Garden design, garden planning, garden layout, planting plants and planting schemes

A great Garden Lawn is in the detail

Posted on July 18th, 2010

When it comes to making a great lawn especially using Roll Turf, there are two important secrets for success:

- good ground preparation and

- good ground preparation

Naturally you must start with a thorough but realistic work plan. Large or small lawn areas already heavily infested with well established weeds are best to sprayed with a systemic herbicide (one which will kill growth above and below in the soil). Leave area for 7-10 days in order for the herbicide to complete the task of killing all growth in targetted area. 

When you are satisfied that all weeds have been killed, you may begin turning the soil or rotovating. Repeat this a number of times and remove any other debris, large stones etc. Rake, roll and level area. Applying lawnsand is not only good for drainage but can be very helpful with the installation during wet conditions .  Do not compact area, instead leave a fine tilth on surface, to encourage quick germination of lawn seed or quick establishment of root in roll turf. Sprinkle area with compost and apply lawn fertiliser.

Area is now ready for the green carpet, ie Roll Turf Lawn. 

Looking after newly laid lawns require some attention for usually 2-3 weeks:

- avoid walking on grass for at least 2 weeks

- water during warm/dry spells

- when it comes to initial cuts, set mower blades high and gradually adjust to medium position. New lawns should not be cut very short during first year. Also avoid using ‘weed & feed’ treatments on new grass for at least 12 months. A great Garden Lawn is in the detailed ground preparation…

Garden Lawn with Roll Turf for instant results

Posted on May 17th, 2010

Having completed the rotovation works, the area was raked, levelled and rolled. The ground should be firm at this point but not compacted. A light tilth remains on the surface and once the fertilisier has been applied, the area is now for the Roll Turf. At this point, most of the hard work has been completed (clearance, rotovation and levelling), the task of installing the new lawn is relatively straightforward and requires careful attention to achieve good alignment of the individual rolls to produce an instant lawn finish.

A new Family lawn is always impressive and especially so when one one sees the delight on young children’s faces. 

The green green grass of a Family garden

Posted on May 16th, 2010

Most people and certainly every family would love to have a nice green lawn. Afterall the lawn area  is the ideal area in which the kids may play safely but also an area which holds the garden together. A poor and untidy lawn is not a pretty site and certainly undermines all aspects of the garden. No surprise really that the lawn area is frequently a cause of great concern and frustration whether it be dealing with drainage or associated problems like moss, weed and lack of colur and vibrancy. People frequently go to great lengths and spending considerable effort in achieving and maintaining a nice green weedfree lawn. But what if you’re starting from scratch? Well some simple but very important ground clearance and ground preparation rules apply: Clean (spray weed, remove all residual dead weed, rubble, builders debris. Rotovate (physically digging would be an option for a smaller area, larger areas one use mechanical methods, eg, rotovators to turn soil). Rake , roll and feed. Seed or use roll turf. 

Here are some photos from one of our projects which illustrate some of the points concerning ground clearance & preparation above.

Garden Landscaping: new lawn aftercare

Posted on March 14th, 2010

Following the completion of the installation of the new roll turf lawn, some aftercare will be required to ensure that the turf  becomes well established. To retain the vivid green lush look of a new lawn and good healthy grass growth:

- avoid any foot traffic on new lawn for at least 2 weeks (during wet spells 4 weeks)

- continue feeding the lawn every six weeks during the growing season (April-October) and do not forget to apply a winter feed later in year (which is a specially formulated feed to ensure strong root development)

- it is very important during the initial few months that the new lawn does not dry out, so if necessary water regularly

- do not allow the grass become too long and generally avoid cutting the new lawn shorter than 2”/50mm. Frequent cutting (except during wet spells) are ideal to maintaining a beautiful finish.

- avoid using any weedkiller on new lawns during the first year.

Instant lawns with roll turf

Posted on November 14th, 2009

There’s no faster or perhaps better way to achieving a new lawn than using roll turf. As the photos show, less than 24 hours after installation, during what has been some of the wettest spells in Irish weather, the new lawn is looking remarkably good and in two weeks will be well established bearing little evidence of its recent installation.

Not only are roll turf lawns relatively quick and easy to instal, however very good ground preparation is important, they provide an instant but complete finish to the new garden. Not surprising therefore that when it comes to creating a new lawn, many people will prefer to use roll turf.

Driveway Lawn design

Posted on November 14th, 2009

Frequently it is a difficult challenge to overcome, creating adequate or practical space for parking of cars and making a useful lawn in the remaining space.  Here we have used granite setts to raise the lawn level but used the simple but attractive geometry of  the circle to enhance the lawn area.