1. The turf laying boards ensure an even distribution of your weight which:-

a. Avoids indentations made by walking on the newly laid turf, and
b. Helps to compress weight for good soil to turf contact.

2. They also act as a straight edge for your next row!

Using laying boards

Professional landscapers use turf laying boards for the reasons stated above. And, when you’ve spend hours raking and levelling your soil, you really don’t want to undo all that hard work by putting your big size 12’s in the soil or leaving tracks by heaving your heavy wheelbarrow across the garden!

What you’ll need

You’ll need at least a couple of boards, approx. 4 foot long each. This will enable you to move one board along while you are standing on the other. Plus, a 4 foot board means it’s not too heavy to pick up and reposition.

Let’s get started

1. Lay your first row of turf.
2. Place your laying board on top of the turf to use as a platform to work from. Stand on the laying board to ensure you don’t do any damage to the newly laid turf.
3. As you move along, move the first board and place it onto the turf and move along without standing on the fresh turf.
4. Stagger the joints (brick pattern) of the turf from row to row to avoid any unsightly joins.
5. Push the turf as close together as possible.
6. It’s useful to sprinkle fine top soil into any gaps between rolls of turf and brush over with a soft broom for even coverage and to avoid the edges drying out. In warm weather some shrinkage is normal, so these steps will help to make the newly laid lawn look as good as possible.
7. Curved and slanted lines will require the turf to be cut to fit. An old kitchen knife will do the job just fine!
8. At the end of a row of turf where a piece is cut to fit, it is best to avoid finishing with a very small piece. If necessary, cut the previous piece and use a longer strip to finish. Again this reduces the problems of shrinkage.
9. Any exposed edges of new turf can be butted up with more top soil along the cut edge to stop it drying out and help the turf to root down and establish.
10. Water the newly-laid lawn well. Continue to do so regularly until its established.
11. In warmer weather this this could mean watering it once or twice a day. Take a look at our summer guide for more details.
12. Avoid walking on your new lawn for a couple of weeks so the turf can bed in and knit together.
13. And only mow once the turf has rooted. Find out more here

Other related articles
– TURF ORDERING

We supply quality turf all year round. If you would like any further advice on lawn care or would like to talk to us about your order, please contact us on 01392 231040 or email sales@wesellturf.com

Seeding large areas

If you have an area of around 500 square metres to seed by all means call us. We may be able to sell you a bag or two of seed if we have enough stock for our current requirements, however we would not be able to sell part of a bag. If we can’t spare any at that time we will suggest trying Mole Valley Farmers who sell a lawn seed mixture, or search online. There is a good chance that their price will be lower than ours so you may like to try them first.

Where to buy small amounts

For patches or small areas to seed, garden centres and even supermarkets (in season) sell boxes of grass seed. The box should tell you the seed mixture, coverage and instructions. We generally use 25% ryegrass and 75% a mixture of fescues. It varies a little from year to year but a mixture like that will look very similar to our turf. Even if you put down seed which is a little different from this proportion, over time it will all look the same as the grass plants grow and spread. It is definitely not crucial to get precisely the same seed.

How much will I need?

When sprinkling seed with your hands you will need about 35g per square metre. If you have such a large area you are using a tractor and seed drill you could reduce it down to 20g per square metre.

The advice on the RHS website is very helpful, you can find our more here – https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=424

We supply quality turf all year round. If you would like any further advice on winter lawn care or would like to talk to us about your order, please contact us on 01392 231040 or email sales@wesellturf.com

Mole lawn damage often happens in the spring and early summer as this is when the animals are closer to the surface. In the summer they tend to be deeper underground.     

Mole Traps

Humane traps work by letting a mole into the plastic tunnel via doors that close behind the mole and traps it. Then simply remove the trapped mole as far away as you can to a new location where it can happily continue doing what it is designed to do.

You’ll also need to ensure you check these traps at least every day as moles feed regularly and will starve quickly. TV gardener Toby Buckland recommends washing your trap in soapy water to remove the scent of humans (moles are clever little animals and won’t go near anything that smells of humans). Place the primed trap in the run, which often appears as raised tunnels between the hills. Bury the trap with grass and then cover with a plant pot to avoid pets and visitors setting off the trap.

However, if you have a dog that digs you might wish to avoid traps altogether!

Mole Repellents

Alternatively you can use materials which the mole finds offensive.

Try putting something down the tunnel that smells bad and is preferably biodegradable. Try a pickled egg down the mole hole, human hair, very old cheese, sour milk or even garlic can also be effective deterrents.

If you are not keen on any of these, you can buy natural mole deterrent bulbs. Simply plant them in your garden and they secrete a smell which is almost undetectable for humans but moles can’t stand.

If this is not for you, you could try a solar mole repeller. They create a low-frequency vibration in the soil that spreads out within the target area. Such vibrations aim to mimic the sound created by another animal digging – such as a predator or a competing mole. Moles are generally solitary animals with their own territory. Just push the devices into your lawn and leave them – it’s that easy. 

Happy mole hunting!

We supply quality turf all year round. If you would like any further advice on winter lawn care or would like to talk to us about your order, please contact us on 01392 231040 or email sales@wesellturf.com

When soil becomes compacted, even slightly, it can inhibit the flow of air, water and nutrients that support thicker, healthier turf growth. Even a thin layer of compacted soil (just 5-10mm) can affect the health and beauty of your lawn.

If you think your turf is compacted, maybe it looks stressed? Or is hard to the touch? Or do you have rain puddles in your lawn? do the screwdriver test. Simply use a regular screwdriver, insert it into your lawn by hand. If it doesn’t slide in fairly easily and it meets some resistance, your soil is likely to be compacted.

Why you should aerate your lawn?

1. Aeration improves soil water uptake
2. It helps the roots obtain more oxygen
3. It helps fertilizer to penetrate into the turf
4. It reduces water runoff and puddling on your lawn
5. Aeration promotes stronger turf grass roots
6. It helps to reduce soil compaction
7. Aeration helps improve heat and drought stress tolerance
8. It helps breakdown thatch

How to aerate your lawn.

Aerating is best done when your soil is damp, from either irrigation or rainfall the day before. Overly dry soil can be really tough; however, don’t aerate an overly wet lawn either.

There are three main type of equipment that can be used, from small manual pieces to larger tractor-like machines

Spike aerators. These simply poke a hole down into the soil with a solid spike. The easiest ones to use are aerator “sandals” which you strap to your shoe, and simply walk across your lawn. These are great for homeowners and small areas.

Slicing aerators. These have rotating blades that cut or slice through grass and thatch and down into soil. Like spike aerators, slicing aerators leave soil in the ground, but they create pathways for air, water and nutrients without causing more compaction.

Core or plug aerators. These are typically preferred by lawn professionals. They use rows of hollow spikes that remove plugs of soil from the turf and deposit them on top, where they break down. The size of the plugs and the holes they create vary in width and depth, depending on the machine used.

Many local gardening services can do the job for you, or you can rent equipment from your local hire shop. A lot like mowing, you work back and forth across your lawn, concentrating on problem areas, like pet runs.

We supply quality turf all year round. If you would like any further advice on seasonal lawn care or would like to talk to us about your order, please contact us on 01392 231040 or email sales@wesellturf.com

After a smaller scale campaign in 2019 we started planning for the 2020 Golden Spade Award in the winter months. We visited Stallcombe House in Woodbury and met staff and residents who have an amazing community which is a life line to adults with a learning disability and autism, and their families. This cemented our resolve to support them with a donation and publicity. We pledged £1 from us at HCT Turf to Stallcombe House for each garden photo sent to us from Devon residents.

A resident of Stallcombe House with produce grown in their garden

With this fantastic local cause to support we planned to reach out to our customers and all types of gardening groups and businesses to get involved in June.

And then Coronavirus happened. Like everyone, this rather stopped us in our tracks.

But after some thought we realised that this campaign would actually be a great thing for people at this difficult time. With many people at home more, clearly gardening was an important activity, physically and mentally, and sharing the results of all this work would be a great pleasure.

So after Lockdown was announced in March and then the beautiful weather looked set to stay we made the last minute decision to open up entries for the Golden Spade Award 2020 earlier than planned in the last week of April, running until the end of May.

Entries

Throughout the campaign we had a steady stream of entries and shared the uplifting images of Devon gardens on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In total around 50 photos were submitted, but through our online community many more people were reached and hopefully took as much pleasure from the glorious views as we did.

The Winner

Once entries closed on 31^st May we had the challenge of selecting our favourite for the Best of Devon Hamper and trophy. From a shortlist of 6 beauties we whittled it down to Lee and Kathy’s tranquil looking garden in East Devon to win the 2020 Golden Spade Award. Now that outdoor visits are permitted it was an absolute delight to be able see their garden at first hand with the excuse of delivering their prize.

Lee commented:

“Our garden can be extremely hard work at times, but it’s times like these that we appreciate our garden all the more. When the work is done, we are rewarded with lovely colours especially in the autumn when our winning photo was taken. We are still buzzing after winning the Golden Spade Award for 2020 and would like to thank HCT Turf for their kindness and generosity.”

Best of Devon Hamper Prize

We were thrilled with the response from Devon based producers of fine foods and drinks to support us with a range of donations for a winner’s hamper.

Dartmoor Distillery at Newton Abbot provided a 70cl bottle of their Black Dog Gin. Otter Brewery near Honiton donated a bottle of their popular Otter Ale. Utopian Brewing at Bow contributed four cans of their local lagers and a branded glass to really enjoy it in the proper style! Waterhouse Fayre at Burlescombe delivered a bagful of goodies: pickled onions, 2 jars of jam and 2 jars of fruit preserve. Our neighbours Good Game in Topsham donated their chorizo and charcuterie platter. And Four Elms Fruit Farm at Newton Poppleford gave bottles of their Devonshire apple juice and Devon Roots cider.

Donation to Stallcombe House

It’s also time for us to send our donation to Stallcombe House. Originally, we set this at £1 per entry but for this year have decided to increase it to £5 per entry, a total of £255 to Stallcombe House.

Amanda Greenaway, Head of Charity at Stallcombe House, filled us in on how they have been affected by Covid-19:

“Thank you so much for your donation, we really do appreciate it. We plan to spend the money on a cuddle curtain for our residents. We went into lockdown even before it officially began on 23 March because our residents are so vulnerable. So they have not been off site in all this time and haven’t seen their families. We hope that next month visits may be possible with the aid of a cuddle curtain so that residents can experience the loving cuddles they yearn for without risk of infection. Seeing their families through a screen just wouldn’t work because they don’t fully understand the situation and why they must avoid contact.

“Activities here have been massively affected; for months now none of our normal pastimes like swimming and visits to coffee shops have been possible. We have had to be creative with new ideas on site to try and keep interest and spirits up.

“Normally our permanent staff are regularly joined here by agency workers. But measures taken in light of Covid-19 mean that is not possible at the moment and together with some self isolation this has meant our team have been working tremendously hard.

“Of course we do have the benefit of a large and beautiful site here where it is a pleasure to live and work. But it is hard to understate how much we long for a return to normality.”

We have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the incredible hard work and talent of Devon’s gardeners that we wouldn’t ordinarily. It’s definitely something that we would like to continue in future years. Hopefully all of this year’s participants plus many more will submit a photo when we come back for the 2021 Golden Spade Award.

Although the unique conditions this year have highlighted the benefits of gardening, of course we desperately hope that 2021 brings a return to normality and we can celebrate that when we reach out to our gardening friends next time.

In the meantime our sincere thanks to everyone involved, all the gardeners who took the trouble to contact us and especially the companies who have donated to the Best of Devon Hamper.

What’s left to do for your lawn in winter?

It’s all about stopping after all, so try not to walk on wet grass as your footprints in soft soil will leave a bumpy surface. But it’s not a big deal if you do.

But before you stop completely remove any final fallen leaves which can rot down and smother healthy grass. Look out for any last remaining areas of maintenance. Do you have any puddles forming?  This may mean you have poor drainage or compaction and will need to look at aeration in the spring, but if you want to get out and put air back into the soil it’s perfectly fine to do it during the winter months.

Don’t despair if your lawn does become water-logged during the winter, you may need to over-seed in the spring. A relatively simple and easy step.

You might want to move any garden furniture to stop it from winter damage and also give the lawn a chance to recover from it’s weight.

Mowing will have almost certainly have come to a halt for some, however, venturing out once a month is a good idea, but avoid mowing if the lawn is too wet.

All applications of fertilisers and weed killers will have to wait until the spring when the grass is growing.

If frost or snow is likely

The great news is that frost and snow don’t really do any damage to your lawn. Damage can occur when there is movement across it, so it is advisable to try and stay off your lawn to reduce footprints in your grass when it is frosty, frozen or after a heavy snowfall. But thankfully there won’t be any long-term damage, grass is surprisingly resilient and any scorch marks will grow out by spring. So don’t be put off building that snowman when the snow comes!

Laying new turf

It may come as a surprise to know that is perfectly fine to lay turf during the winter months, it really is very resilient. Frost and snow will not do any damage. Winter is actually quite a good time to lay turf as it gives the turf time to settle in and take a firm root. It might be worth noting that turf maybe more difficult to locate in garden centres, during the run up to Christmas, but it will be available to order from us by phone any time. (Click here for more information on laying turf in winter.)

With your feet firmly up, and with that log fire burning, it’s the ideal time to draw up a spring time maintenance plan and get your garden tools in working order (maybe even ask Father Christmas for some new ones) and don’t forget to include any mower repairs, so that by the time spring is on the horizon you will be lawn ready.

If you would like any further advice on winter lawn care or would like to talk to us about your order, please contact us on 01392 231040 or email sales@wesellturf.com