May 29 2012
Turf Wars
In August last year, we bought 21 rolls of turf on a whim to replace a large patch of gravel out the back without a) measuring the garden or b) making preparations beforehand. It took 3 days to de-gravel, de-concrete and then lay the turf which, having been sat outside a local Homebase, was already way past its best.
By some miracle we managed to buy exactly the right amount of turf, and ended up with:
Which, a week later, looked like:
Not bad, eh?
Unfortunately, that lush green look didn’t last. It turns out that if you lay turf on heavy clay soil without digging/preparing the earth first, and then it pees it down with rain for months on end (aka Winter) you end up a mini-swamp and dead grass (hi Flymo!):
It has taken several months of fairly intensive raking, forking (in an attempt improve drainage) and sprinkling handfuls of compost (to hopefully improve the soil) as well as one epic bag of grass seed (10kg “family lawn seed” from B&Q) to give us:
Which, ironically, needs cutting. Again. This grass lark is hard work.
Still. That batch of turf was a bargain.
My name is Jem, & I once told the world I'd never become a "mommy blogger" ... then I had a baby. Now I talk about boobs and poo and other inane mummy stuff. 
