When Can I Lay Turf?
Turf is pretty robust and because of this can basically be laid all year round, so if you are thinking about laying a new lawn, unfortunately there is no excuse to keep putting it off until another season – sorry!
Keep in mind our tips below for each season, and you will end up with a lawn to be proud of whatever time of year you lay it.
Spring
Spring is a very common time to start doing a bit of work in the garden, and it is a good time of year to lay turf. Laying it at this time of the year means that your turf will be well established and ready to enjoy throughout the summer months.
- Lay the turf either the same day it is delivered or at the latest the following day. The sooner the better is always key, but the day after wont do it much harm.
- Keep it well watered for the first two weeks while it roots in, watering it every evening with a hosepipe or a sprinkler.
Summer
If you are laying turf in the summer, it will just need a bit more TLC compared to other times of the year.
- It is important to lay the turf as soon as possible on the same day that it is delivered. If there is an option to select an early delivery time then we recommend you do this so you have plenty of time to lay it on the same day.
- If for whatever reason you cannot lay the turf on the same day, remove the film from the pallet to prevent the turf overheating. If possible unravel the rolls and if they look dry water them to help keep them as fresh as possible.
- If the turf has started to lose some colour don’t worry, it has just missed the sun whilst being rolled up! Once it is laid and well watered it will soon green up again.
- Make sure you water the turf well every evening for the first couple of weeks with a hosepipe or sprinkler, giving it a good soaking! Following this, water more occasionally as and when needed.
- Don’t forget your sun cream when you are out laying turf in the sun all day!
Autumn
Similar to spring, autumn is another good time to lay turf. There is still plenty of sunlight and the rain will even help keep it watered!
- Unlike summer, the pressure is off a bit now and the turf just needs to be laid the day it arrives or the following day at the latest.
- Once laid, give it a good watering, and unless the rain does it for you continue to water it for the next couple of weeks.
Winter
Believe it or not, winter is still a perfectly good time to be laying a new lawn! It will take a bit longer to root in the cooler, less sunny time of the year, but give it time and you will have a lovely new lawn.
- Avoid times of frost, this is the only time when turf will not be able to root in (and chances are your supplier will be struggling to harvest it from the hard ground too!)
- It is always best to lay turf as soon as possible after it is delivered as this is when it is the freshest, however a day or two at this time of year wont do it much harm.
- If there is no rain forecast, give it a watering once laid, but at this time of the year the weather should take care of most of the watering needs!
Following our steps above, you can lay turf whenever fits in best with you. Spring and autumn are probably the easiest times of year to lay it, when the temperature is mild and the odd rain shower will even help with the watering! Don’t let that put you off though, with the right TLC lawns will thrive just as well when laid in summer and winter months too.
