Turf gives you a lawn the day it goes down; whether it is still a lawn three weeks later is decided by the ground underneath it and the month it was laid.
mid-autumn and early spring, as the ground allows
part of this job rather than a separate one
the topsoil is opened and levelled before anything is laid
cut turf only gets the water it is given
mowing sooner stresses the grass and delays rooting
turf over a pan at spade depth yellows within weeks
Turf laying is lifting the lawn that is there, opening and levelling the topsoil beneath it, and laying fresh turf onto ground its roots can actually enter. The old turf and the spoil go with us. Cut turf arrives as a severed root system, so the work that decides the result is the preparation under it and the month it goes down.
Against seed
Seed is cheaper in materials and dearer in time. It needs soil at or above 7 °C to germinate at all, and a whole season before it will take being walked on. Turf gives you cover on the day and traffic in weeks.
Against a pallet on the drive
Unrolling turf takes an afternoon. Lifting what is there, taking it away and opening and levelling the topsoil beneath it is the half that decides whether the turf roots into the ground or sits on top of it, and it is the half that gets skipped.
Bare ground
A seeded lawn spends its first season as open soil. Both the sand around Ormskirk and the mossland peat carry a spring wind erosion risk on bare, unstable surfaces, so ground left open here moves and colonises with weeds. Turf covers it the same day.
Turf does not go onto frozen or waterlogged ground, whatever the calendar says, and from mid-spring to early autumn it cannot establish unless somebody waters it properly for weeks. That commitment is the customer's rather than ours, so we put it in writing before we lay summer turf rather than after.
Two different grounds sit inside one round here. On the Shirdley Hill sand at Ormskirk and Aughton, water perches above the boulder clay through winter and the profile dries fast in summer, so the base has to be opened before turf goes down. On the Altcar peat at Tarleton, Hesketh Bank, Banks, Mere Brow and Rufford, turf establishes quickly because roots go anywhere, then shrinks and dishes as the peat consolidates — which is why levels want checking a season after laying rather than signing off on the day.
It sits alongside the rest of our garden services in Ormskirk, and is often booked with garden clearance. The ground changes across the patch — see Ormskirk.
We check what the turf is going onto — which soil, where water sits in winter, how the levels run, and whether there is a pan at spade depth that has to be broken before anything is laid.
The existing turf is cut and lifted, and it leaves with us along with the spoil. It cannot go in a household garden waste bin, which is the usual surprise on this job.
The ground beneath is opened so roots can enter it, then graded and firmed to a level that will still be a level once it has settled.
Usually the same visit
Turf is laid in a bond with the joints butted tight so they knit rather than open, then firmed down onto the prepared soil and cut in at the edges.
We water it in unless rain is due, then tell you how often to water, why a thorough soak beats a nightly sprinkle, and when the first cut is safe.
How it is priced
By the area laid, how much the ground beneath needs opening and levelling, and access for barrowing turf in and spoil out. The volume of old turf leaving the site is a cost of its own, and imported topsoil is quoted on top where levels have to be built up. The price you get is the one on your written quote, after we have seen the ground.
The base
New-build plots at Burscough and the Skelmersdale estate gardens are a thin skim of imported topsoil over subsoil that has had plant on it. Turf laid on that greens up for a fortnight and yellows in the third week, because the roots reach a pan and stop.
The month
Cut turf has no working root connection to the soil, so until roots grow down the only water it gets is what is applied. Laid between mid-spring and early autumn without irrigation, it shrinks, the joints open and the edges die back.
The watering
Wetting only the upper layer of new turf leads to shallow rooting, so infrequent thorough watering beats frequent light watering. This is the instruction most often given the wrong way round, and the turf pays for it in the first dry spell.
Too soon
New turf that is mown before it is fully rooted is stressed twice over, by the cut and by being walked on, and rooting is delayed rather than helped. Tug a corner gently first — if it lifts, it is not ready.
This is the general position, not a decision about your property. We confirm it with the authority named above before we quote.
Dan came and did a day clear up on our garden, he then scarified, fed and seeded our lawn. We then booked him to come back, put down sacking, edging and stones. Dan works hard from start to finish and leaves your garden clean and tidy, taking away debris. My daughter is getting married on Monday so we are having a garden party, we are now party ready! Thank you 😊
Dan was very reliable , efficient and got the job done to a high standard. We are very pleased with our garden.
Highly recommend, pays great attention to detail, with excellent knowledge and skill. Very reliable and will give you a bespoke service tailored to your needs.
Dan was fantastic! My garden was in a bad way and now it looks incredible! Can’t believe how quick he was and what a fab job he’s done, also very reasonable price considering what he was faced with. Would 10/10 recommend.
Booked in with Hardman Horticulture to get on top of a garden that had been somewhat neglected for many months - Dan was able to communicate effectively around availability, provided a fair quote for the work, and turned up when they said they would. Very pleased with the results of the initial visit and have communicated intention to re-book for further garden work. Highly recommend!
Very good at maintaining my gardens and reliable
Tell us roughly what the garden looks like now and we will say what it needs and when.
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