While saving time and money can be very appealing, these really are the only two benefits of installing a new lawn without removing the old one. If you install over natural grass without a good weed barrier, there is a much higher chance of grass or weeds growing up through the artificial grass backing. You will likely have drainage issues if you do not properly prepare the ground beneath your new lawn.
Most of your old lawn is going to die once it is covered with the fake grass, some of it is going to try to survive and find its way through the backing material, and all of it is going to compact as you use your new lawn. This is going to lead to an uneven surface, which can result in increased tripping hazards and a lawn that is less visually appealing. Unless your existing lawn was professionally installed with proper ground preparation — and, often, even when the ground was properly prepared — it is very likely that the ground is already uneven, which means your new lawn will also be uneven.
Installing synthetic turf over an existing lawn simply does not allow for several important steps that are integral in the integrity and longevity of your new lawn. When you cannot do any necessary grading or leveling, compact the sub-base, add base materials, ensure proper drainage and complete the recommended installation process, there is just no way of knowing exactly how your new lawn will respond over time.
A healthy lawn requires the right balance of air, food, water and light which can be achieved with an appropriate lawn maintenance programme. For a comprehensive guide please see our Lawn Care pages. You can also sign up to our newsletter to receive free seasonal lawn care advice and reminders of essential maintenance, as well as general horticultural advice and special offers from Rolawn. Rolawn Search. Mon-Fri, 8am to 6. Go to basket. How to lay turf Welcome to our step-by-step guide to creating a beautiful lawn Follow the steps below and watch our video, ' How to create a beautiful lawn ,' for detailed guidance on successfully laying turf.
Planning your new lawn It helps to think ahead about the shape and size of lawn you are creating, how much turf and topsoil you may need and whether you will need to order a skip to remove any old turf. Ground preparation Preparing the ground for turf laying may take some time, but it is time well spent, to create a beautiful, healthy lawn for years to come. Removing an existing lawn If you have an existing lawn this needs to be removed first. You can use either of the following two options to remove an existing lawn.
Lifting the turf — turf cutters are available from all reputable hire shops and can be used to remove an existing lawn. One of the benefits of this method is that any turf you take up can be used to make compost, either at home or by your local authority if you place it in a garden waste skip at your local household waste recycling centre. Weed killer — treat the existing lawn using a proprietary non-selective weed killer suitable for killing grasses.
This also will help prevent weeds and weed grasses coming up through your new turf. For full effectiveness you may have to leave this for approximately 14 days.
Checking the quality and depth of your topsoil Once the area is clear and free of weeds, ensure you have a minimum topsoil depth of mm, ideally mm, which is levelled and raked to a fine tilth. Begin by digging over or rotovating the soil to loosen it up. Remove any surface stone, clods, other debris and perennial weeds. Once loosened the soil should be lightly compacted by walking over the whole area and then again at right angles to the first direction.
Break up any heavily compacted areas using a fork and fill any dips, lightly compacting. Then rake the surface to a fine tilth and make sure that the surface is level. There are several common problems that lawns face, any of these could be what is wrong with the existing turf. Identifying the issue with your lawns will help your grass last longer, it will also prevent a recurring problem from appearing, creating a pattern of having to re-lay grass.
Laying new grass on top of old grass may seem like a good idea, and you may even get some good results to begin with. The new grass will grow over old turf, to begin with, although, as the old grass begins to die your lawn condition will deteriorate. Any current problems with your lawn, likely go deeper than the grass layer, with the issues sitting in the soil underneath. For best lawn condition results, you should always prepare the soil properly before laying new turf , this includes removing any old grass.
New turf needs freshly prepared soil to survive. Soil preparation is arguably the most important part of laying turf. After you have torn up old vegetation, next it is time to dig or rotate the soil.
This fluffs up the soil and reduces problems caused by compaction. Existing weeds will not be combated by laying are turf, they will still be present after a couple of months and you will be in the same issue as before. If you lay turf on existing grass, it is harder for the turf you have laid to set down healthy roots. During this time existing weeds that already have established roots will be working their way through your new layer of grass, persisting in their problem.
When preparing the soil, you will be able to spot any pesky pests that may be living under the grass layer. If you have humps and hollows in your soils, it is best to buy new topsoil to fill in these divots. Investing in new topsoil is better than trying to dig out humps to fill hollows.
Raking is the best way to level out any humps or hollows. Best results come when the top inches of topsoil is laid for the new grass to establish long deep roots. Any existing diseases in the current lawn or soil will likely also be present in the new lawn. It can be difficult to combat lawn diseases if you do not correctly identify which disease is destroying your lawn. It is easiest to identify the disease on the current lawn, this can then be treated so that it does not repeat in the new lawn.
There are a lot of different diseases that plague lawns in Australia:. How to prevent: Keep the lawn healthy with proper light, water and fertiliser to prevent future fungus attached.
How to prevent: Water the lawn less frequently and remove dew first thing in the morning to avoid future outbreaks. How to prevent: Fertilise with low nitrogen and high potassium lawn feed.
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