Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 19, 2011 12:56 pm Today was NOT a good day to lay turf, the soil is basically a mud pool and we haven't been able to compact as it would go straight down. We have layed the turf anyway but it looks awful as there are huge dips all over the place. We are hoping we can compact tomorrow morning after it has dried a little bit. Any tips on how we can fix this would be great? Re: Turf laying - not such a success 3Nov 19, 2011 4:09 pm Yep sure did however we couldn't compact the soil before we laid the turf as it would just sink due to the soil being so wet and soft. We tried compacting after the turf went down however the same thing happened and also created an even deeper depression so it all looks very uneven. Hoping we can compact tomorrow morning if it's dry enough otherwise it will have to settle and then perhaps we can compact it in a week or 2? Re: Turf laying - not such a success 4Nov 19, 2011 4:57 pm Once it dries enough to get the roller on you will see where the depressions are. Before the roots take pull back the turf in these areas and put some soil there to level it up best you can. Much much easier to fill a 2" hole this way then spreading top soil later and waiting for the grass to grow through. Cheers Turf laying - not such a success 5Nov 19, 2011 5:39 pm Please avoid using this stuff you east coasters call "topsoil" Seek an organic compost instead. Very different. Turf laying - not such a success 6Nov 19, 2011 5:42 pm Also using a roller is not really going to give an even look. When you top dress with a yummy compost you can add even more zeolite to that at the same time. Regular raking using a very wide plastic rake or better still use a soil spreader. There's a photo of one of those in the essential sticky thread. Re: Turf laying - not such a success 7Nov 19, 2011 9:45 pm We didnt use top soil, we got the best soil that haf organic compost we could find. Unfortunately i couldn't get hold of any zeolite this time, tried everywhere and weren't able to make the trek over to BAAG. We hired a plate compacter not a roller, due to the weather couldn't use it. Should we wait for the turf to settle before trying to fix the depressions? Re: Turf laying - not such a success 8Nov 20, 2011 7:42 am Lissy just lift up the rolls with the big dips and fill with soil then re lay. Same with the big bumps but rather remove the lumps with a spade. The turf will be fine with this but do it now before it sends roots down. Once its establish look at top dressing the other problem areas. Re: Turf laying - not such a success 9Nov 20, 2011 6:56 pm The zeolite is super important. It helps aerate heavy clay soils like sand sort of does. It will be the house the micro organisms will live in. It will also be the subtle investment in capturing and reducing any nutrient put into or onto that lawn. That is all ultimately your money that is going down the gurgler and into the environment not being used by the lawn. You can get zeolite form pond shops, pool shops, agricultural shops and the big green shed in their pool section. It does that wonderful job for ever. Re: Turf laying - not such a success 10Nov 20, 2011 7:15 pm With the zeolite, it's a little expensive as I have to cover about 100sqm. What would the minimum dosage I could use that would be most cost effective at this point in time. And do I need to aerate first or can I just do it over the existing turf then add compost? I was going to use a pitch fork to aerate the lawn, Is that ok? Turf laying - not such a success 11Nov 20, 2011 9:29 pm Its not that expensive I got 6 x 25kg bags for $95. That's good for 150m2. From Bullen art and Garden . Re: Turf laying - not such a success 14Nov 21, 2011 9:04 pm It maybe expensive but you may not understand just how much of an investment this stuff is and what it does. It will pay for itself over and over again for ever. Considering any fertiliser worth using will cost around $30 and peeps are happy to be doing that for ever more. The lawns are not so likely to use much of what we buy to put on a lawn. Fertilisers are going to get more and more expensive as pressure grows on world food production. Yet another reason to go organic only with lawns. Re: Turf laying - not such a success 15Nov 21, 2011 9:06 pm Use about 1kg p/m2 at a minimum. I go much heavier than that with zeolite. Turf laying - not such a success 17Nov 22, 2011 10:16 am Yes, best try a simple method first that has no cost. Re: Turf laying - not such a success 18Nov 23, 2011 1:17 pm OK then.. im going to aerate the lawn... then the next morning im going to spread zeolite all over the lawn.. and rake it into the holes as best as i can.... then spread organic compost all over that arvo... If i have 80sqm2 would 1tonne be the right amount? or is it 1m3? I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1933 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 4328 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5877 |