How to lay a flat usable turf lawn:

Ok I see so many turf lawns that resemble a beach on D Day! Highspots and depressions, dry spots, even holes! So I would like to offer my guide on how to do it right first time and finish with a lawn you can use instantly (within reason, no football of course).

This would be my take:
If you want to go over an old lawn for the easiest route, apply a 'kill everything' type weedkiller. Once the lawn and weeds have completely died cut and strim down the grass short and clear away debris, water thouroughly and leave for a day (you don't want to work in mud). This way no tilling, no back breaking weeding and ground preperation; why make it hard for yourself?

1/ Treat the area for weeds, digging them out may leave a broken tap root which will come back to haunt you, better to use a strong weedkiller as above. If working on broken or tilled soil, remove stones etc and get the area reasonably level. Don't worry about it being perfectly level now as we will take care of that shortly.

2/. Spread sharp (plasterers) sand over the area to a depth of 2-4 inches.

3/. Hire a vibrating plate (the flat bottomed type not the trench type, the hire centre will know what you mean) Dont skimp here and try to compact another way; forget rollers and stamping, it's the 21st century and this piece of kit will make the difference to your lawn. Should be around £20 for the day.

4/. Go over the area with the vibrating plate to compact the sand, 2x passes no more. It will be very uneven now but don't worry about that.

5/. Get a straight edge, at least 6-8' and STRAIGHT, no flimbsy bits of wood. A good 4x2. at least. DON'T try to do this with a rake, believe me your eye is not that good!

6/. Go over the area shaving off the highpoints and add the 'shaved off' sand to the depressions, use additional sand for the lowpoints as required.

7/. ONE more pass with the plate.

8/.Use the straight edge again to shave highpoints and highlight any remaning depressions.

9/. repeat step 7.

10/. If you have dont this right you should have a perfectly flat area, compact enough to actually walk on (within reason, be careful) without disturbing the ground.

11/. Give the area a very LIGHT rake, even a grass rake would be sufficent, you only want to tease the surface, no more.

12./ Lay your turf neatly with no gaps (don't water it first) using the straight edge to to 'butt' and ensure tight joints but don't damage the edges. Once laid water in and the expanding turf will ensure a tight fit. No tapping beating thumping required as you have a perfectly flat surface to work with!

You can now walk on your new lawn, no waiting, no nonsense.
Ensure that you keep the lawn well watered for the first couple of weeks to prevent shrinkage and bad-a-bing you're finished.
If you followed the steps correctly there will be no depressions or peaks appearing and you lawn will resemble a golf course and not an obstacle course!


Good luck with the lawn...

 

Seems like a lot of info just to lay turf, but thanks, I'm sure someone will find it of interest.

 

Probably some good advice here, but too late for me:(

My new lawn is coming on nicely (from seed on ground that I dug the back breaking way).

It now has lumps and bumps in it. I was planning on levelling it by top dressing with a layer of sharp sand mixed with mushroom compost in September. If some of the grass dies due to being a bit buried, I'm not too worried as I was going to over seed it.

I hope my plan works. I'm not bothered about (in fact don't want) a perfectly even lawn, as long as it is even enough to be pleasant to walk/lay on, and for the microhuman to play on. Its my personal view that gardens shouldn't be too flat, they should be 3 dimensional. Mine certainly is at the moment