Laying lawn turf is an effective and relatively quick way to transform your outdoor space into a lush green area. Whether you're establishing a new lawn or renovating an existing one, this step-by-step guide will help you achieve a beautiful and healthy turf in the UK.
Where To Start
Before you start you will need to make a few measurements and plan ahead.
First of all decide how much of your garden you want to have as a lawn.
Then measure that area (its best to measure in meters) and calculate how many rolls of turf you will need. Or use our Turf Calculator.
Establish wether you will need any topsoil (all turf needs topsoil underneath it but you may already have sufficent soil in your garden) - see more on this below.
Order your topsoil (if you need to buy more) and prepare the area you wish to turf.
Then Order Your turf - its best to get your area prepared and ready in advance of your turf arriving, and make sure your free on the day of delivery to lay the turf that day.
Follow our guide below on laying your turf.
The Tools You'll Need?
Your going to need a few basic tools:
Tape Measure
A Spade
A good turfing rake
An old kitchen knife
Hose and Sprinkler
Turf Rolls
Topsoil
Optional Extras
Hire a rovivator (if you have an existing lawn you need to remove first)
Wheel Barrow - will make life easier moving rolls of turf
Enter the length of the triangle (A) and the width of the base of the traingle (b) into the A & B boxes below. (makes sure you select the correct units you have measured in) and then click the Calculate button below.
Circular Shape
Measure the diameter (width) of the circle you wish to turf and enter below then click the calculate button.
Preparing The Area Before to Turfing
It is important to prepare the area you wish to turf properly, the more effort you put into this step the better your finsished lawn will be.
Essentailly you want to end up with a smooth and level bed of firm topsoil, free from lumps and bumps and firm enough that when you walk on it you just leave a slightly imprinted foot step.
If you have an extisting lawn that you wish to re-turf, you will need to either kill off the exisiting grass / weeds with either a spray such as roundup or dig off the existing grass and then dig the soil over, either by hand or by hiring a rotivator.
At this point you may need to buy some topsoil to help level off the area you wish to turf, a layer of fresh quality turfing topsoil will help your new lawn establish and promote a healthy lawn.
Level your topsoil with a good strong turfing rake, removing any large stones or roots if present in the exisiting soil. Continual raking will help break up any lumps of soil and remove stones as well as compacting the soil and leveling the area off, continue to rake and level until you are happy that you have a nice flat area to turf which is firm enough to walk on without sinking into the soil.
Now Your Ready to Order Your Turf!
Now that your ground is prepared for your turf, its time to have a final measure up and work out how many rolls of turf you need. We always recommend ordering about 5% more than the area you have to cover, this will alow for cuts and overlaps.
Once you've worked out how much turf you need, have a look at you diary and workout when you can lay the turf - remember turf should always be laid on the day of delivery.
We deliver turf Tuesday to Friday as standard and you can book a delivery date in our checkout. We usually need 3 days notice for a turf delivery, but the earlier you place your order the better.
You should by now have done most of the hard work, laying the rolls of turf is now just a case of unrolling the turf rolls onto your beautifully prepared area.
Start laying your turf at the furthest point (you may wish to lay some boards on your soil to walk on so you don't make a mess of your nicley level topsoil). Roll your first roll out down one edge of the area to be your lawn, and continue rolling the rolls out butted up tightly end to end. once you have completed on side of the lawn, roll your next rolls of turf out next to the first run. Its best to stagger the joints, you may need to cut the first roll in half so the joins in your turf rolls dont all line up with one another. Remember to but the rolls of turf up tightly to each other.
Continue roling your rolls of turf out in lines (as above) until you have covered the area you wish to turf. You can then trim any curves up with either a spade or an old kitchen knife also works well to cut turf rolls to shape.
Dont forget, any small rips, in the rolls of turf will repair and grow back toggether as the grass grows and knits together, holes in rolls can be patch up with off cuts with out any issue or detriment to the fishished lawn.
Turf After Care
A new lawn needs a bit of care and attention for at least the first two weeks after laying.
Water your new lawn to the point of saturation as soon as you fisnish laying your turf. A watering can really will not do it... get a hose and spinkler and leave it on the new lawn until the roots are soaked. In summer months you will need to water your new lawn daily (twice a day if its hot!) as the roots of the turf have mostly been cut off during harvesting and wil need time to grow again.
Keep watering your turf daily until the roots have knitted into the soil below and you can no longer lift a corner of a turf roll.
Mowing
Your turf should be left to grow and knit in to the soil for as long as possible before its first cut. We recommend leaving the turf for 2 weeks or until it grows to 3 to 4 inches (75-100mm). Raise your mower to its highest height setting for the first cut and then you can reduce the mwoing height in stages each time you mow your new lawn after that. But a new lawn should be left a little longer for the first 6 weeks.
