So I have read all the online instructions about preparation but I am wanting some real experiences and advice.

(Image for reference)… (The patch in the middle is sawdust from the fence cutting BTW)
Halfway through – shows the ground under)

Now

I have been at our garden project for the last few weekends and am pretty much exhausted – big clearance, walls removed, garden dug-over, fence put up etc. On Thursday the turf is delivered and the ground is pretty much prepared but I am sure, given some more time (and inclination) I could do it better. However the ground is a mix of good soil, turned over turf, an old path (so a bit stony under) and a very old and established flowerbed that needed digging down about eight inches to get the levels right and this bit is pretty much solid clay so when I turn it over I just end up with huge clods of unbreakable clay.

So my question is – just how perfect does the ground have to be? Other than taking a rotavator to the whole lot, I feel I have done as much as I can but don’t want to be disappointed if the end-result is crap.

Other than taking a rotavator to the whole lot

Erm…

Why don’t you get the ghost in the right of the picture to magic something up?

LOL @ BigJOhn – that’ll be me stood inside taking a picture out of the window.

I hope.

Deffo sweep up all that sawdust, assuming it’s treated wood the wood treatment is toxic to plants etc.

If it’s lumpy & bumpy when you put the turf down then

1) A load of the turf may be in poor contact with the soil so may not root well
2) when you water it the water will pool in the hollows so you’ll end up with some waterlogged patches which may affect the establishment of the turf in that area
3) when you mow it you may start scalping the top of the high bits (depending on mower height)
4) your croquet balls will never run true

(but there again I’ve had projects where we’ve turfed on steep slopes with no problems – bit of blood fish & bone down before you start, get rid of the big stones & job’s a good un)

A year or so after we’d turfed over soil covered rubble you could feel the ‘rubbliness’ underfoot. I guess this was soil settling and stones / bricks moving upwards over the winter. Not great.

It isn’t soil-covered rubble as such – we have taken out any stones we have found as we have gone along, but once, a long time ago, it was an access road into the field so deeper under there are stones and stuff. It is free of larger stones now to about 6 inches I would estimate.

I think I might just have to spend a few more hours raking and raking and raking to get it as level as I can – the thing is, it is a shared lawn over this old track and the levels are nothing like level anywhere so I am almost trying to get a slightly rough and ready finish (to an extent). But obviously I DON’T want to have the turf fail to take…

rake levelish, remove 12mm+ stones (*try turning rake over and pulling towards), firm by stamping, lay turf with offset joins and really butt the edges up tight and once turf laid stay off and water it senseless for two weeks

Where the turf is being laid on the really solid clay base, does that need turning over too (I am struggling to make an impact on it with a rake)?

For years, when I saw turf lorries I thought it was posh people sending their lawns away to be cut.

😆

can you skin it with a sharp spade (drive it along with the handle very near the ground – easier if you kneel) or hoe

Our’s wasnt totally level but the indents were smooth with shallow gradients if you see what I mean.

If the clay bit is shieled/gets limited sunlight/usually wet I’d be tempted to put in some drainage holes (auger/gravel filled) before turfing as I’m currently carrying out my annual demoss exercise on my shielded/sun limited/usually wet clay based garden

Yes the clay bit is very shaded (see the top pic – that built-up bit is where it is).

And I have some spare gravel from the path too – good shout 🙂

You need a hoe, and hoe and rake the ground to break it up and level it off
That’s a hoe, not a wh……….

I wonder how much a ‘hoe’ would charge to hoe for me?

That depends if you use protection with your hoe……

Levels are up to you and what you’re happy with. Main thing to consider would be the drainage across the site. If the content of all those tracks, beds and paths are mixed across the site the end result will look consistent.

If just grassed over as the last place I rented, the areas of good soil depth always grew quicker and twice as tall as the rest, and the parts over paths and shed foundations barely grew or burnt off over the summer.

So a little work to break up the track ways should help avoid random mid summer brown stripes.

Yeah I have tried as much as possible to move the soil back and forth to mix it up (I assumed pretty much as you say). The one main area of concern is this clay area as it is such hard work getting it moving.

When i did mine a couple of years back i got a scaffolding board, put a breeze block on either end and one in the middle then tied a rope round each end of the board. I then dragged this up and down left and right scraping of the high spots till it was flat.
Looks ok now.