While there are parallels between laying natural lawn turf and artificial grass, there are also stark differences. Much like turf, a new artificial lawn requires adequate preparation and levelling. However, installing artificial grass arguably shares more in common with ground working jobs including patios and paving.

A Cautionary Note

Through the years our team has had to repair and replace countless botch jobs. Unfortunately this trade is rife with contractors who lack the necessary ethics or experience to execute the job properly. All too often we find “lawns” that are unlevel or that lack adequate drainage.

Be wary of contractors who’s prices are too good to be true. If you’ve chosen to undertake the job, take time to ensure every step is executed adequately for a lawn that endures.

Prepare The Ground

In the event you have an existing lawn, we’d recommend applying a weed killer (We opt for Roundup) 10 -14 days in advance of the job. At this stage, you can use a rotavator or turf cutter to strip your old lawn and proceed to stage 2; Levelling the ground.

Level

Once the old lawn and debris have been stripped away, it’s vital to level the ground and ensure the new surface is protected against any new vegetation growing.

While some landscapers are happy to rake the surface, others use a compactor to make sure the level is absolutely right. Many landscapers like to finish by installing a weed membrane. This will the safeguard the area for years to come.

Installation

Artificial rolls come in varying widths and pile heights. We’d recommend using knee pads and a carpet knife as you carefully cut the area. As you cut the rolls, you should allow an extra 1/2 an inch to overlap the border. At this stage you’ll need tape and glue to hold in place.

Allow to set for 15-20 minutes now lock the rolls in with nails and a hammer every 6 inches.

Artificial Grass

Once the artificial grass is fitted, it’s time to apply a brush with stiff bristles and close the show. Brushing will allow the seams to fade and your new lawn to achieve a more natural appearance. We’d recommend repeating this step every quarter.

Should you wish to hire professional artificial lawn fitters in Swindon and Wiltshire, Turf Direct can help. Our team has installed thousands of natural and artificial lawns in the region. Check out our gallery and reviews for more information. Contact us with your queries or an in person quote.

The post How To Lay Artificial Grass appeared first on Swindon Turf Direct.

As turf farmers our team has been growing, delivering and installing turf for a generation. In recent years the market has evolved. Artificial grass has risen in popularity and our clients have begun to inquire about the pros and cons of both options. This post will outline our views and service installing artificial grass in Swindon.

The Case For Natural Turf

The primary benefits of natural turf include cost and the environment. Much like trees, turf absorbs C02 and releases oxygen into the environment and improve the biodiversity of your garden. While fake grass has an adverse impact. Matthew Firth, of London Wildlife Trust told The Guardian:

“You are using fossil fuels to make it, so there is a carbon impact there, you have to remove a significant amount of soil to lay it so you are reducing the direct and indirect porosity of the soil, you are removing habitat which a wide range of species are dependent on and at the end of its life this is a non-biodegradable product which ultimately goes back into landfill. So yes we are concerned at its proliferation.”

Turf is a versatile and resilient fabric and is available in a series of seed mixes. Typically costs will be around £3m2 to supply or £3 – £6m2 to supply and lay. Making it significantly cheaper than artificial grades.

Our team deliver turf that is both ornamental and hardwearing. Shade or drought tolerant and Wildflower are among our in demand options. We have delivered turf suited to Golf Clubs or family homes for pets and children.

Visit our turf grades page for more information.

The Case For Artificial Grass

The primary benefit of artificial grass is low or no maintenance. Home owners no longer need to worry about mowing, patching or turf diseases.

While drainage isn’t an issue for suitably installed turf, artificial grass is also noted for having excellent drainage. For a prime example of realistic artificial grass visit New College Swindon and their freshly installed 3G Pitch.

These benefits are offset by cost. Materials cost £20m2 upwards while installation will vary depending on your supplier of choice.

Today our team work with various suppliers to install a broad range of artificial grass options varying in cost, look and feel. These include Tuda Luxury, Berlin and Namgrass. For samples or a no strings quote contact us today.

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Should I Buy Turf In Winter?

At Swindon Turf Direct we field many questions. Some clients simply inquire about our range of turf and prices. Others ask about the best practises of laying turf and long term lawn care. Finally, some clients queries are more specific and seasonal. This post is dedicated to our most popular question at this time year; Should I buy turf in winter?

A cursory visit of Google Trends will reveal the pattern of demand UK turf suppliers experience every year. The turf season begins in March, matures in May, and eases off through the school holidays. Demand is steady and inquiries rise in November, in a mad last dash before the height of winter.

Winter Is Coming …

Despite the laypersons perspective, there are pros and cons of laying turf in the winter. Under heavy rain, frost and snow, your new turf may struggle to become established. Even if it does, these conditions may render your lawn vulnerable to turf diseases.

Meanwhile, many turf companies will offer concessions to keep ticking over in low season. Farmers may have excess turf to sell and employees in need of extra hours. As such reduced prices can often be negotiated. So, if you’re in the hunt for a deal, mild winter conditions may be the ideal time to order.

We dedicated a post to turf diseases on our blog. In summary though, when lawns are left to fester in ice, damp or water logged conditions snow meld, brown patch, moss and algae are common. For this reason timing and a touch of common sense are needed.

In the event of mild weather conditions, however, turf can become established. Turf is an incredibly resilient and vigorous fabric. Low temperatures and spells of rain or a morning frost will not deter its growth. So before you buy turf in Swindon, discuss the conditions with our team first.

Whether we decide the conditions are fair or not, our friendly team are always on hand to offer advice and to provide an in person quote.

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A new update to our gallery. Long after the job is finished we’re happy to answer your questions. Our team offer advice and maintenance services for clients who require more help.

As general guidelines, however, remember to reduce footfall and apply water generously. Failure to apply these steps may result in gaps appearing between the turves.

The post Long After The Job Is Finished … appeared first on Swindon Turf Direct.

Welcome To Our New Website

The image above is the header for our old Swindon Turf Direct website. Online marketing is ever evolving. Our new site is geared towards a mobile audience and easier to navigate. Despite these changes, our content and service remain the same.

Explore our site and contact us if you require further information.

The post New Website Design appeared first on Swindon Turf Direct.

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Spending a few hours on your lawn is a wise investment. Just remember though, the practice of lawn care should be performed throughout the year, but the seasonal extremes, winter and summer, demands a nuanced approach. Do your due diligence, but in the meantime this article will highlight the fundamentals in caring for your lawn during winter.

The 5 Steps To A Healthy Winter Lawn

1. Mowing the Grass – Before frost and snowfall begins, reduce the height of the mower. The young grass on top is less robust than the roots. It can easily be affected by winter conditions and ultimately lead to thatching and turf diseases. Turf is resilient and is dormant during the winter period. Growth accelerates as temperatures rise through the summer time.

2. Fertilizer – Many advise you to avoid fertilizing your lawn during winter. However, there are potash and phosphorus based fertilizers especially made for winter that would encourage healthy growth of the plant until summer arrives. These fertilizers could be purchased from usual fertilizer shops and can be very important for caring for the lawn during the harsh winter season.

3. Aeration – Your lawn needs to breathe. It needs moisture and nutrients right down to the roots if it is to survive until the summer arrives. The practice of aeration does this for you. Aeration should be done before the snow or frost appears. A hollow tin or drum aerator can be used to break up the soil on large lawns.

4. Scarifying the Lawn or Removing Debris – Damp weather is a positive breeding ground for many winter diseases. Clearing the debris such as leaves and moss before the snowfall and frost can help keep your lawn healthy during the winter. Watering the lawn is generally not needed during the winter.

Whether you’re caring for an established lawn, or you’re reading this after laying turf, these tips will benefit you. Remember, winter is your lawns off-season. Winter lawn-care needn’t be intensive, but it’s a must for long-term lawn health.

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In this post you will learn:

How you can save $$$’s of pounds (and lose a few) by laying turf on your own. 

The trusty tools you’ll need. 

How to establish the boundary and lay turf efficiently. 

When and how much to water your new lawn.

In the end, you can have the beautiful, lush lawn that you have always dreamt about and be the envy of all of your neighbours. Limber up. Let’s roll …

The Landscaping Fundamentals

As you begin to lay turf, you need to remember that it is important that you put it down on a surface are that has been properly prepped. This will mean making sure that the ground is firm, smooth and the soil is flat with great drainage. Keep in mind, you may have a difficult time getting the turf to thrive in areas that are filled with shade from buildings or trees.

For best possible results, you should also pick the best time of year to lay turf such as spring or autumn. Although, seasonal extremes aside, it is permissable to lay turf in winter and summer.

Depending on the area that you have to work with, you may need to do some measuring or cutting to make the turf strips fit into place. When it comes to corners, you may need to overlap strips and simply trim off the excess and tuck the pieces into place for the perfect fit. You can cut the pieces of turf to size simply by using an edging iron or a long bladed knife.

Once the turf is laid down, you can go over the area with a light roller to help get the turf leveled and laying flat in the bed area. If there are any small gaps in the turf, simply add top soil as these areas will begin to grow in over time. Once you are finished, be sure to water the turf thoroughly and then keep the entire area well watered until it is completely established.

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While our focuses primarily on landscaping, we do offer gardening maintenance and tree services too. This article outline the best practices for hedge trimming. Contact us if you require more information.

Newly planted hedges need to be pruned in their first few years after planting. This process is known as formative pruning, which is normally executed in the either the winter or spring seasons. After this, you can execute maintenance trimming once each year for informal hedges and 2 times a year for formal hedges.

This process can be undertaken in between spring and summer. Here then are just a few tree service tips for hedge trimming from our team, which you should be aware of.

The right hedge trimming tools to use

While there are many famous brands, we’ll concentrate on the type of tools you need to efficiently execute tasks. Ideally, hand-held hedge trimmers or shears can be the best tools to use on small hedges. On the other hand, electric or gas-powered trimmers can be the right solution for much bigger hedges. Regardless of the exact tool you use, always ensure its blade is sharp and its components are well lubricated.

Think of your personal safety first

Prior to executing hedge trimming, particularly when you utilize power tools, make sure you are well protected from any mishap that can occur. Many would be tree surgeons have been scarred for life and hospitalized for their failure to take precautions. As such, please remember safety comes first and always wear safety goggles and thick gloves.

Before beginning hedge trimming, take time to make sure that all obstacles on the ground are removed. It is also important to note that electric hedge trimmers usually have a residual current device in their mechanism. This means you should never use such equipment in damp conditions.

Formal hedge trimming

The width of your formal doesn’t have to be more than 60 cm if you take the precaution of trimming it on a regular basis. Commence the trimming by tapering each side of your hedge to ensure that its base is wider than its upper part. This makes easier for sunlight to penetrate to its bottom parts.

Informal or flowering hedges

When it comes to the right tree service for informal hedges which flower, begin by pruning the exact areas you wish to flower, once each year at the right moment. This goes a long way in encouraging your informal hedge to flower in the subsequent year. Trimming such hedges at the wrong time of the year can eliminate the growth, which will flower in the following year.

So, always make sure you prune your flowering hedge once in the spring season. At the same time, always ensure that you minimize the current season’s growth by in summer, for plants that can flower on just a single year’s growth. Finally, should your hedge consist of shrubs that produce berries, it can be prudent to delay the hedge trimming process until the moment the berries disappear.

And finally, of course, if in doubt contact the professionals …

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Fungi infestation
Fungi are thread-like, microscopic organisms propagate through air and water making it an adversary you shouldn’t under estimate. If you find fungi on your lawn then you may have to brace yourself for other diseases because the fungi makes the grass blades more susceptible to pathogens and other diseases. Some of the signs of the infestation include thinning and damage of the roots, spotted leaves, and a general change of colour of the grass.

Leaf Spot
Though fungi can cause leaves to have spots, sometimes the issue might not be fungi-related. Leaf spot is a disease that often affect bluegrass due to excessing thatching. It is distinguished by brown or purple spots on the leaves and the thinning of the grass.

Moss and Algae
Lawns that are densely shaded, or receive little sunlight thus have a higher moisture content tend to be affected by moss and algae. The presence of moss and algae can quickly change the health of the lawn because they can spread deep into the root system.

Summer Patch
Summer patches occur during the hot and dry months of summer. Once the set in, the lawn will start yellowing having patches that can be 6 – 12 inches in diameter.

Powdery Mildew
Powdery mildew tends to affect a section of the lawn that are shrubbery and with inadequate ventilation. Once, the mildew sets in, the grass starts to dry and yellow, which is soon followed by a white powdery substance covering the foliage.

Mushrooms
While some people might not think much of mushroom especially because some species are edible, certain special are dangerous to not just the health or the lawn but that of humans and animals. Nevertheless, mushroom often to do affect the health of the grass; they are just foreign elements that are notably visible and thus distort the lushness and beauty of the lawn.

Brown Patch
Brown patch is a condition that leaves a circular patch that looks dark and waterlogged. However, this colour and texture of the grass may change as the season progresses, changing into a dry and light brown appearance as the hot summer days arrive.

Blight
Blight is easy to note in your lawn; just look a doughnut shape across your turf. Blight affect grass in a circular pattern with grasses at the centre looking lurch green and affects and those around the ring either dying or having a brown colour.

Snow Meld
Often appearing during the onset of spring, snow meld is caused by organic debris that are left lying on the lawn over the cold, wet, months of winter. The debris make it conducive for fungus to thrive well into spring. When the fungus attacks the grass is causes the lawn to have brown spots.

Rust
If temperatures drop to a constant 50’s and 60’s F, then even the healthiest of lawns can be affected by Rust. Also called the cool weather disease, rust causes the grass to have yellow strips that eventually split the grass blades.

Once you know what you are up against you can liaise with your local nursery, or landscaping outfit, to treat the problem and restore the health of your lawn.

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