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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:10 pm
by lutonlagerlout
hi landscapers
bit of a conundrum,my brother has had his lawn ripped out and dug over etc etc,but the guys doing it have told him that he must wait till march before they turf it
maybe i am being dumb here but surely you can still turf at this time of year?
he lives in birmingham if that makes any diffeerence
hes fairly brassed off cos his little lad cannot play in the garden now
thanks for any advice
LLL 
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:49 pm
by IanMelb
I've been told that if you still have to cut your grass then it's still growing. If it's still growing then you can lay it...
However, the proviso would probably be that if you lay it now and get a cold spell then it could all die. Plus it'll be growing slower and wouldn't be usable as quickly as if it were laid in spring.
Another thing is how fresh you can get it. We live inthe middle of Rolawn and Intruf country so can talk to them and literally take it off the back of the vehicle that's cutting it.
How much is a roll of astroturf for the winter? I've heard that some places sell off the stuff they take up and replace in sports grounds
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:57 pm
by IanMelb
IanMelb wrote:How much is a roll of astroturf for the winter? I've heard that some places sell off the stuff they take up and replace in sports grounds
1.25 / sq m
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110177161672
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:09 am
by Suggers
Same question "Gardeners Question Time" today - answer from panelists - no problem laying virtually up until Xmas - as long as fair depth of healthy topsoil - it wos on radio 4, so it must be true !!
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:06 am
by scoffsred
will be fine, just keep an eye on the weather forecast, go for a frost free spell and all will be fine.
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:08 am
by Rich H
You can turf at absolutely any time of the year. Commercially grown turf is dense and healthy and in it's own top dressing which you are then applying to a well cultivated surface.
While frosts will of course inhibit root growth the grass is very unlikely to die. I've never had a problem with turf laid at any time of the year. The only caveat would be a heavy fall of slow thawing snow on new turf. That wouldn't be good.
If the ground has been prepared properly it will need to settle and therefore should not be walked on (unless using scaffold boards) for up to 6 weeks while the roots are getting established.
This is all because grass does not stop growing, but instead slows down it's growth to a very low level.
As I tell my customers, you're far better off turfing in the winter than in the summer when you've got to dump a reservoir of water on it for the first couple of weeks.
Seeding a new lawn is entirely different. Once the first frost has hit, the seeds will not germinate until spring, so I don't recommend seeding past the beginning of October (in the south).
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:28 am
by seanandruby
I wes led to believe end of march to april also october are the best months because rain is more imminent. so going on that theory, any time is good as long as its watered a? :;):
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:48 pm
by IanMelb
Going by all this, then it could be quite a while before it's established enough for the kids to play on ...
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:31 pm
by Artisan
We lay turf all year, providing:
a. the ground that is being laid on is in a suitable condition. Wet heavy clay is impossible to get into a good tilth no matter how much digging/rotavating/raking is done to it.
b. no hard frost or heavy rain is forecast for a couple of days after laying
Other than that it can be laid without problem. Would keep people off it until it is growing strongly, which is about 4 weeks at this time of year.
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:39 pm
by Rich H
The last turf job I did about a month ago the clay was so bad we took out a foot in some places (3 x grab loaders for an area of 75 sq.m) and replaced the volume with new top soil. The trouble with soil of that volume is that it takes bloody ages of faffing about to compact evenly and will definitely need a roller on it come the spring.
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 6:30 pm
by dig dug dan
I did some work for a builder once who insisted I lay his frozen turfs on snow covered ground!
I did, and amazingly, it grew to be a lovely lawn
Winter is a good time to turf for the pure fact that you don't have to water it!
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:14 pm
by James.Q
even grass seed will work now but only just , advice given from head gardener on the estate im on if not blame howard,
Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:49 pm
by Tommy
dig dug dan wrote:I did some work for a builder once who insisted I lay his frozen turfs on snow covered ground!
I did, and amazingly, it grew to be a lovely lawn
Winter is a good time to turf for the pure fact that you don't have to water it!
The place Where I used to work for, made us Do that all over, and despite one or two places going off, it all took and is still growing now.
This is coming from a national Firm, who would run mowers and strimmers with no air filters, etc
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:11 am
by lutonlagerlout
thanks fellas ,i thought as much
maybe he has just got crappy subsoil and they didnt fancy digging it out or summat.
cheers LLL