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Best time of year to get turf layed ?

Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
in Problem solving
I'm thinking about having my lawn returfed can anyone tell me what time of year would be best for this to be done,to get people in to do it,I'm not going to attempt it myself.It's 3 x 5 metres so I hope it wont cost too much.
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Posts

  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    That was supposed to say 5 metres x 3 metres!
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Either in the next month or so, or in Spring.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    We're coming to a good time of year, as there's more rain in autumn for getting it established. September is usually ideal. It's also a good time for seed sowing if you're in a warm enough area, and that's cheap, and easy to do yourself.  :)
    In wetter areas, you can do it at virtually any time of year, apart from when soil is heavy or frozen - for obvious reasons!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    edited August 2020
    September is ideal as it give it time to grow roots instead of turf, ready for next spring.
    P.S. No walking on it for that time, and still water it if no rain in winter.
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    Fairygirl said:
    We're coming to a good time of year, as there's more rain in autumn for getting it established. September is usually ideal. It's also a good time for seed sowing if you're in a warm enough area, and that's cheap, and easy to do yourself.  :)
    In wetter areas, you can do it at virtually any time of year, apart from when soil is heavy or frozen - for obvious reasons!

    Hi,I seeded my lawn yesterday,I'm just asking this question on the off chance that it doesn't work out,as I have a feeling it wont.If it's a disaster I will wait until Spring I suppose.
    I killed off some catsear about 5 weeks ago with glyphosate painted on with a brush just on to those weeds in the belief that it wouldn't leach in to the soil as I though it would just stay in the root system of the weeds.Anyway it killed it off nicely,and most of the surrounding grass did look dry but that's not unusual at this time of year in my garden.
    I scarified it with a scarifying rake yesterday and after that there didn't seem much left of the lawn!I then sprinkled seeds and trod them in.I have Autumn fertiliser but it's the stuff that looks like little balls and I'm not even sure if that would be any use on what is a plot of mud with seeds on it.I think it's probably supposed to be used when you have existing grass not a big slab of seeded mud like I have.
    I will suppose I will have to wait a month to see if anything grows before I know if it's a fail and then probably will think about my next move over the winter.
    I have e mailed the company about the fertiliser to get an opinion on if it's suitable.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If you're reseeding, any fertiliser is better put down a couple of weeks beforehand. You wouldn't use anything after you've seeded. Something like bonemeal is better anyway, as it helps with root formation. 
    If the ground is dry and cracked in summer, and wet in winter, it sounds like you need to do a bit of aerating to help drainage. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    edited August 2020
    Fairygirl said:
    If you're reseeding, any fertiliser is better put down a couple of weeks beforehand. You wouldn't use anything after you've seeded. Something like bonemeal is better anyway, as it helps with root formation. 
    If the ground is dry and cracked in summer, and wet in winter, it sounds like you need to do a bit of aerating to help drainage. 

    Yes,I thought it was going to be an over seed and had feriliser suitable to do that and was advised to do that,but with all of the grass being removed during the scarification it has ended up as what can only be called a reseed.
    I'm not going to get too stressed about it,as it's my first time doing anything like that and lets say I was completely out of my comfort zone, and I'm sure a lot of people have ended up with a muddy yard with no grass growing.It will get resolved in one way or another when the time is right
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    I feel blessed the grass seed has taken well,I was so convinced that it was going to be a massive fail.I even managed to find a new mower reduced from £140 to £60 this morning so things are looking up.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Good stuff @Wilson73. 
    Nice result with the mower too. It's always a good time to buy that kind of thing  :)

    I wouldn't be in a rush to cut it though.... ;)

    You want to give it time to get a good root system. If it gets long enough for a cut, keep it high - don't take too much off at any one time  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Wilson73Wilson73 Posts: 136
    Fairygirl said:
    Good stuff @Wilson73. 
    Nice result with the mower too. It's always a good time to buy that kind of thing  :)

    I wouldn't be in a rush to cut it though.... ;)

    You want to give it time to get a good root system. If it gets long enough for a cut, keep it high - don't take too much off at any one time  :)

    Hi yes I'm going to do things properly now.I used to cut it very short and hadn't even thought about that encouraging weeds,so in the future I will be cutting it at a much higher setting and it will hold more moisture then too.I've made my plans for the rest of the front garden but that's going to be a project for next year I suppose.
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