In this tutorial, our Wickes expert shows you the best form of prep for laying turf.
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These are the steps for preparing to lay turf:
1. Check what type of soil you have in your garden.
Dig a small hole in your garden to check what type of soil you have. If your soil structure is poor, we recommend using a soil improver. Pre-turfing fertiliser will ensure strong root growth and will feed your new lawn in the first few months. We recommend using Rolawn turf and lawn seeding topsoil.
2. Choose the type of turf you need.
Rolawn offers two types of turf - both types of turf are supplied in rolls of one square meter when harvested:
Medallion - a multi purpose, high quality turf with excellent visual appearance. In independent tests it's been shown to be 99.9% weed free and is more suitable for people with children and pets.
Minster pro - originally designed for golf courses and bowling greens which makes it ideal for feature lawns and formal gardens. It's deeper roots give it tolerance to drought and shade.
3. Find out how much turf you require.
- Start by drawing a sketch of the area you want to lay turf on to, then split your drawing into rectangles.
- Using your drawing mark out the corners of your rectangles on the ground.
- Measure the lengths and widths in meters of all your rectangles and record on your sketch.
- Calculate the area of each rectangle by multiplying the length by the width and add up all the areas of the rectangles together to give you the combined square meterage.
- Add 5% extra turf for shaping and cutting to give you the total quantity you'll need.
- Finally, for top soil, multiply the area by the depth to give you the volume of top soil required.
4. Remove your existing lawn.
- Use a suitable weed killer to stop any weeds or weed grasses from your old lawn coming up through your new turf.
- Remove your current lawn with a turf cutter (the grass and soil waste can be composted, taken to your local recycling centre or put into a green waste skip).
- Using a rotavator, break up and aerate the soil to a depth of 150mm.
- Break down any clods of earth with a rake and remove any weeds, stones or debris as you go.
- Firm up the soil by walking backwards and forwards with your weight on your heels.
- Apply a pre-turfing fertiliser evenly over the area at a specified rate and rake the fertiliser into the top 25mm of the soil.
- Finally, rake to a fine level finish or tilt. The finer the tilt, the better contact you'll get between the soil and the turf, encouraging quick lawn establishment.
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In addition to our video, we recommend you read our 'How To Guide - How to create storage space'. Use this guide to find out how to choose and calculate your materials, tools and safety equipment. www.wickes.co.u....
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