Problem lawn

Hi, I'm new to this forum.I don't have much experience in gardening. For the past 3 years we have tried to grow a lawn. The first 2 years we cleared the garden of stones, etc., added compost and topsoil, evened it out and then layed turf. Initially, the turf took very well but by the spring, when we started mowing the lawn it just rolled up like a carpet. Last year we decided to plant Canada green seed, which didn't do well at all. We have subsequently got a Jack Russell puppy (now 6 months) and he is continually digging holes and trying to dig under our neighbour's fence. Please help???? what do you think the best solution would be? I don't mind getting rid of the grass altogether but would like to have shrubs and definitely no concrete. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

post a photo here of the area

 

Good evening and welcome to the site. It sounds to me like a lack of water. Turf MUST be kept moist for it to establish. Grass seed needs to be lightly raked into the top inch of soil and again, kept moist. And moist MEANS moist, not soaked once a week but lightly watered every evening.