A beautiful lush green lawn has long been the hallmark of a keen gardener and the envy of all the neighbours.

Create your perfect new lawn using our step by step guide:

The best time to create a new lawn with turf is in spring or early autumn as this gives the grass plenty of time to become established as little mowing is needed.

GAP Photos Ltd – Copyright 2018

You will need:

1. Spade or fork

2. Rake

3. Lawn soil

4. Stiff broom

5. Wooden plank

6. Hosepipe

Unravelling a roll of turf onto prepared soil, whilst standing on a scaffold plank to prevent damage to turf. GAP Photos Ltd – Copyright 2018

Laying your Turf

1. Prepare your area, levelling with a rake and getting rid of any weeds. Water the soil so that it is moist but not wet.

2. Unroll the turf laying whole pieces and working out from an edge. Stand on a plank to distribute your weight and tamp down turves with a rake.

3. Continue to lay turves in rows, arranged so the joins are staggered, like bricks in a wall. This produces a much stronger structure.

4. Make a tight seam with the adjacent piece of turf by butting them together so they almost overlap and then pressing the crease down firmly with your thumbs.

5. Scatter lawn soil over the surface using a stiff broom to help the pieces of turf grow together and root firmly.

6. Water the new lawn turf well and keep it watered during the summer. If cracks appear brush in some more soil.

Using a garden rake to firm down new turf GAP Photos Ltd – Copyright 2018

Spring Lawn Feeding

A good lawn feed will make your grass greener and grow thicker. We recommend Westland SafeLawn Natural Lawn Feed, made with 100% natural ingredients and completely safe for children and pets. This is a granular feed that can be applied evenly over the whole lawn – available in-store. Watch the new Westland SafeLawn TV advert for more information.

Aftercare

Try not to walk on newly laid turf until it has rooted into the soil, which could take several weeks.

If the weather is mild over winter the grass will begin to grow. Trim it lightly, keeping the mower blades set high.

Benefits of adding turf to your garden

There are obvious benefits of adding a lush green lawn to your garden: you are creating a safe place for your children to play outdoors; a lovely space to relax with a book; an outdoor place to entertain.

The less obvious benefits are really important too:

1. Turf reduces noise and heat which in turn helps reduce stress

2. It improves air quality and helps keep our cities and towns clean

3. When people live or work close to nature they are more relaxed and therefore less susceptible to high blood pressure, stress and depression

4. Families who use their garden as an extension of their home and their family life can reduce  child behaviour issues

5. It provides a healthy clean environment that’s ideal for people of all ages. Whether your need is raising a family, walking the dog, playing professional sport or just having a kick around with friends, there’s no better surface

6. Whatever you use it for, turf is the safest surface for outdoor leisure activities, games and sports. It reduces the incident of personal injuries through its cushioning ability

7. Children in particular are much better protected when playing and falling on grass than any other surface

8. Turf ideal for cleaning up spills from general outdoor entertaining whether it be a BBQ or the kids picnic birthday party

9. And of course, mowing a lawn also gets you outdoors and provides valuable cardiovascular exercise.