I laid brand new turf yesterday (turf delivered Saturday, laid Sunday, stored in shade).
To prepare the ground I
* Rotavated
* Put an inch and a half of new topsoil down
* Levelled it with a rake and lute
* Spread fertiliser
* Watered it last night and this morning (a good 20 minute drenching)
Less than 24hrs after laying it looks like I'm getting dead spots (see pictures) – should I be worried? What more can I do to avoid this?
by piotrc52
26 Comments
Just keep watering it, especially with the hot weather this week.
Just keep watering!!!
You just need to keep watering. Probably the worst possible time to lay turf in much of the UK – it’s far too dry.
Need to keep watering it – I’d would say 3 times a day for the first week or so. Are you manually watering it, or have a sprinkler that is covering the whole area?
worst possible time to lay turf
This doesn’t look like it’s been properly stitched / joined together at the edges, did you just simply lay a strip next to another strip ?
How are you watering it ?
Ignoring the bad timing, you’ll really want to do two to three times a day given the current heat. Then move down to twice a day and finally once a day.
Half a tuna can is what people say or something like that.
yes, water it first thing and last thing in this heat. flood it!
Buy a sprinkler and pray for your water bill
Looks drier than Gandhi’s flip flop from that pic. Soak the fucker.
How often are you watering? I’d probably do it morning and evening for an hour each
water water water water … oh and yes water
can you put a sprinkler on at night for a few hours?
needs hours of watering not 20 mins
Minecraft
32 deg c this week. You’re going to have to water this every two hours.
Im gonna waterboard the guy that keeps saying “hose pipe ban?”
Sometimes you’ll find the turf dries out so that the water from above doesn’t penetrate. Lift it slightly in a few places to see if the soil below is damp. It should be. If it isn’t it will need a good soaking in the evening. Ensure that the water is penetrating the turf all the way through and once it has,don’t let it dry out. If it’s that hot where you are while it establishes you may need to provide some shading for it. Good luck.
Was in a similar situation doing this in a heatwave a few years ago. As others have said, water in the evening – I did it around 9pm every evening for around 20-30 mins. No point watering it in the sun.
*
Thank you so much for all the input (except hose pipe ban guy).
Some more answers
1. Yes the soil was fluffy. We flattened the area and raked again before laying.
2. I bought a sprinkler which was as much use as spitting on it
3. I know it’s not an ideal time to lay turf – but for a number of reasons it had to be now.
Anyway – I’ve upgraded my sprinkler to something more resembling a pipe bomb which covers all bar the last 3 feet on the end closest to the house, pic attached. It’s on for the next two hours and will be on every morning and evening. It’s actually looking more healthy since I soaked it this afternoon so, fingers crossed.
Tons and tons of water needed.
I work on new housing estates when they lay the turf they have the water sprinkles on the lawn all day constantly
Yes.
It needs water…. lots and lots of water… ideally at night after the sun has set….
Why are you planting in a. Heat; and b. Not growing season. Unlikely to survive.
I laid turf about 2 months ago as we were going through/into the hot weather. I’d water for an hour in the morning and then at night.
If the turf was kinda dried out already before laying then like others have said, go OTT on watering without making it a swamp. If it hasn’t started growing in 2 weeks, then I’d start to worry as it does still have time to recover.
The soil needs to be damp enough beneath for the grass to root downwards to find moisture as it goes through a natural drying out process.