Ive just dug all the gravel up we had in the back garden as the kids keep throwing it at the patio window and Im going to lay some turf.

the ground underneath is solid mud/clay full of cat litter type stone and sand.

is it worth rotavating it to loosen the ground up (might help to level it to if Im honest)

also do i need to prep the ground with anything before putting the turf on top??

Finally how do you lay turf then ??

cheers

steve

Green side up.

(Consider this a Public Service; someone will say it soon enough, so I’m just getting it out of the way so you can get some sensible advice.)

How to lay turf

I know how to lay cable, does that help you?

Rotavate, yes. If the ground underneath is still mankacious then you’ll need some topsoil on it. Certainly anything like well-rotted horse shite dug in would help. Grass is a plant and needs to grow in decent soil. Compacted clay and gravel won’t do and you’ll be wasting your money on the turf.

Once you’ve got it all prepared then laying the turf (yes, green side up) is easy and fun. You then need to water it heavily and regularly. The roots need to grow into the soil underneath and they will only do that if there is water in it. So don’t just dampen the top bit.

bit late to do it this year I think. As above, for strong grass you need the roots to drop right down through to the subsoil and if it’s hot & sunny in the summer you’ll just get a fragile surface grass which will scorch and potentially die unless well watered.

That’s the problem with a lot of lawns – in summer people only water the surface which in turn means the roots are only encouraged to grow near the surface. If you aren’t going to water properly (or indeed can’t water because of drought / hosepipe bans, etc.) you’re probably better not watering at all.

[edit] when I say a bit late, you can do it in the autumn but you’ve missed for spring tbh.

very good bruneep , i hadnt thought of doing that!!

Nae bother! I’m here to help 😉

Its hardly likely to be hot and sunny in the uk this summer so anytime should be fine 🙂

Funny enough about to do the same, next week if I get enough done this week. Not too late at all from what I’ve read up.

I thought you were meant to lay turf onto a level base of sharp sand?

just doing this myself at the moment. From what i have read from the turf manufatcturers web sites now is a good time to lay turf. For seed its too late though.

I also have clayey soil. Unless it is raining or has just rained then the rotivator will just skip along the top of the baked clay and wont do a thing to turn over the earth. A pick axe is all that will work.

You then need about 2 inches of decent soil for the grass to sit on. This may mean diging out 2 inches of clay if you want to keep the same level, or just put it on top of the clay.

The main problem i have had is flattening out the area. My lawn is so up and down i was moving barrows of earth and digging up all day. back breaking work.

Good luck.

After rotavating and breaking up the soil make sure you flatten it down level so you don’t get bumps and dips forming.