Soil Preparation and Turf Installation

Part B: Add Organic Matter

This is particularly important for sandy based soils. You need to apply organic matter or compost. What is Sandy Soil? Sandy soil is easy to spot by its feel. It has a gritty texture and when a handful of sandy soil is squeezed in your hand, it will easily fall apart when you open your hand again. Sandy soil is filled with, well, sand. Sand is primarily small pieces of eroded rocks. Sand tends to have large particles and the particles are solid and have no pockets where water and nutrients can hold to it. Because of this, water and nutrients tend to run out, and because sandy soil lacks both water and nutrients, lawns have a difficult time surviving in this kind of soil. The best way to improve sandy soil is to increase the ability of the sandy soil to retain water and increase the nutrients in the soil as well. Amending sandy soil with well- rotted manure or compost (including grass clippings, humus and leaf mold) will help to improve the soil the fastest. You can also add vermiculite or peat as sandy soil amendments, but these amendments will only add to the soil’s ability to hold onto water and will not add much nutrient value to the sandy soil. When amending sandy soil, you need to watch the salt levels of the soil. While compost and manure are the best way to amend sandy soil, they contain high levels of salt that can stay in the soil and damage growing plants if the salt level builds up too high.

Part C: Add a wetting agent.

The simplest way to improve water take up by hydrophobic soils is to use a soil wetting agent. “We believe that what happens in some soils when organic matter breaks down is that it leaves a waxy coating on the soil particles. Wetting agents are like detergents or a fertiliser with water beads. We recommend you apply the lawn Starter fertiliser at this point, at a rate of 3kg/100m2 or 900gm/30sm2, and rake through the top 30mm. What is Lawn Starter? Lawn Starter is a premium water saving starter fertiliser with nutrient accelerator for healthy root growth and is recommended to give your lawn the best start possible.

Part D: Add Fertiliser

You need a fertiliser that is high in Phosphorus as this helps the early formation and growth of roots. This is why starter fertilizers have a higher percentage of phosphorus. Established lawns need very little phosphorus because it is not flushed from the soil as readily as nitrogen. A complete fertilizer is one that contains all three of these major elements. We recommend BT Eco fertiliser for this.

(Please note that this may be variable and conditional on what season it is, i.e. during winter this will be significantly less).

This is a starting point, if the weather is warm or windy we would recommend you increase the amount of watering. It is vital to watch the leaf of your grass, if it starts to thin out then you need to increase your amount of watering. If in doubt give it some more water.

Our best advice is if in doubt, give it some more water. You have spent time, energy and money on preparing your area and laying new turf. To setback your new lawn to save a few dollars on water is counter-productive. By being generous with your watering during the establishment period, your lawn will establish the quickest and you will have a healthy and vibrant lawn.