Levelling and turfing

fred99 · Post by **fred99** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:42 pm

I need to level my garden with topsoil and then turf over the top.

What steps do I take?

Do i need to roll the topsoil to compact it so it doesn't sink once i've laid the turf?

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:01 am

you need to dig up the top soil till its airy and fluffy then level but dont compact

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:02 am

The logic is to have a good substrate for the grass roots to grow into and bind it all together. Ideally the existing ground should be rotovated and levelled mix the topsoil into this tilled layer and also mix in some peat and Gromore feed. When the turf is laid and it has been well soaked roll it to compact and level the lawn.

Long winded but it will give best results

DWD

fred99 · Post by **fred99** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 2:56 pm

Thanks for the replies guys.

I take it its no good to just put the top soil straight ontop of my existing uneven lawn and then add the turf then?

thescruff · Post by **thescruff** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:25 pm

No, because when the vegetation rots you'll be back to square one.

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:25 pm

the trouble with that is the ground with twice as much added soil will flatten[compress/sink] twice as much as the ground with half the soil added

darrenba · Post by **darrenba** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:45 pm

Here's a previous thread with some details in it

preparing-ground-for-turf-t21795.html

fred99 · Post by **fred99** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:07 pm

Great stuff.

Pictures will help alot too

MFCGMFC · Post by **MFCGMFC** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:18 pm

its all in the prep work mate

get as fine a tilth as possible before you lay the turf

plenty of water once its laid and a good firm roll

fred99 · Post by **fred99** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:30 pm

This is part of the area I'm doing. Ive got 5 tons of topsoil being delivered on Thursday and I've hired a rotavator to turn the original turf and soil over.

When I've rotavatored the grass does it just mix into the soil or do i need to get the old grass out before I start levelling with the new topsoil? sorry if thats a daft question but I'd rather be sure

As you can see from the pic, getting a roller onto the lawn will be near impossible so any other ideas for flattening/levelling/compactingwill be apreciated

Geewizz · Post by **Geewizz** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:38 pm

Start by stripping the turf. You MUST get the existing turf off before you rotovate. You could hire a turf stripping machine but for that size of lawn I would just cut it into strips with a half-moon edging iron and then lift it by sliding in a spade. You should cut about 2" deep into the soil and try and aim to get the turves all about the same thickness. That way you arn't losing any precious soil but you are still getting out the bulk of the root fibres.

Normally you would rake the surface and roll it, repeating until you have a level and compactd surface. Then you would rake the top inch or so to provide a tilth for the laying of your turf. However, you are laying loose soil onto yours so you can leave the existing soil compacted and just spoon on your new soil. Spread your soil so that it is no more than 2" deep and compact that with a roller (or your feet.) Add subsequent layers of 2", compacting as you go, until you are happy with the level. Now order your turf.

When your turf arrives, rake the top layer so that you have a loose layer of finely raked soil between 1" and 2" deep to lay your turf.

Razor · Post by **Razor** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:18 pm

Havent a clue what this posts about, not got past Freds avatar yet

Foggy · Post by **Foggy** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:25 pm

Razor wrote:Havent a clue what this posts about, not got past Freds avatar yet

Snap

who cares about turf

MFCGMFC · Post by **MFCGMFC** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:58 pm

Geewizz wrote:Start by stripping the turf. You MUST get the existing turf off before you rotovate. You could hire a turf stripping machine but for that size of lawn I would just cut it into strips with a half-moon edging iron and then lift it by sliding in a spade. You should cut about 2" deep into the soil and try and aim to get the turves all about the same thickness. That way you arn't losing any precious soil but you are still getting out the bulk of the root fibres.

Normally you would rake the surface and roll it, repeating until you have a level and compactd surface. Then you would rake the top inch or so to provide a tilth for the laying of your turf. However, you are laying loose soil onto yours so you can leave the existing soil compacted and just spoon on your new soil. Spread your soil so that it is no more than 2" deep and compact that with a roller (or your feet.) Add subsequent layers of 2", compacting as you go, until you are happy with the level. Now order your turf.

When your turf arrives, rake the top layer so that you have a loose layer of finely raked soil between 1" and 2" deep to lay your turf.

that is excellant addvice

if you follow those instructions you will have a rare nice and green lawn!

fred99 · Post by **fred99** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:18 pm

Got the turf laid yesterday and watered it straight away. Ive given it a good hour n a halfs watering again tonight using a sprinkler. I'll carry on watering it every evening but how long should I leave it before giving it a roll?