How to Lay a Lawn

I’m a great believer in lawns in the garden, they are quintessentially British.

If you wish to create a lawn in your garden or renovate one you already have, it’s not as difficult as you think. If you have an existing lawn you can in fact remove it and add a new one too.

When to Lay

The best time to prepare a lawn is either in spring or in the autumn, this really avoids the two months that cause difficulty for laying a lawn. Winter of course is a risk, due to frost and the summer due to the drying out. Choose spring or autumn and you can’t go far wrong.

Preparation

If you have an existing lawn you can hire a turf cutter, which literally cuts underneath the pieces of turf, it’s almost like a lawnmower but instead of cutting the grass it cuts underneath the soil and you can roll up your old lawn, throw it in the skip and clear it away.

The key thing to any lawn laying is in the preparation. The first thing you need do is remove all existing weeds. You can do this in one of three ways; perhaps you wish to spray the whole area with weed killing chemicals which kill not only the top of the grass but the weeds and roots as well. These are called translocated herbicides.

If the spray solution is not an option dig the whole area over and handpick all the weeds and debris out.

Finally for a quick solution, cover the area with black polythene, leave it for a prolonged period of time to kill all plant life. But whatever happens you really need to clear as much weed as possible otherwise it’s going to give you difficulties in the months ahead as the lawn grows and the weeds come through.The chemical way, although not Eco is without doubt the most efficient way but you have those other options as well.

Seed or Turf

You have two ways of choosing to lay a lawn, first option is to use seed, by putting fresh seed down to grow the lawn.

The second way is by turfing it. Each way has its advantages and disadvantages. If you turf the area you get an instant effect but if costs a lot more money. If you seed it this is a great deal cheaper but takes a lot longer to produce a decent lawn.

Prepare Tilth

The key thing for each of these methods is getting together a decent tilth. That is a horticultural term that means a very fine level of soil at the top, one that will allow the turf to root into or to help the seed germinate.

This can be created in a variety of ways; the best thing to do is remove all plant material from the area either by weeding or by turf cutting.

Then start by extensive digging. You can do this in a couple of ways, one laborious and hard work but of course will help you to lose weight with extra digging with a spade or two. Or you can hire a rotavator and rotavate until you feel you going to drop. Remember the more cultivated the soil the easier it is for the area to grow either by seed or by turf.

Remove all stones or debris and any other bits and pieces that are in there. Dig as much farmyard manure into the area or add a load of topsoil to make the soil great.

When you have dug up the area as much as possible, make sure that you level it.  This can either be achieved by using a wide rake, called a turfing rake, it’s similar to a normal style rake but about 3 feet long.

Alternatively grab a scaffolding plank that builders use and tie two ropes to drag it along, this large plank is dragged over the area to level it.

If you are looking for an absolute precision job, you can put in stakes, use string and a spirit level to get it ready. Personally speaking if you use the plank levelling method you will find that it is a lot better.

Turf it

There are many different types of turf you can use. Premier lawn which is really a fine lawn the type of stuff you put at the front of the garden which looks good but doesn’t wear well if you playing football on it.

Use general purpose lawn which is just a general lawn that works from both aesthetic purposes but also wear too.

You can even lay a tough wear lawn, great for playing football and cricket without too much deterioration.

You can also have a shady lawn mix which survives pretty well if you have a lot of trees in your garden.

There is a new lawn called Rhizomatous Tall Fescue which roots really deep into the soil and is great for surviving during prolonged periods of lack of water.   I have this lawn myself and believe me it’s looks a million dollars. It is available from a brilliant supplier company called Q Lawns based in Norfolk and is available from most retail outlets or direct.

The equipment you need to a lay lawn:-

• Rake
• Planks
• Sharp kitchen knife
• A spirit level, if you seek that level of precision
• Compost which you may use to infill between the turfs

Once your preparation is complete, begin at the straightest edge you can find within your garden and start rolling out the turf. Then lay your turf in a brick laying fashion, in other words that all the edges are slightly offset to each other. This helps them to knit together.

Use your sharp knife to cut the turf as you place it into position but never walk on the turf itself.  You want to keep the lawn as flat as possible, with no footprints in there, so use planks or boards to walk on the turf.

Water in well and keep watering during the dry season as the lawn establishes itself.

Sowing Seed

If you are sowing seed you can use a seed sower which enables you to proportion the seed to the exact calibration or cast by hand following full instructions that are shown on the seed packets.

Again keep them watered as much as possible. With a young lawn that’s seed sown never walk on it until it’s established; follow the instructions from the relevant seed packets.

Water and Feed

Having a lawn at that looks good and green is fantastic, and keeping it fed plays a major part too during the spring/summer season. When the lawn is fully established, use a spring summer feed which is a high nitrogen feed that focuses really on generating strong leaf growth. In addition there is an autumn feed which specifies particularly on helping the roots of the lawn too.

A decent lawn is great, not only for looking good but for adding an element of greenery to the garden to soften slabs or the buildings around. More importantly, it is great for the kids too and of course any animals you may have, especially dogs.

Worms

A lawn encourages more worms into the soil. A company calledWiggly Wigglers sell worms through the post and believe me there are a superb addition for your lawn. Not only do the RedDendrums pull in any leaves during the autumn and break them down in the soil but Lob Worms help break down lower surface areas and it works a treat.

A great looking lawn always adds value to the property …. but more importantly adds to your quality of life.

Here are some great lawn products »»

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