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Turfing by Landshapes
The aftercare of a newly laid lawn is dependent on the season. For those laid October through to March the aftercare of your lawn turf is quite easy. Once the turf has been laid you should not walk on it until it is well rooted. You know when the lawn turf has rooted by trying to lift a corner of turf. When it won’t lift, you can walk on your garden turf.
‰ You may not need to cut your turf at all during this period, but should you find it necessary make sure that a very light “topping” is all you do. Please be aware that you shouldn’t take more than a third of the height off at any one cut. If you have used a pre-turfing fertiliser at laying then your turf will not need further fertilising until the spring. Watering is also not required during this period. Even once rooted, avoid any heavy usage through the winter months because the full turf stability will not have been reached yet.
Apply your first high nitrogen spring fertiliser at the commencement of grass growth and follow a standard turf regime from then onwards.
For turf laid during spring and summer more aftercare will be involved. Firstly more regular watering will be required to aid establishment, without over watering. You can check physically that your turf is receiving enough water by pushing a screw driver down through the turf into the top soil and making sure that you are getting 2-3” depth wet.
This level of watering should be kept up for at least a few weeks. After that you can cut back the number of times you water to fortnightly and then monthly. Deeper root growth is encouraged by deep watering at extended periods. One of the worst things you can do to new or established turf is to water little and often because this encourages both shallow rooting grass and the development of annual meadow grass, a real turf weed problem.
Spring and summer turf plantings will require a pre-turfing fertiliser to encourage and feed the rapidly developing root and leaf system. Fertiliser applications should be applied little and often at 3-
4 weekly intervals. Adjust your fertiliser rate according to how the grass looks, increase it if it is pale and reduce it if growth is too lush.
When mowing never cut too harshly, but once you have got to the 4th or 5th cut, you should be cutting very regularly up to 3 times per week. The more you mow your lawn turf the more horizontal
growth habit is encouraged and the thicker and better your lawn looks.
Do use a good mower (petrol is recommended), with sharp, well-maintained blades to help give a healthy appearance to your lawn.
Ideally normal lawn turf should be kept around the 1”-1.25” length and kept at a similar length all the time, but allowing a bit more length in drought and winter conditions is beneficial. Remove any
excessive grass clippings as they can be a source of weed seeds and also block the sunlight to the lawn underneath.
There should not be weeds in your lawn turf if you have bought it from a reputable turf supplier but weeds, especially troublesome perennials, will appear from below the turf level. These should be spot treated with a quality, selective lawn weed killer.
In the autumn, once your lawn has established you may need to do an annual hard rake to remove any moss and help get air to the lawn. For any bare patches dress with topsoil and lightly re-seed.
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