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Following a new home build, Buffalo turf was installed over fresh topsoil and a drainage system.
The project
I set about laying down some turf after a new home build. It's a clay soil, so I planned on spraying some weedkiller around, letting that settle for a week or so, then using a rotary hoe, then putting about 20mm of premium top soil down before laying the turf.
As you can see in the image, there's quite a fall in this part of the yard, from right to left. There's another house on the other side of the fence, so I'm aware of not allowing water from my land flow into theirs. I was only looking to do 20mm of topsoil so it wouldn't affect the integrity of the fence and it wouldn't be up to the wood.
I thought I'd go with Sir Walter turf due to its hardiness, and due to the mix of full sun in parts, and full shade in other parts of the lawn.
For the drain, I thought I'd use Ag-Pipe, because the distance from fence to fence is approximately 18m, and the width is approximately 4.5m. I ran the 100mm x 20m Ag-Pipe approximately 50cm away from the back fence, and got a plumber in to plumb the Ag-Pipe and the connecting pit, and downpipes from the shed all into the stormwater disposal point.
I used weedkiller on the ground, let it settle for a few weeks, and then got a Dingo Mini Digger in and scraped off the top couple of millimetres. Then we used a rotary hoe attachment to break up the top 100mm of clay. After that we put down approximately 16 cubic metres of premium topsoil to create a flatter base and in some areas, approximately 100-200mm topsoil base.
We let it sit like this for approximately four weeks to allow the topsoil to settle and then we brought in a few more metres of topsoil to rectify the high and lows that came from the previous topsoil settling at different rates.
Then we got our 120sqm of Sir Walter Buffalo Turf delivered and it was a long day laying it all.
And then watering, some more watering and did I mention some more watering?
It has all taken great, and had its first high-cut mow five weeks after laying.
This is out the front.
How to lay turf
The Bunnings team has a helpful step-by-step guide and video How to lay turf to show you the how to establish your new lawn.
More inspiration for your lawn project
Community member Ben opted for hardy Kikuyu in his backyard makeover and was thrilled with the result.
Workshop member Hazel used artificial lawn as a special part of her side access landscaping project.
Find more inspiration in our Top 10 most popular landscaping projects. If you need a hand, start a discussion and the community will be happy to answer any questions.
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