Laying a Lawn in November?

Hi Guys.
I'm a TOTAL newbie. Just bought a garden (luckily there was a house attached) but the lawn is a mess (even I know that). A local gardener has offered to lay new turf - next week. Am I being naive in thinking that this should be done in the spring?

 

Hi Paul

Its to late in the year to lay a new lawn from turf or seed , so you are right spring or Autumn is best and taking in to account that we are more than half way through November , where abouts are you which helps , I would imagine most of the gardens of the UK are soaked to bursting and best to keep off the soil until it dries out.
Others may disagree with me but I think far to late in the year , any chance of photos ?

Spruce

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Paul
I agree with Spruce. It's like a quagmire out there and it 'ain't gonna get any better.Is this your very first garden? How exciting if so. Please try and get a few pictures of it for us. We can then see if there is any advice we can offer you,
Jenny namaste

 

Hi Paul. You can't lay lawn now. Grass won't germinate properly or grow.spend time on dry days raking and re.raking, etc. April is soon enough

 

Hi Paul.
I'd say it's still okay to lay turf now, but only if;

• Your soil is free-draining and not prone to water logging.
• You are able to avoid walking on the newly turfed area for the next 2 or 3 months.

If your soil is light and free draining like mine, it only needs a day or two without rain, even at this time of year, for the soil to be workable enough to produce a suitable tilth for laying turf on.
If your soil is heavier and holds water, as others have already said, best leave it for now.

Although we're well in to November, it's been a reasonably mild autumn so far, so the soil is still relatively warm.
Newly laid turf will always try to establish new roots as soon as possible, unless temperatures fall close to freezing, when all growth ceases. If the current mild weather continues into next week, and your soil is not too wet, the new turves will begin to establish new roots within a couple of weeks.

Would help to know where you are, by the way.

 

I would be happy to lay turf now, if location is far enough South and soil can be prepared - which will mean it has to be light / free draining.

The key is in the soil preparation, and that is the same whether you sow seed or lay turf, so if you cannot get on the land (because it is heavy / wet) then its going to be a Spring job.

But ... just laying turf (or sowing grass seed) isn't going to fix the problem. If it is currently "a mess" there will be a reason, and that needs fixing first.

And fixing that may lead to the current lawn being revive-able / repairable, without having to go to the expense of creating a new one

Personally I wouldn't turf it. Turf is a horrific solution, environmentally - stripping an inch or two off some marvellous fenland soil, or similar, and then hauling it - often quite a long way. Small range of seed types available too, whereas from seed you can choose the type you need (shaded? or just part of it shaded? need to be robust for kids' football? or like a bowling green? or somewhere in the middle?)

Thus my preference is for seed, but for me Spring is a definite second-best to Autumn - in Spring weeds germinate along with the grass, whereas in Autumn mostly the grass seed germinates on its own as the weeds have shut down for Winter, and the new grass is well established by the Spring; Spring-sown will need watering and nurturing all through the first summer. Selective weedkillers cannot be used for 6 months - so for Autumn sown the weeds that do germinate in Spring can be tackled, whereas for Spring sown you can't do anything much in the first year.

Photograph would help in knowing whether the current lawn is repairable, and location will help with knowing whether you are likely to be able to do this now, or if you should wait (please put your location in your Profile, its then available for future reference too )

 

I agree about seed sown lawns in preference to turf. For the reasons Kristen has given. Preparation is exactly the same and you will save loads o money! Also that autumn sowing is best but, if you are like me, you won't be able to wait until next autumn. A seed sown lawn, ESP if covered with fleece, will germinate in 10 days or so and look good in few weeks. I cover with fleece for bird protection, cat protection and quicker germination. But, remove when grass is growing. My lawn was sown last spring and is mown twice a week. It is thick, weed free and looks good

 

Yah, that would be most people I reckon - if the lawn needs creating then ... it needs creating! For a "repair", or a "round the back", job it might be possible to wait until next Autumn, and if its possible to wait then I think that is best. But 99% of the "I need a new lawn" jobs are going to be "AND I NEED IT NOW" ones !!