I'm going to show you how to lay instant turf.
The tools we'll need for this job is a turf spreader, gloves to protect my hands, secateurs
to cut the turf, we need a hose, rake, we need the instant turf and we'll either need
a lawn builder or a startup fertilizer to really help establish the root system of the
lawn.
So, we've already prepared the surface area with some top soil and some wetting agent
to hold the moisture underneath the turf.
We've selected a buffalo turf for this area because we've got the tree above and there's
a fair bit of shade.
The buffalo will really handle the shade a lot better than say a cooch grass or a kikuyu.
Because we've got sandy soil, we're really lucky as far as drainage goes but we've had
to add a lot of topsoil in here as well as a wetting agent to hold the water near the
roots of the lawn.
If we had a clay soil, we'd have to dig down 100 to 150 mil and add sandy loam and gypsum
to improve the drainage.
So, to prepare the soil for laying the instant turf, you use your rake to spread out your
topsoil and then level it out with your soil spreader.
The way the soil spreader works is it just runs the bars across the top of the soil to
get a real fine grading on the top.
Since we've already done that, we don't need to use these tools, but that's how you prepare
for instant turf.
So, we're going to put down the lawn builder or the startup fertilizer.
Make sure when you do this you that follow the instructions on the packet because too
much can burn the roots of the lawn.
It's important when spreading the fertilizer to start from one corner and work your way
back, just to make sure you get an even coverage.
So, now we've spread the fertilizer we just need to wet the fertilizer in to create a
nice moist bed for the turf to lay on.
Okay so, we're going to start in the corner.
We're putting our first roll of turf in.
We're going to butt that up hard against both of the sides of the corner.
It's important to try not to kneel on the turf or stretch the turf, as it needs to remain
compact in the soil so the root system doesn't get disturbed.
Laying turf can be a one person job but I'm going to get Rob to give me a hand.
When you're putting the next piece of turf in make sure that you butt up the heels of
the turf together so they form a nice edge, and that way you want get as much dying off
with the joints.
So, to avoid having all the joints in the same position, we're going to lay it in a
brick shape pattern, which will help retain the moisture and again you'll get less dry
off.
All you do for this is start the next roll of turf halfway up the first roll and then
we'll cut a piece to fit into the corner.
All we need to do is lay the turf out next to the piece.
Just make sure that it's butted up hard against the edge and then with a pair of secateurs,
we're just going to cut the joint.
Make sure when you're laying the turf that you're butting up each piece hard against
the next one to avoid any air pockets.
It'll help to stop the dry off.
Now that we've got our two starting rows, we're just going to continue right down to
the other end and work our way across.
Okay so, we've come to the tree in the middle of the lawn.
Same process as cutting for the ends, except instead of cutting a straight line we're going
to cut around the tree.
So, I've laid the turf up against the tree, butting up nicely against the piece of turf
behind it, but what I've done is put the excess turf up the tree trunk and then I'll just
cut around the base of it.
So, it forms a nice curve around the tree.
We're just going to repeat the process for the other side of the tree and then just keep
laying the turf.
Okay so, we've got on the last run of our turf here and we've only got about half of
the width of the turf left to go.
So, all we need to do is lay the turf over the gap and then cut to size and just lay
it as normal in your brick pattern.
Remember it's important when laying your turf to butt the pieces up close together but don't
overlap them, because you need to have a nice seam so that you don't get any die off.
Now that the turf's down, we're going to water it in.
If you can water it in within the first half an hour that's ideal, but just as soon as
you can afterwards, give it a really, really good soaking and that way it'll help the roots
to settle in.
You need to keep the turf wet for the first four to six weeks depending on your climate.
After that, you can back off the watering a little bit to encourage deep rooting in
your grass.
So, now that the lawn's in all that's left to do is keep foot traffic down to a minimum
for the next four weeks but that's it.
Instant turf.