Turf hasn't taken

[ilkleymoorbartat]

We had a new lawn laid mid may. Howe ever it hasn't taken at all because there's been so much rain and there's patches of soil everywhere.

The guy who did it said if it hadn't got better by September he'd come and relay it. Is there any chance at all it'll get better!?

When you say hasn't taken - what do you mean? Has a load of it died off?

The rain would have helped, not hindered it

Was it laid the same day as it was delivered? If not did you keep it moist, watering it daily and lay it within a couple of days?

It’s supposed to be well watered the first week to let it take. If it was dried up it wouldn’t have taken properly.

Was it in standing water for days due to flooding or what? Is the soil underneath good? It’s not all rubble or contaminated underneath?

Is it all dead and yellow looking? That’s what it looks like if it’s too dry. I don’t know if there is any come back from that tbh.

It's like this all over. We kept in moist with sprinkler after it was laid. It was laid on same day. It's not yellow, just very very patchy.

Just asked dp, he was head green keeper for years and got a degree in grass (sad I know).
He said if it was going to be okay it would by now. No way the rain could have caused a problem.
X

I agree that it won't be the rain! We got new turf recently and I'v had to water it numerous times a day, leave sprinklers on etc. I'd assume pure quality turf or it had somehow got damaged before getting to you. I'm presuming you also kept off the grass for several weeks? If you don't need to use the grass over the summer I'd be asking for it to be redone now. If it's going to get heavy use in the coming weeks you may as well wait.

Oh god, so depressing! Ok, do we think it's worth redoing now, or waiting until the autumn?

Don't do it now, in the middle of the hottest driest part of the year, when you'd need sprinklers on it 24/7.

Wait till the autumn.

I wonder what went wrong with it. Hard not to feel shoddy workmanship involved but I obviously don't want to feel that. We've just spent a load of money on grtting the garden sorted,

Can it just be one of those things?

Do u have a dog , has it weed on the grass ?

No dog. We stayed off the grass. It's all over, very evenly distributed patchiness if you know what I mean.

Could you sprinkle some grass seed over it while you're waiting for the right time to replace it?

You'd have to keep it watered though.

Dp says it’s hard to say without seeing whole area. If it was turfed on reasonable soil and watered enough it shouldn’t die, unless something wrong with the soil. Was it okay when it was laid? We’re there yellow patches? That could show disease?

He said even if it was laid very poorly all you would get are gaps in the grass it wouldn’t die. Something else is going on

Send more pics @ilkleymoorbartat he could possibly help

He also says you could re do it now but it would need plenty of water

Could

There’s either something wrong with the soil or something wrong with the turf. Wait til next year though, don’t ray and remedy it now, it won’t survive the heat and sun.

That's so kind @Workinghardeveryday I've attached a few more pics. Hopefully it gives a better idea. Please thank your DH!!

I’ve seen patchy grass like that. Either because it’s lumpy so the mower scalps it and leaves bald bits.

Or because

When it’s been mown it did they leave clumps of wet grass lying on top of it instead of putting them in the compost heap? ie didn’t use a mower with a grass box to catch the clippings? They lie there and prevent the live grass underneath getting air and light so it dies.

It will spread out over time and be less patchy but when you’ve paid for quality turf thats what you expect.

@ilkleymoorbartat sorry for late reply, just seen your pics, I will show him tonight and come straight back to you x

@ilkleymoorbartat hi, he asked, Has it been standing under a lot of water as flooded or water logged?
No yellow patches ever?
Was there ever grass and n the patches that are now missing?
If none are of those things, he said shit turf... xx

@Workinghardeveryday thanks so much again for asking him and for getting back to me! It wasn't under water as such, but we were in a flash flood area and I would say it could well have been water logged. Maybe that's the problem. Urgh. At least the guy says he'll redo it I guess!

@ilkleymoorbartat no problem! He said you could seed the whole lawn, but best case would be re turf if your not paying. He said seeding would work, but would take a monthish with lots and f water and birds don’t take the seed. He thinks problem was water logged more than lightly xx

So helpful @Workinghardeveryday thank you again 🙏