New Turf laid but not levelled. please advise

[kapszone]

Hi All,

We have just got new turf laid by a contractor, he prepared the ground as we saw him doing it. like he has rotivated the existing soil, then added top soil and sharp sand to prepare the base. Once done, new turf is laid on top of it.

Now when i walk on the turf i can feel it is not levelled, you could feel load of bumps on your feets. Is it normal being new turf ? atleast in garden design pictures lawns do looks absolutely straight and levelled. Please advise what could we ask him to check and can this be even fixed. Just worried as we have spect loads of money on this but the outcome isnt what we expected.

Thanks
Aaron

 

[Chuck]

Hi All,

We have just got new turf laid by a contractor, he prepared the ground as we saw him doing it. like he has rotivated the existing soil, then added top soil and sharp sand to prepare the base. Once done, new turf is laid on top of it.

Now when i walk on the turf i can feel it is not levelled, you could feel load of bumps on your feets. Is it normal being new turf ? atleast in garden design pictures lawns do looks absolutely straight and levelled. Please advise what could we ask him to check and can this be even fixed. Just worried as we have spect loads of money on this but the outcome isnt what we expected.

Thanks
Aaron

The contractor is supposed to roll new turf. If he doesn't it feels uneven and worst of all it has air pockets in it where the roots of the turf are not making good soil contact. If he won't roll it go rent a roller and do it yourself. If you don't do it quickly the places where there are air pockets will be dead. If he did roll it he didn't have enough weight in the roller.

 

[kapszone]

Thanks Chuck. He did used a roller, not sure about the weight.
I can do the roller myself tomorrow, as we saw the grass going yellow in some places. When raised it he said may be turf was old.

 

[kapszone]

Can we do something about the uneven levels ? or is that normal in newly laid turf.

 

[Sheal]

I suspect that the contractor has used turf that hasn't been cut/lifted properly. Try lifting one or two to see how even the soil is on the back of them. If it's not as it should be then I'd get the contractor back to replace all those that are uneven.

 

[Chuck]

Can we do something about the uneven levels ? or is that normal in newly laid turf.

If, when he tilled and raked the soil level, and it is not level then he did a very poor job. It doesn't have to be level but it does have to be smooth after raking. Yellowing of new turf means one or both of two things. Either old grass or air pockets. I don't know what you mean by uneven levels. Humps and bumps are bad, slow transitions from high to low is good. Newly laid turf should look like an old turf but have seams where the squares of grass meet. These seams should be equal in height. If they aren't, and he rolled the turf, his roller didn't have enough weight. Turf grass is equal in thickness. Each piece is the same. So if they aren't the same height when laid either there are dirt clods or rocks under the turf and the roller didn't press the rocks down into the soil and the dirt clods were not crushed or there are mounds of soil that was not raked properly. If the turf was old when he picked it up he any decent landscaper would know it. Either way you should have recourse.

Can you send some pictures.

I just read @Sheal post. Here in the US what she is talking about are called seconds. They are not what you paid for. Seconds are not used for lawns. They are used on the rough in golf courses and highway medians. They are much cheaper than lawn turf.

 

[Sheal]

This quite often happens here in Britain Chuck. A lot of these so called turfing contractors just rip people off with bad turf, and many get away with it.

 

[Chuck]

This quite often happens here in Britain Chuck. A lot of these so called turfing contractors just rip people off with bad turf, and many get away with it.

It happens here too. It's too bad folks are uneducated about this type of thing.

 

[the lawnsman]

walk on it, walk on it a litle more, and work it down to even and making soil contact, then water, more water, and if no rain, more water.

you will be surprised how quick it will level itself.

 

[kapszone]

Hi Chuck, I bought the turf myself from rolawn. We bought rolawn medalian turf, it wasnt lush green surely when it was laid down but it wasnt that yellow.
Turf was laid on friday and on saturday I noticed it being yellow. Although I watered it on friday evening and since then its raining.
I will send the picture tomorrow morning. Thanks for your help.

 

[kapszone]

walk on it, walk on it a litle more, and work it down to even and making soil contact, then water, more water, and if no rain, more water.

you will be surprised how quick it will level itself.

Thanks lawnsman. I will do so.
we did wait for years to get our garden done and so far not seeing anywhere near our expectation. May be pictures on websites are photoshop, if not then we surely have got it wrong somewhere.

 

[the lawnsman]

Thanks lawnsman. I will do so.
we did wait for years to get our garden done and so far not seeing anywhere near our expectation. May be pictures on websites are photoshop, if not then we surely have got it wrong somewhere.

 

[the lawnsman]

lawns and gardens take time and require time-there's really no magic.
right plants in the right place-goes for lawns as well.

 

[the lawnsman]

Thanks lawnsman. I will do so.
we did wait for years to get our garden done and so far not seeing anywhere near our expectation.

AND.
one must remember that soil is key, just like building a home, the foundation must be done correctly.

this was about 2 weeks in on a fresh seeding, after last year's pool project.

 

[Sheal]

I have laid turf and grass seed many times in the past and I still say there is a problem with the turf, assuming the ground was level beforehand. I'm just a gardener not a lawn specialist and I would never leave a lawn in that condition. You shouldn't be feeling lumps and you shouldn't need to roll it. I would certainly speak to the contractors, after all you've paid good money for what should be a professional job.