Caring for a new lawn

When you first move in

Welcome to your new home. We want you to enjoy your new garden, which you’re responsible for maintaining, so we’ve put down our top tips on how to keep it in good condition:

• Try to keep off the lawn as much as possible for the first few weeks. If you don’t, the lawn may become bumpy and uneven. If you have to go across the lawn to carry items, try to place some boards over the new turf to use as a walkway.
• The lawn will need to establish and settle before letting animals loose on it or installing any children’s play equipment.
• Keep the new lawn well-watered (normally daily but this does of course depend on the weather conditions), especially during the first few months. During hot spells, or periods of drought, water early in the morning or early evening where possible. This allows the water to get to the grass roots before the sun burns it off.
• Whilst the lawn needs to be kept watered, you also need to encourage strong, deep roots. Overwatering makes the lawn lazy- it won’t grow strong, deep roots because it doesn’t have to. If the lawn is permanently waterlogged, the roots will be starved of oxygen and go yellow. In extreme cases, such as prolonged periods of wet weather, this results in the grass being killed.
• Over the first three or four weeks you should see the lawn begin to establish – the lawn will start to knit together so that you don’t notice the individual turves and the grass will start to grow. As the lawn knits together, water it less frequently. It’s better to water thoroughly every two to three days than to water a little bit every day.
• Don’t be too hasty to mow the new lawn (although please don’t wait until it becomes unmanageable). The blades of grass should be at least 25mm in height, and the lawn should look like it’s knitting together well. Typically it will take around three weeks after laying, although it’s weather dependent and can be less in spring and early summer.

Ongoing maintenance

Once your lawn has established you’ll still need to maintain it. This could include:

• Raking it at least once a year to clear out any moss,
• Spiking it with a fork to allow air to get to the roots,
• Mowing regularly from spring until autumn,
• Feeding it once or twice a year,
• Dealing with any pest infestations or diseases,
• Moving trampolines and other items regularly to ensure the grass underneath doesn’t die.

If things go wrong

If you follow the steps above, your lawn should stay in good condition. If things go wrong, please contact us as we might be able to give you some advice.

There are also lots of websites with great advice about caring for your lawn if you need more information.