Newly laid turf - going brown and has sink holes??

chloe_bramble · July 2021

Hi, we had our garden done last Friday, it was previously gravelled and that was removed, the ground prepared and turf laid.

Obviously it’s been incredibly warm and we were advised to heavily water it twice a day for 7 days, which we have been doing. Some days even three times.

The seams of some of the strips are very brown and already look to be dying. There also appears to be some “sink holes” if any pressure is put on certain areas then it completely sinks down and feels like there is hollow space beneath it.

I just wanted to check if this is normal or if we need to speak to the person did it?

I have attached some images although they don’t really show how bad the browning is in reality.

Any advice much appreciated!

AnniD · July 2021

Welcome to the forum Chloe.

I was about to say that it doesn't look too bad, and then l read your final comment

Was all the preparation done by the person who laid the turf, and how long was the ground left to settle before the turf was laid?
The edges tend to be the "weakest link" and this weather has been exceptional. It's only been laid for a very short time.
How much water do you give it each time, and are you watering generally in the morning or evening?

chloe_bramble · July 2021

AnniD said:

Welcome to the forum Chloe.

I was about to say that it doesn't look too bad, and then l read your final comment
Was all the preparation done by the person who laid the turf, and how long was the ground left to settle before the turf was laid?
The edges tend to be the "weakest link" and this weather has been exceptional. It's only been laid for a very short time.
How much water do you give it each time, and are you watering generally in the morning or evening?

Thanks so much for your response!

Yes, the same person did the prep as well as laying the turf. There was no gap between prep and laying, it was all down within the same day.

We’re watering it for around 10-15 minutes at a time both in the morning around 8am and again in the evening at around 8pm

AnniD · July 2021

It's a bit difficult for me to comment further if l'm honest, l assume the person who laid it came recommended or maybe a family member ? Personally l would have let it settle for at least a couple of days before turf laying, but there are ways of re levelling it once it's established.
When they did the levelling do you know how it was done ?
One of the things you can do is gently lift the edge of the turf and see how wet the soil is underneath, you may be surprised to find that it's still quite dry.
Have a look at this and see how it compares to the work you had done (no connection to the company, l just thought it was a pretty comprehensive guide

).
https://www.edenvaleturf.co.uk/how-to-lay-turf
I would suggest contacting the contractor and see what they say.

Dave Humby · July 2021

Sounds like the ground was not uniformly compacted prior to laying the turf. I would get them back. It probably won't have rooted yet, if they have it will only be just in the surface. They can lift the turf, fill, firm and level the affected areas. In saying that I suspect you'll find further depressions occurring over time. For the dry edges the best thing is to sprinkle a fine topsoil along these joins along with some seed and you should be OK.

JennyJ · July 2021

I think in this hot dry weather you need to water for longer. 15 minutes isn't really heavy watering and will probably only wet the surface, and it needs to get down to the roots. I would leave seeding over the joins until September (hopefully better weather for establishing grass from seed). The sink holes indicate that the ground preparation, and particularly the firming and levelling steps, weren't done well enough.

Newly laid turf - going brown and has sink holes??

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