guide will take you through laying a new lawn in three simple steps once you are ready.

Step One: Planning Your New Lawn

It’s more beneficial to think ahead of time about the shape and size of the lawn you want to purchase, how much turf and topsoil you may need, and whether to entirely remove the old turf you had. To ensure the turf can be laid out within our suggested timeframes, field planning should be done in advance:

Spring/Summer – have the turf rolled out immediately
Autumn/Winter – Have the turf rolled out within 24 hours

Laying turf is a particularly time-sensitive activity. Also, turf treated with some of the best technology is perishable and needs to be quickly laid down. So businesses that sell turfs that can be laid at any time of the year, are places we suggest you make your purchase. However, in frosty conditions, laying turf should be avoided and special care must intensify. Moreso, attention will be needed when attempting to lay a new lawn in dry and hot weather conditions.

Tools Recommended for laying turf

There are only a few tools that are required to lay turf:

Rake

Fork or Spade
Sprinkler and Garden Hose
Scaffolding Planks

Wheelbarrow
Old hand Saw or Long Knife

You might also require a rotovator and, if you need to replace an existing lawn, you would require a weed killer or a turf cuter.

Step Two: Ground Preparation

Getting your ground ready before laying your turf will take some time. However, if you aim to produce and have a beautiful, safe lawn that will last for years to come, the time investment is worth the time.

Removing Existing Lawn

If you have an existing lawn, it must first be replaced. It is not advisable to lay new turf on an existing grass, preventing the new turf from rooting well. Moreover, it is also possible for the freshly purchased turf to get weeds through the old one. If the lawn relay’s instruction guide is not followed, the lawn will likely deteriorate over time.

You could make use of either of the following two options to have the existing lawn removed

Make use of weed killers – Using a modified non-selective weed killer ideal for killing grasses, treat the current lawn. It would also help avoid the emergence of weeds and weed grasses from your new turf. You will have to leave it for approximately 14 days for maximum performance.

Have the turf lifted – Turf cutters from a reputable hire shop are available and can be used to trim an existing lawn. One of the advantages of this approach is that if you put it in a garden waste at a local household waste recycling center, old turfs could be used to produce compost, either at home or by the local authority.

Inspect the quality and depth of your soil: the moment the area is free and clear of weeds, you have to ensure that you achieved a minimum soil depth of 100mm, preferably 150mm, and the soil should be leveled and raked to a fine tilth.

Ideally, you should patronize a lawn specialist that can provide the ideal base for turf and help you create the level surface and reliable foundation that you need to lay your turf or apply your lawn seed. Go for a solid lawn establishment so that you can be sure your lawn gets off to the best possible start. A soil improver may alternatively be used to upgrade existing soil. If you need to buy topsoil, you may use a commodity calculator to know how much you will need. You can also get a Topsoil Professional Advice, which can provide you with further information on how the best soils can be picked and used.

Have the ground leveled

Leveling is one aspect of the preparations to obtain the best possible results from quality Turfs, which is always worth getting right. More so, the right business will give you a high standard and aesthetically pleasing grass that is easier to mow and keep. Thus Putting in the effort now would pay dividends.

If this is the first time you will be laying a new lawn, you may not know that there are likely to be places that would need working even when the field looks level to the eye. Thus, one of the best ways to detect anomalies is to gently walk up and down the field. You can feel the soft and hard spots, raised patches and dips using your feet, in a manner that machines cannot detect.

Go through the following steps to correct any loose ends:

To loosen it up, start by digging over or rotovating the soil.
Remove stones, clods, other debris, and perennial weeds from every surface.
The soil should be slightly compacted until loosened by walking over the entire region and then again at right angles in the first direction.

Using a fork, breaking up any highly compacted areas, filling any dips, compacting gently.
Then rake the surface to a fine tilth and make sure it is level with the surface.
Do not use any heavy machinery, such as rollers, on the prepared soil, as this will make the soil too dense.

Preferably, a couple of days before your turf arrive, you can water the soil. Make sure the soil is moist to a depth of 75 mm and ready to supply the turf’s roots with water. This helps the ground settle, too, and just before the grass arrives, it will need to be raked again.

Step Three: Laying the Turf

Just as we highlighted above, you must lay your turf just as soon s your receive it; hence you need to follow the steps below:

Start to lay the turf, ideally along a straight edge, end to end, butting closely.

The joints in brickwork fashion stagger in subsequent rows.
Start with circular lawns in the center and work your way out.
Turves with the head of a rake or piece of wood are gently firmed down to maintain optimal contact between the underside of the turf and the soil.

A light soil will fill any remaining cracks (Turf & Lawn Seeding Topsoil is ideal and tamp it down.)
Prune turf edges to form around any trees, paths, and beds using a cutting spade, hand saw, or long knife.
Finally, to avoid drying out, cover with light soil the part the extreme edges of the fresh turf is visible. After a few weeks, this can be removed once the turf is more mature.

Essential Points to Keep in Mind

To ensure the prepared soil stays level, planks should be put on your freshly laid turf to walk along and work from.
Do not attempt to use a roller on newly laid lawn because if misused, this can cause some damage.

Force turf into a joint at all times; by pulling them, never spread the turves.
The turf must not be permitted to dry up. Begin watering the parts laid out first before finishing the entire region in hot weather, and then proceed to water daily.

Aftercare: Caring For Your New Turf

to properly care for your new turf, you’d have to follow this guideline strictly. Keep in mind that strict adherence to these guidelines will ensure that your new turf establishes fast enough for tat beautiful and healthy-looking lawn.

Ongoing Maintenance

Over time, your lawn’s appearance can be influenced by its setting and care. The right combination of air, food, water, and light is needed for a healthy lawn, which can be accomplished with a good lawn maintenance program. Please visit our Lawn Care pages for a detailed guide.

How frequently should you have your new turf watered?

When it’s entirely laid to the ground, the new turf must be moistened. You’ll need to water it yourself if it isn’t raining. You can have to water twice or even three times a day in hot, dry, or windy conditions; and water immediately at every indication that the turf is drying out or shrinking. Eventually, as you carefully raise a turf corner, you would see healthy new white roots. There you know that these were formed when it becomes hard to pull up the turf.

How frequently should the new lawn be mowed?

In spring and summer, in 7-10 days, your new turf will be ready for its first mowing. But make sure that this is a delicate process! All you want to do is level the top of the grass, increase the cutting height, and use a hay box. Then keep cutting (in spring twice a week or in summer once a week), do not attempt to cut more than a third of the current height. Follow the spring guidelines if you have laid turf in autumn, but for winter-laid turf, mow only if it is still rising. Otherwise, before spring, leave it. And note, always maintain the sharpness of your mower blade!

Conclusion

Laying a new lawn is pretty much more comfortable than most people would presume. The only challenge most people have is when they don’t get quality turf to lay, and this is always a problem with suppliers of these turfs. Thus it’s imperative to get the right suppliers because you will be getting the proper establishment when you use them.