Best Prep for laying turf
neilgordonadams
Posts: 1
Hello everyone I'm looking for some advice on how best to prepare my garden for laying new turf. It is currently grassed but previous owner had a dog that left it very uneven. What would work, best to remove the grass by topping it then rotovate or to kill the grass with round up then rotovate??
Any advice would be much appreciated 
0
Posts
If you're going to rotovate, then I'd leave what grass there is. Just churn it up, back and forth until it's as fine as you can get it. I did one patch of lawn once, got it so fine, and churned it so deep, the more I went over it that I changed my mind. The soil was so good that I grew vegetables there instead! However, that's the sort of prep it wants so that you can rake it down, walk over it, then rake it down again, all the while making it as even as possible. Your weight won't compact it, so walking back and forth only breaks up lumps and tells you where the hollows are, because you'll feel them. Then you lay the turf, water it, soak it ('til it's squishy when you lightly tread on it) and then leave it alone, keep off it. You'll only need to water it again in a few weeks if it's not free draining, but perhaps in two weeks if you're on sand or chalk where the water runs through easily. I usually tell clients that it's a two month wait, but trust me, it's worth the wait for the grass to settle in, start to establish and be strong enough for light use.
H-C