Essential Tools For Relaying The Lawn
Relaying a lawn in your garden can seem a daunting task, but by making use of specialized tools available for purchase or rent on the market can take the majority of back breaking work out of the job.
The removal of the old turf is the first step in the process of relaying the lawn. The easiest way of removing the turf is with the use of a turf cutter machine. Similar in appearance to a walk behind lawn mower, the turf cutter is a motorized machine which has a blade that slices through the soil a couple of inches under the turf. At this depth it can cut through the soil underneath the grass root layer and enables the gardener to remove all traces of the previous turf that could otherwise regrow in the new lawn. The turf cutter lifts the turf in long strips, which can then be easily rolled up and disposed of.
Once the old turf has been lifted from the area where you are planning on relaying the lawn, the next step is to prepare the soil for laying the new turf. Over time the soil will have become heavily compacted down through heavy use of the lawn. This needs to be loosened up to give the roots of the new lawn freedom to spread. A cultivator is a machine that has a row of angled rotating blades that dig into the soil, breaking it up. It also brings stones and weed roots to the surface that can then be removed.
Once the soil has been broken up and all debris removed, you now need to create a flat surface on which you will be relaying the lawn. This may seem like compacting the soil you have just loosened, but what are doing is preventing any dips, hollows or ridges forming when you walk on the lawn. The quickest way of achieving a flat surface is with the use of a garden roller. The old fashioned type of heavy metal rollers have now been replaced by lightweight plastic barrels that are easy to transport and once on location, can be filled with water to create the weight needed.