I'm building my mum a patio, but the last job is to level up the lawn. Its not that big & varies in level from 0-50mm.
So can I fill in the low spots with topsoil & turf the whole area without digging up the existing lawn?
We just had our lawn re-turfed after the builders killed it.
They rotovated everything down to 6 inches, then stamped it all level before adding topsoil & turf. Even with all that palaver it's still a bit lumpy. We'll put a roller over it at some point.
So, in answer to your question, probably not if you want a half decent result.
You can, but I wouldn't.
Im affraid to say i killed ours off with weedkiller, then rotavated and raked and rolled before turfing.
Worked out well too.
Why not just fill the voids with topsoil then chuck down some grass seed on the bits that need it?
Why not just fill the voids with topsoil then chuck down some grass seed on the bits that need it?
^ this.
It is a deep topdressing. Soil, possibly some sand for drainage, and lots of grass seed.
thepurist, Matt........that's another option I'm considering.
Don't do it now, it's far to hot and dry
If it's 50mm then I'd go with the fill will soil and seed option. Easier to get it level but it will shrink back a little. As above not great timing as it's too dry. It will be fine if you keep watering it but that's a bit wasteful unless you have a big water butt still full
You would be best off leaving back-filling and seeding until the autumn now – get it prepared in Sept/early Oct and next spring it will start to grow though with zero effort needed.
Seed. Cheap, easy to do, and gives great results, until the birds eat half of it and the slugs the rest after it germinates. After two or three goes at shit results you'll wish you'd turfed it.
Yes, you can turf over grass, worked fine for us. However, don't do it at this time of year the turf will dry out in hours and die within days.
^^^ I don't agree with that at all. We removed a quite sizeable amount of hedges (I would estimate some 100 to 140 sq ft in three separate batches across two lawns) and simply turned over the top soil and seeded and with nothing but a few canes with jangly things on to scare birds and the occasional watering in dry spells and both new areas of grass took first time.
I have also turfed another couple of patches (against time and the seeding wouldn't have taken enough in time before a planned garden party) and yes it is easier but it still needs looking after (ie, watering) and the obvious join lines take a while to blend in.
Is there anything actually wrong with the existing lawn other than the level? If not then cut fold the turf back in high and low places, add/remove soil as necessary and turn the turf back.