turf preparation

Evening all

I have just removed a so called lawn on my front garden!
I was looking for some ideas how best to prepare the soil for new turf, ie what to add if anything.
Many thx
Sean

 

HI MOWGLEY I had a new lawn laid in may this year,it was too big a job for us to do so the prof. moved in .first they rotivated the area twice. removed all big stones,rolled it then lightly raked it over and then turfed it. then they rolled it again. and now we have a lovely lawn. I dont know if this will help you. fancy

 

i prefer to sow my own seed, then i can be sure it is the best seed for the purpose: the main thing is to ensure the area is not shaded [eg by trees/shrubs overlapping], and to make sure it is well drained,ie can you fork down to 12 inches deep, also do peeps walk across it regularly,, this will compact the soil, and cause poor growth locally,
the soil should be level with the pathways, or you can put in a mowing strip right round it, i m not sure how much rolling is needed, as it must depend on soil conditions, if you level it and leave it for a week or so, then re-level it is more likely to be sucessfull [see my post on do it yourself leveller
if you buy a fine quality lawn seed it will take quite a few weeks to grow, turf is instant, in general it will be a mix of species for general lawn use, and won t be the finest seed: you need to water turf in to make sure it does not dry out before it establishes
bonemeal is a slow release fertiliser, to be raked in to the soil before turfing, you could also add a top quality lawn fertiliser,after a few weeks to encourage grass growth, but not too much, i prefer to add little and often, though this is a bit fiddly, i would also oversow the turf with a fine grass seed, in september, this will improve your lawn, tho again it is a bit of a fiddle

[ 10. August 2006, 09:59 AM: Message edited by: Lady Gardener ]

 

thanks for the replies.
I will be buying the turf from rolawn.
I will take your advice and rake in some bonemeal
into soil before laying the turf.
As well as removing the old turf, i have to remove 4
hardy fuchsia's from the corners of the old lawn, do these root deeply? Will they start to grow again if allthe root isn't pulled out(some of the root could be underneath concrete)
Again many thx
Sean