There are multiple reasons why you might decide to create a new lawn from scratch. You might have just finished a major makeover of your garden with a reshuffle of your garden features, or maybe you just need to replace your old, already tired, and perhaps uneven law. We can do all the hard work for you but there are still a couple of things relating to planning and aftercare you should know about.
Seed vs Turf
The first thing you should note is that there are two main approaches: sowing grass seeds and laying turf. The former is a more demanding and time-consuming approach which requires quite a lot of patience and precision. Timing is important and you can generally achieve the best results if you sow your grass in spring when the soil is moist and sunlight si still rather mellow. Also, watch out for hungry birds munching on your future lawn – grass seeds are an extremely attractive supper choice for them!
Despite all this, sowing from seeds doesn’t necessarily have to produce a better lawn as turf lawn can also be of very high quality. The main advantage is definitely the price as seeds can be more than 10 times less expensive than turf. Another advantage of seeds comes into play when you need a specific type of lawn as the choice of seeds is marginally greater than the choice of turfs. This allows you to select grass that is most suitable for your needs. Another obvious advantage is the ability to use just a small amount of seeds to cover any dry patches which might start to creep up in your already established lawn.
Turf, on the other hand, is pretty much instant and ready to use within four weeks. This saves you a lot of time and effort. If you’re in a rush and don’t mind paying extra, turf is your choice. Another bonus is that turf can be laid essentially anytime during the year. However, if you do it during hot summer months, it will require much more intensive watering. There are, however, some drawbacks. We already mentioned the higher cost of your new lawn, but limited choice of turfs can also put you off if you require a specific type of grass which might not be available as a turf. Turf doesn’t like shady and wet areas, so for those places, you might want to go with seeds instead. Also, don’t delay laying down your turf once you purchase it! It can dry out very quickly.
We would be more than happy to guide you through the selection of the best approaches for your new lawn and an inspection of your garden after the job. We can help you decide whether to choose turf or seeds. We have plenty of experience with creating anything from ornamental lawns for large gardens or public spaces to getting small play areas green and ready for kids to spend the summer months playing in. No job is too big or small.
Watering your new lawn
While we can help you with setting up your lawn, it then needs to be watered extensively before it fully settles in and the roots are strong enough. Even though it seems that British weather should be able to do most of the job for you, this is often not the case. Even our notoriously rainy weather might not be enough to satisfy a thirsty new lawn. It’s not a good idea to create your new lawn just before you’re off for a holiday as your investment into the fresh greenery could turn yellow in just a few days without proper watering!
You might find yourself wanting to invest in a new sprinkler. Spraying your lawn using a hose might work for small areas, but generally it is not good enough for proper watering. The new lawn needs prolonged and slow soaking before it becomes truly watered and this is difficult to achieve with just a hose unless you have a few hours a day to spare. Remember that the lawn does not absorb water through its leaves, but only through the roots. This means that the moisture needs to reach them. Freshly laid turf or sowed seeds might require only light watering as their roots are not yet fully established deep in the ground. This will, however, change within just a week as they will grow fairly quickly, thus the watering will have to become more thorough, but less frequent over time.
It is also very easy to flood the area, which is highly counterproductive. Remember, that an evenly moist surface is the ultimate goal which will lead to a healthy lawn. You should pay special attention to this if you used seeds rather than turf and those can be flooded out of their place.
Timing and length of watering are of major importance but unfortunately, there is no one size fits all answer and weather has a major impact on the thirst of each lawn. Hot weather, wind, sunlight, and rainfall all come into play and you should adjust the watering according to your circumstances.
As a general rule of thumb, a freshly created lawn will need watering twice a day in the first week after sowing or laying down the turf. After this intensive watering period, it is enough to water it 2 or 3 times a week. This goes down to one watering session per week after 3 to 6 weeks. Summer is naturally the most intensive watering period and even a well-established lawn should be watered once a week or even more often during those hot summer months. It is a good idea to carry out the watering late in the afternoon so that the lawn can still dry out before the evening.