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New Turf with extra stones!

TurfWaughTurfWaugh Posts: 5
in Garden design
Hi all,

I have just had a new lawn laid (yesterday) at a brand new house. It was previously just mud in the back garden.

They removed a huge amount of the dirt and put on a layer of topsoil.
They finished during the day and we didn't see the results until we got home.

There are hundreds (thousands?) of small stones on the turf. In a 1 inch square area I picked up 5. See attached pics.

Is this normal? I haven't gone back to the guys who did it yet as I was after advice.
Surely when I cut it (eventually) all of these stones will blunt the mower and get flicked up towards patio doors etc.

Thanks in advance for any advice.



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Posts

  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    That looks like type 1 road stone or similar. Used in construction. Did you have any other work done at the same time ie new patio or other hard landscaping. Hopefully it is just some overspill from the work (maybe a barrow fell over?). It won't be good if that's what your lawn base is made up of. 
  • TurfWaughTurfWaugh Posts: 5
    Hi Dave, thanks for the response.

    No other work was done. We had a patio built 2 months ago but that was completely finished. There were no stones like that before yesterday.

    These small stones appear to be from the turf itself. 
    The guys spent 2 days removing the old soil and then put down new topsoil.

    It's not overspill in one area. It's all over the lawn. Concentrated in some areas and more spread out in others.

    As I say, my concern would be mowing this (eventually) and stones flying all over the place.

    A days work or more to pick all those up.
  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    Was it rolls of turf?  If so, then that is part of what the turf was growing in, and as you unroll the turf it falls off a bit. 

    I’m afraid you are for a few hours of raking and brushing...
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Are you sure they're stones?  I garden on clay soil and often find that what look like stones are really lumps of clay which I can crumble in my hand.  When turves are rolled, the upper and lower surfaces are in contact so bits of the underside stick to the upper side.
  • TurfWaughTurfWaugh Posts: 5
    Hi guys,
    Thanks for the replies.
    Yes it was rolls of turf.
    They left a "New Lawn Maintenance" guide which says not to walk on it or cut it for 3 weeks so cannot do yet.

    Yes they are stones. I picked up a few and they are covered in soil. Brush it off and it's a grey stone.

    If people think its normal then I guess I have a few hours of work to do.
    I wasn't expecting it. The guide says not to rake it so it's pick up by hand time I think.

  • OmoriOmori Posts: 1,674
    It’s not normal. I bought quite a lot of rolled turf online, there were no stones whatsoever.  
  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    Then you were luckier with your supplier.  I've laid a fair few lawns in my time, and a small percentage of turves do have stone drop. Mostly it’s just a bit of soil, but depends what the turf was grown on.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    They look very angular - almost like bits of broken terracotta plant pot - rather than natural rounded pebbles that you get in soil.  Maybe the grower used rather large "grit" to improve their drainage for turf growing.  Seems a bit odd though.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    Please do be careful about walking on your new lawn. We live on a new estate where most people have turf laid prior to moving in. Our next door neighbours moved in 4 weeks before we did and walked on their grass from the beginning, apparently.  They had a roundabout style washing line in the centre so had made tracks over the grass to use it. When eventually we risked walking on our lawn, we used some plastic grid style stepping stones to spread our weight. They were soon replacing the grass with slate because it was so uneven. (They blamed the landscaper for doing a poor job.)
    As to your stones,  I would contact your landscaper for 'advice'. Ask if they can account for them. They might want to come and look and/or be willing to sort them out. If you don't ask, you won't get! If you are left to sort them out, you could sweep or rake GENTLY you don't want to disturb the turves, from the edge. When it is established (when you try to pick up a corner it is stuck because the roots have taken) you can collect the rest. Good luck with your supplier. It does look as though it is their job to clean it up really. 
  • CloudGardenerCloudGardener Posts: 3
    I think you can occasionally expect the odd few pebbles/stones but it does seem a very large quantity. I would query this as I would not be overly impressed with the service. I laid my own lawn last autumn and did not have the experience finding stones in the turf rolls.

    Also I don’t know if it’s the photo but some of the joins seem raised/curled you need to ensure that the edges are touching the top soil and well knitted into the surrounding turf. It could be the hot weather that has caused this.

    They are correct you’ll not be able to walk on it for at least three weeks and you’ll need to water it regularly/daily so that it can set root.

    If you do need to walk on it use something like scaffolding boards to distribute your weight, then you can gently remove the stones otherwise you will end up with patches of soil.

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