Site Preparation

Good site preparation is essential for a great lawn. Putting the extra effort into preparing your soil will provide great benefits for your lawn.

Tips for good site preparation: 1. Spray existing weeds and grass. 2. Remove all debris, eg. building rubble, cement etc. 3. The Turf Industry recommends a top soil depth of at least 80-100mm. 4. Rake the soil to level out. 5. To ensure the turf is laid flush with driveways and paths, the topsoil should be 25mm below the concrete level for Wintergreen Couch/Zoysia or 40mm below for Soft Leaf Buffalo turf.

Measuring your area Use a tape measure and accurately measure the width and length of the area to be turfed. Multiply the width measurement by the length measurement to give you the square metre (m 2 ) area. Quite often the area to be turfed is an odd shape. We use the following method to calculate the amount of turf required: 1. Measure the length of the area. 2. Then take multiple measurements of the different widths and average them out. 3. Then multiply the length by the average width to get the area in m 2 .

AVOID soaker hoses, they do not put out enough volume of water to establish the lawn properly. The only exception to this, is soaker hoses may be used on long narrow sections, eg. down the side of the house. But it needs to run for a long period to ensure enough water has been applied.

The best sprinkler to use is the round type as pictured below.

After the establishment period, a weekly deep watering is usually sufficient to maintain the lawn.

Above is a great example of why a good soil depth is so important. The more soil, the better the root system for the lawn. Also, with more soil it means a greater water holding ability so your lawn won’t dry out so quickly. All this means, the more soil you have, the better drought tolerance you can achieve for your lawn.

The first watering is really important. Make sure the water has soaked through the turf and has moistened the soil below. For the following 2 weeks after laying the turf should not be allowed to dry out. Keep it moist.

Watering your new Lawn

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1. Spread fertiliser and water crystals on the soil. 2. Start laying the turf around the edge of the area to be turfed eg. Along the driveway. Then lay the turf in the opposite direction across the lawn. 3. When laying the turf, stagger it to create a brick-like pattern. 4. Use a full piece of turf where possible. 5. Ensure there are no gaps between any of the pieces. All pieces should be closely butted up with each other. 6. Use a sharp shovel or knife to cut the turf in around paths etc. 7. Roll the turf to ensure good contact with the soil. 8. Once a section has been rolled start watering it as soon as possible. 9. When finished, water the whole lawn to give a good soaking. 10. You will will need keep watering everyday for up to 2 weeks. 11. If the weather is really hot and/or windy you will need to increase the level of watering to compensate for the conditions.

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