Preparing soil for New Turf

[Andyc84]

I have got to the point in the garden where I am looking to replace an old lawn with new turf.

Last year I dug the entire lawn over by hand, then hired in a rotorvator to break the large clods up.

Over the winter I left approx 6 inches of horse manure, newspaper and grass cuttings on the lawn area to help improve the soil, (heavy clay)

This was all covered over with tarps to prevent weed growth.

I am now looking at getting some topsoil in and leveling.

I am wondering if anyone can recomend some good topsoil for turff, can I go with a bulk delivery of "topsoil" from a general contractor or should I be looking for a decent supplier to ensure a good quality topsoil specific to lawns?

Secondly, can any one recomend a rotorvator or cultivator for the ground prep, I know I will need to rake and walk it to get a level and correct compaction, but wanted to know if the different types of rotorvator had different effects on the ground?

Many thanks.

Andy

 

[lasors]

You've got to be careful when buying top soil, if it's very cheap it's probably crap. And by crap I mean it's processed skip waste. Often a garden and landscaping centre will offer something of suitable quality, finding somewhere local means you can go and look at it before buying. 3-4 inches of good quality stuff on top of what's there already.

If your soil is quite heavy clay, wait for warm weather to dry it out as much as possible so any decent rotavator will smash the clods down to something that's easy to rake around and level. Make sure it's well trodden down afterwards to remove any voids which will sink later and create an uneven surface.

 

[Andyc84]

Lasors,

That was my main worry which is why I thought i'd ask. good idea on the garden centre front, I have found one near me that sells from a supplier in norfolk and they guarantee that it will be stone free and ideal for turf, what that guarantee actually means or if its even usable I don't know but at least I can pay them a visit.

I am looking at hiring a Camon 2000 rotorvator which is the type i used for breaking the clods up first time round, will this be suitable for prepping the ground for turf, to give a friable soil? I think thats what i've read...

And yes, I had seen the advice about walking it over, guess i'm going to have really good calf muscles by the end of the summer!

 

[r896neo]

I'm sure you know but you need to rotovate in the manure. also be prepared that putting in so much manure means it will sink significantly as it rots down.

Stones are not a problem, in fact they are important for keeping heat in the soil. The quality comes down to the source really. Skip companies or large loads of cheap soil will more often than not supply stuff from sites and dug out material. This could be well be sub soil and have very little goodness in it.

You can use a roller for a faster job than heeling it.

 

[Andyc84]

Thanks, sadly putting that much manure down, it already appears to have vanished, I turned the garden over with a fork at the start of spring so it's already mixed in roughly.

It will get a good rotorvating later in the summer to prep for the turf.

I know stones are ok, but I am more concerned with bits of brick and concrete (which i have seen in some "top soil") and you are correct again about not wanting to get sub soil instead of good top soil.

I think I am willing to spend a little more to try and get quality over quantity.

As for settling due to rot, the manure went down last sept so has had plenty of time to get started, and I don't intend to turf until autumn, not too late obviously, but certainly don't want to do it in the summer.

Thanks for the advice.

EDIT - missed the bit about a roller, I assume you meant a garden roller that I pull around?

Is this suitable for putting in a bank as well? this is to suit the existing ground conditions and to support the base of a retaining wall holding up the neighbours garden.

 

[WabbitPoo]

Skip soil is fine so long as you add some pellets of fertiliser as a top dressing. grass doesn't need great soil. its not something you need to spend a lot of money on.

Really, I have tried all grades of soil over the years - I believe its makes not a jot of difference.

The only problem you CAN get with sieved soil is it can still have slightly larger lumps of brick/glass in it. These will come out as part of your raking stage, so not really a problem.