Lawn Care

Watering

Your new lawn should be watered straight after it has been laid. A sprinkler is ideal for this to give a nice even spread of water; if not a hose will suffice. Ensure the water percolates through to the soil underneath as it will be absorbed through the roots of the new turf. This can be checked by gently lifting the corners of a roll of turf. Watering should take place at least once a day especially in the hot season. In very hot periods try and water in the early evening to avoid scorching the turf. Continue watering daily until the roots begin to establish; this should take around 2-3 weeks. This can first be checked by lifting the corner of a roll to look for new healthy white roots coming through and eventually once it becomes difficult to lift the rolls up at all by hand.

If any shrinking or colour loss occurs then you are not watering the turf enough and you should increase the time spent doing this.

Feeding

Feeding your lawn is crucial to provide nutrients to keep it healthy and avoid the onset of diseases. Your lawn requires three main elements Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Potassium helps to prevents diseases, Nitrogen aids leaf growth and delivers a nice green colour and Phosphorus delivers good root growth. Lawn feeds will always contain these three elements in various percentages and this information can be found on the pack. You should feed your lawn in the spring before growth begins and again in autumn just before winter sets in. To apply lawn fertiliser we recommend using a rotary spreader as this will provide a nice even fertiliser application across the lawn.

Mowing

At Garden Lawn Shop we mow our turf to a height of 25mm and it is recommended you mow for the first time once a height of around 40mm is achieved. Hopefully by this time the new lawn should have rooted and be established. If not and you are using a rotary mower it is still possible to mow but be careful not to lift the freshly laid lawn. During the first few cuts it is very important just to remove the top off the grass (around 30%). This can be done by setting the mower at the highest height. By mowing too much grass off at once you will damage the plant and open up the risk of weeds and moss appearing. Over time and with each cut you can reduce the height of your grass back down to around between 20-30mm again.