New lawn, going grey?
Discussion
After my post a few weeks ago about laying a new lawn, i finally got round to it 2 weeks ago.
I bought turf from a reputable supplier up here (even opted for their "Gold" turf).
It's a new build house, and 2 weeks previous to us moving in (appprox 3 weeks previous to the lawn) it was treated with weed killer. A couple days before i laid the lawn, it was rotovated... i then removed all big stones and raked level.
Turf was laid as you'd expect and looked really good for the first week ish. We've been out every night watering as there has been no rain since it went down. We don't have an outside tap so we need to use the hose and attach it to the tap in the kitchen. The water pressure isn't enough to have a sprinkler on so it's all manual labour!
Approx one area of turf (i would say almost exactly one cut of turf) started to look a bit silvery grey, a bit dark... My OH has come home tonight and phoned me to say that it looks like the dark area is spreading towards the back of the garden and around a bit.
What is wrong?
I bought turf from a reputable supplier up here (even opted for their "Gold" turf).
It's a new build house, and 2 weeks previous to us moving in (appprox 3 weeks previous to the lawn) it was treated with weed killer. A couple days before i laid the lawn, it was rotovated... i then removed all big stones and raked level.
Turf was laid as you'd expect and looked really good for the first week ish. We've been out every night watering as there has been no rain since it went down. We don't have an outside tap so we need to use the hose and attach it to the tap in the kitchen. The water pressure isn't enough to have a sprinkler on so it's all manual labour!
Approx one area of turf (i would say almost exactly one cut of turf) started to look a bit silvery grey, a bit dark... My OH has come home tonight and phoned me to say that it looks like the dark area is spreading towards the back of the garden and around a bit.
What is wrong?
To get new turf through weather like this it needs to be soaked each night.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
JustinP1 said:
To get new turf through weather like this it needs to be soaked each night.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
Yes. You laid new turf just before a really hot spell and it's dying through lask of water. Get that sprinkler sorted now; you can still save it.By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
Turf is best laid in Autumn when it's cool and damp.
Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 1st June 23:24
JustinP1 said:
To get new turf through weather like this it needs to be soaked each night.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
- thanks for that info - i am possibly going to returf soon as well
also how long does it normally take for the turf lines to disappear?
JustinP1 said:
To get new turf through weather like this it needs to be soaked each night.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
Thanks for that... The problem is that i work 160 miles away and don't come back til the weekends at the moment, so i'm relying on the OH to do all this and she isn't getting in til 2000! We've been watering it daily for over an hour by hand, but as everyone seems to be saying, this isn't enough. I can talk her through disconnecting the dishwasher in the kitchen and we can get the hose end on to that in the meantime, i'll see about an outdoor tap at the weekend.By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
Is everyone in agreement about the fertiliser as well? I had thought about lawn feed but someone in the garden centre had said it's too early to feed the lawn, and we might burn it?
Mojooo said:
JustinP1 said:
To get new turf through weather like this it needs to be soaked each night.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
- thanks for that info - i am possibly going to returf soon as well
also how long does it normally take for the turf lines to disappear?
The lines will be gone by the end of the season.
However, if you are considering this, have a look at the OP's other thread. IMHO although turf has instant appeal, in the long run seed takes less manhours and gets a better result. A 1 metre patch I did 6 weeks ago is now full dark green lawn with none of the longer term problems turf can bring.
Chucklehead said:
JustinP1 said:
To get new turf through weather like this it needs to be soaked each night.
By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
Thanks for that... The problem is that i work 160 miles away and don't come back til the weekends at the moment, so i'm relying on the OH to do all this and she isn't getting in til 2000! We've been watering it daily for over an hour by hand, but as everyone seems to be saying, this isn't enough. I can talk her through disconnecting the dishwasher in the kitchen and we can get the hose end on to that in the meantime, i'll see about an outdoor tap at the weekend.By soaked I mean a sprinkler on for at least three hours in the evening. There is no way you can do that by hand.
Watering new turf *a bit* and often is actually the worst thing to do as the roots are never encouraged to grow deep as the water never soaks in more than the depth of the turk you've just rolled out.
There is the added factor that the greyness may also be due to some residue from the weedkiller. Either way you need to prey for two weeks of thunderstorms or you need to find a way of soaking that grass to wash it away.
If there is not enough pressure for a sprinkler, improvise with some soaking hose or make your own with an old hose and a nail. You'll need to literally leave it on until the turf is waterlogged though to wash anything away.
Is everyone in agreement about the fertiliser as well? I had thought about lawn feed but someone in the garden centre had said it's too early to feed the lawn, and we might burn it?
1) The risk of burning the grass.
2) The fact that turf is already fertilised to hell when you get it.
3) Summer fertiliser basically just promotes the grass to become greener, thicker and grow more and look nice. A quick visual fix. It doesn't really have the roots to support that anyway.
4) Summer fertiliser would retard the growth of the roots as the roots would not want to push down for feed - making your problems worse. Autumn fertiliser promotes root growth.
5) You need to drench that turf so much you would be washing it through without much effect anyway.
The best you can do now is drench the sod.
Also now is a good time to check how well the turf has meshed to the ground underneath. You need to make the soil of the turf and the base mix and hold so roots can penetrate. When the soil is drenched, now is a good time to step it in with a size nine welly. Be careful that you are not ripping out the grass, but you need to put good pressure to mash it in.
Chucklehead said:
I had thought about lawn feed but someone in the garden centre had said it's too early to feed the lawn, and we might burn it?
Definitely don't. In hot dry conditions gress becomes under stress, and yours is so stressed it's dying. All fertiliser will do is kill it quicker. All it needs is water. After all, think how much is sucked out of the grass every day by being laid under that blazing sun, like a grill. The roots won't have grown into the soil beneath yet so can't replace the losses.A basic timer like this:
http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/hozelock_ac...
gives one hour at the touch of a button. Appropriate Post-It Notes on the front door, bathroom mirror, etc. will remind SWMBO to fire it up before she goes to work/gets home/goes to bed.
Add an appropriately sized sprinkler from this selection:
http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Hoz...
And given your side fence, I'd suggest a chat or letter to your neighbours to explain that/why the edge of their garden is going to get very wet and to shout if it causes a problem.
http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/hozelock_ac...
gives one hour at the touch of a button. Appropriate Post-It Notes on the front door, bathroom mirror, etc. will remind SWMBO to fire it up before she goes to work/gets home/goes to bed.
Add an appropriately sized sprinkler from this selection:
http://www.easywatering.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Hoz...
And given your side fence, I'd suggest a chat or letter to your neighbours to explain that/why the edge of their garden is going to get very wet and to shout if it causes a problem.
Agreed with that.
Every inch needs a soaking. If the grass dies you are left with worse than what you had before. You will be left with two inches of crumbling, nutrient depleted dust over a bed of soil.
However it is done, spend the money on a sprinkler and/or hoses out of anywhere as otherwise the turf money is up in smoke. Or dust. At best you can limit the damage now and overseed the few areas of dead stuff when things have calmed down.
Alternatively, if it all dies, roll it up and chuck it, soak any crap out of the soil underneath and feed the soil and sow some seed like I mentioned in the first thread.
Every inch needs a soaking. If the grass dies you are left with worse than what you had before. You will be left with two inches of crumbling, nutrient depleted dust over a bed of soil.
However it is done, spend the money on a sprinkler and/or hoses out of anywhere as otherwise the turf money is up in smoke. Or dust. At best you can limit the damage now and overseed the few areas of dead stuff when things have calmed down.
Alternatively, if it all dies, roll it up and chuck it, soak any crap out of the soil underneath and feed the soil and sow some seed like I mentioned in the first thread.
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