If you seed it in April, it should be okay for light usage after ~3 months (depends slightly on the seed you use - ornamental grasses tend to be slower to establish and less hard wearing). I assume your 14 month old daughter doesn't plan to play football/rugby on your lawn this summer?
It depends on the type of usage, the grass seed and your goals.
My lawn goals are quite modest: relatively healthy, weed- and moss-free. I used hard-wearing seed mixtures, so it's not ornamental grass.
On that basis, you are probably okay venturing into it for light usage after ~3 months. Don't expect a full lawn at that stage though - it takes about a year to really thicken up properly. I take the view that I would prefer to use the lawn and reseed any thin patches in the autumn than to stay off it for a full 6 months. I probably wouldn't host a BBQ for a garden-full of people after just 3 months though.
If you're more ambitious than me, aiming for perfection with ornamental grasses, you're better off giving it longer to establish before using it.
I've been very busy in the garden recently. Finally started to rotovate the ground ready to lay turf. I have had a go at treading then raking an area to gauge opinion on my stony ground and whether it is ok to lay turf right on top.
If anyone can help by answering if the below photos look acceptable to turf directly on top of id be very grateful.
....
Sorry, photos did not show for some reason. I've just tried again, but on my computer instead of my phone but same problem. Please view them here (including my before (4 weeks ago) & after):
So again, too stony for turf? It's been back breaking so far with LOTS of surprises, but stones you see in photos are max 30mm, kind of hardcore sized. Do i need to keep going do you think?
I believe there is a problem with uploading photos on the site at the moment but I looked at your google drive images. Are the 'after' photos those labelled 15 and 16? I would be tempted to pick out the obvious stones but appreciate you have a large area to contend with. Looks like you had some kind of raised gravel beds or something in your 'before' images. Do you feel like you have a decent depth of soil in general as it looks very dry for this time of the year so my concern would be how it would cope in the drier summer months.
Hi thanks for your response. I am not sure about depth of soil. I've dug it right down with my mantis Rotavator that works to 20cm. And read to dig to atleast 15cm.
I wasn't aware it looked dry, does it look a concern?
PS the camera did lighten the colour of the soil. Not sure why
Hi Matt. For this kind of stuff you need to ask yourself what level of perfection you're aiming for. If you're just aiming for a bit of grass in the back garden for kids to play etc, I would expect it to be okay. Most grasses are fairly resilient so they will grow.
If you want your lawn to be a thing of beauty that's the envy of neighbours, friends and family, it would probably be best to keep going and pick out more stones if you can face it. You only have one chance to do the prep work.
Re the soil, Google a bit about soil quality to compare your soil against it. You can add conditioners etc if you have concerns, or add a layer of new topsoil before turfing. Again, "family lawn turf" will probably grow without too much issue, but it if you have high ambitions for your lawn you'll see the benefit of getting the soil right before turfing.
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Hi thanks for this. Seeding was always my plan. However I have a 14 month old daughter so I need a nice lawn for her to use this year
If you seed it in April, it should be okay for light usage after ~3 months (depends slightly on the seed you use - ornamental grasses tend to be slower to establish and less hard wearing). I assume your 14 month old daughter doesn't plan to play football/rugby on your lawn this summer?
She is very talented. I'd been advised to keep off it for 6 months on here
It depends on the type of usage, the grass seed and your goals.
My lawn goals are quite modest: relatively healthy, weed- and moss-free. I used hard-wearing seed mixtures, so it's not ornamental grass.
On that basis, you are probably okay venturing into it for light usage after ~3 months. Don't expect a full lawn at that stage though - it takes about a year to really thicken up properly. I take the view that I would prefer to use the lawn and reseed any thin patches in the autumn than to stay off it for a full 6 months. I probably wouldn't host a BBQ for a garden-full of people after just 3 months though.
If you're more ambitious than me, aiming for perfection with ornamental grasses, you're better off giving it longer to establish before using it.
Hi all.
I've been very busy in the garden recently. Finally started to rotovate the ground ready to lay turf. I have had a go at treading then raking an area to gauge opinion on my stony ground and whether it is ok to lay turf right on top.
If anyone can help by answering if the below photos look acceptable to turf directly on top of id be very grateful.
Sorry, photos did not show for some reason. I've just tried again, but on my computer instead of my phone but same problem. Please view them here (including my before (4 weeks ago) & after):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1R7noE9vETT_kUkmenyZHgVUk1x5PPbF_?usp=sharing
So again, too stony for turf? It's been back breaking so far with LOTS of surprises, but stones you see in photos are max 30mm, kind of hardcore sized. Do i need to keep going do you think?
Thank you all so much for your continued help
Last edited: 20 February 2018 18:37:08
I believe there is a problem with uploading photos on the site at the moment but I looked at your google drive images. Are the 'after' photos those labelled 15 and 16? I would be tempted to pick out the obvious stones but appreciate you have a large area to contend with. Looks like you had some kind of raised gravel beds or something in your 'before' images. Do you feel like you have a decent depth of soil in general as it looks very dry for this time of the year so my concern would be how it would cope in the drier summer months.
Hi thanks for your response. I am not sure about depth of soil. I've dug it right down with my mantis Rotavator that works to 20cm. And read to dig to atleast 15cm.
I wasn't aware it looked dry, does it look a concern?
PS the camera did lighten the colour of the soil. Not sure why
Hi Matt. For this kind of stuff you need to ask yourself what level of perfection you're aiming for. If you're just aiming for a bit of grass in the back garden for kids to play etc, I would expect it to be okay. Most grasses are fairly resilient so they will grow.
If you want your lawn to be a thing of beauty that's the envy of neighbours, friends and family, it would probably be best to keep going and pick out more stones if you can face it. You only have one chance to do the prep work.
Re the soil, Google a bit about soil quality to compare your soil against it. You can add conditioners etc if you have concerns, or add a layer of new topsoil before turfing. Again, "family lawn turf" will probably grow without too much issue, but it if you have high ambitions for your lawn you'll see the benefit of getting the soil right before turfing.