Operation Garden

Right. Where do I start. I have a young boy who wants a garden to play in. So I convinced my landlord to pay for the materials and I do the labor. As it stands this is my story in bullet points

- Took up all the stones - so I just had soil
- Landlord didn't buy enough top soil. So I only had about half an inch of new soil to spread (on top of the old soil)
- layed the turf on Tuesday - now it's Saturday
- getting yellow bits, tiny white balls, and odd looking grass
- I water the grass for an hour when I'm back from work (10pm)
- check out the pictures

Questions I have :
- when do I mow?
- can I over water?
- should I be feeding it with fertiliser this early?
- it's not rooted (I'm on the 5th day)
- will the yellow go?
- half inch of top soil ruined my project?

I'm panicking really - as I want to do a good job !
All input is welcome ! nice to be here.

 

@Stiff Lil Green Fingers, you have done a fantastic job , what a fantastic transformation .
I've not got any experience laying or keeping turf but someone will soon be along to help you I'm sure .

 

I agree with @Beckie76 you have done a wonderful job. I have never used sod so can't offer advice. I know that newly sprouted grass seed should not be fertilized but have no idea about mature sod.

Someone will pop in and offer good advice soon.

 

Thanks both of you !! I have put alot of effort into the project just want it to be perfect I guess

 

Sorry to add to the questions on the original post :
- Slugs on the grass? - do i remove them?
- Got prints of boards where i have been walking on them - will they eventually go? when i walk on the boards i do place them in a different place each time, but in the picture, the board mark on the RHS has been there for a couple of days

Cheers

 

Ah thats good news then !
Cheers mate first time ever doing something other than electrical related haha! My wife is saying she is going to put knomes everywhere.... but im treating the garden like a baby, and refusing her input unless its passed through me haha! .. oh dear

 

I think you might be over worrying.
Just keep it watered if its dry in your area.
Grass is pretty tough stuff.

 

The lawn looks fine to me apart from the fact you haven`t sealed the joint between the turves, that is why you are getting the yellowing on the edges. What you should do is get a couple of bags of peat or compost and brush in the joints.

 

@Stiff Lil Green Fingers - you've done a fantastic job.

It would be advisable not to mow until after the grass is able to withstand walking on. New turf grows like mad and for the first several cuts you need to raise the mower's height to a couple of inches.

If you've got a mower that's not height-adjustable, it will scalp the grass into oblivion.

It looks like some of the joining turf hasn't sealed the gaps, hence the discouloration as @daitheplant suggested.

The white balls could be daisies forming new flowers... or even worse - Pearlwort.

Also, slugs DO eat grass if there is nothing else to feed on and made a reall mess of my newly sewn lawn a few months ago, so I suggest putting out some beer traps or slug pellets. The small white slugs seem the worst for vegetation and grass destruction.

 

Ill try and get rid of the slugs then !
What can I do about the yellowness? will it go?
Not sure what pealwort is, but I had a look today, and they look like TINY mushrooms? really really small
Im not sure when its best to walk on it. Im not even sure how long it takes to take root.

 

If there's mushrooms growing, the soil must be rather damp but that's because of the turf needing regular watering, although an hour a day seems a long time.

It is possible to over-water turf which can rot the grass roots, therefore they don't 'take hold', plus potential fungal issues above and below the turf. Striking the watering balance right isn't easy so it may be worth poking a finger through the turf to test how wet the soil underneath is before deciding to water.

If the ground is too wet it may be weeks before it's safe to walk on. Having laid turf a couple of times in the past and watering for several minutes a day, it was about 2 weeks each time before it could be safely trodden on.

Your garden is quite narrow and the fences look quite high, and depending on which direction it is facing i.e. Northwards, could mean that sunshine isn't drying the turf enough if it is having too much water.

P.S. my earlier suggestion of daisies was rather stupid as you would see their leaves.

 

Oh. Maybe. I do check before I water and it's usally moist'ish. But my dad told me to water the garden for an hour a day or when I have time (due to work) - hour in the morning and hour in the evening!. Do you think I'm doing too much ? The sun does reach the whole garden if the sun is out. What would you do if you was me ? This is all new for me

Thanks for the reply ! I appreciate the help!

 

I personally would push a narrow bamboo cane through the turf, then a finger at various sections of turf (they'll heal over soon enough) to test how damp the subsoil is. It needs to be damp but not soaking wet. As seen from your pics, you're wise using boards to walk across the grass.

You may have sun all day in your garden but the high fences and narrow width may inhibit the water evaporation levels, blocking off the wind, alternatively if the wind is in a specific direction it may act like a 'wind tunnel', drying it out fast, escpecially on a hot, sunny day.

If the subsoil is seriously wet rather than adequately damp, the grass roots may die off. The grass obviously needs water but I think you could possibly be over-watering.

I'm not a lanscape gardener and have only laid turf twice (in quite sizeable gardens) but each time it took very well and was watered far less than yours due to clay subsoil underneath. Maybe yours is not a clay-based soil and drains away quickly. Do you know what type of earth is underneath... does it drain away quickly?

All I'd recommend is to keep a check on the subsoil water content, water accordingly and don't add any kind of fertilizer this year - wait until spring.

Also, the shallow layer of topsoil may quickly be pulled down by worms feasting on new nutrients, leaving the layer between the grass and subsoil bare, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem unless yours is clay subsoil, as this retains the water much more than other soil types and if too wet or compacted, the grass roots may struggle to take hold.

If you have over-watered, there are steps that can help the turf from dying off.