Laying turf - absolute beginner

[thesnailandthewhale]

My back garden consists of pea shingle with grey slate around the border. I hate the pea shingle so have cleared that ready to turf it. It was about 5"-6" deep and once the old membrane was removed I'm left with solid, compacted earth.

Can someone advise what I need to do next please - do I lay topsoil on that and then the turf or do I need to somehow dig it?

Thanks!

This is really not a good time of year to be laying turf, sorry. You'd have to use a huge quantity of water to stop it drying out over the next 3 months, and you have to keep off newly-laid turf for quite a few weeks anyway.

The best time of year to lay turf in the UK is September.

Thank you, it can wait til September, it's only me here so no one else will see it over the summer. I've got a garden rug I can put down for the next couple of months

I just laid a lawn a couple of weeks ago (I know it's the wrong time of year but it needed doing as the garden looked terrible!)

The company I ordered the turf from sent full instructions but basically you dig the ground up to loosen it to a depth of about 15cm, put some topsoil/compost on top and then put the turf down. Then water the shit out of it every day.

I should caveat that mine is only a tiny patch so I can use a watering can when the inevitable hosepipe ban kicks in, if you've got a whole big garden to do then I would definitely hold off for now.

Sounds like you need to rotavate the compacted soil. Then more top soil. Then the turf.

You need to put weed suppression membrane or the old membrane back to help stop weeds growing until September.

Oh and if you are in the southern half of the country it is more like October when you can do anything to your lawn.

If you can wait 'til September I suggest sowing grass seed. Apart from being a lot cheaper I believe you get a better lawn, with no shrinkage etc. You'd be surprised how quickly it establishes and will be mowing it before the year is out.