Replacing astroturf?

September 6, 2023 3:23 AM

We moved house (UK) last year and our new garden has about 5m x 5m of astroturf (the rest is patio - it's fairly tiny). i would love to replace this with real grass (turf rather than seed) but my research mostly brings up how to lay astroturf! What I have found says to just take it up, rake and then lay turf, but I've pulled back one corner and found a sandy/gravel mixture underneath rather than soil, so I'm concerned any real turf may not 'take'. Also, I've seen clover as an option, is that for a particular soil type? Is this something you have done? Do I need to dig out the sand or can I lay turf on top on that? Should I even try to do this myself (I'd like to, as it's such a small area) or does this need a professional?
posted by atlantica to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

It's something you could definitely do. If this is a recently-built house, then the soil might be quite poor, and full of junk under the sand/gravel. Ideally you need a couple of inches of half-decent soil with no rocks or large stones under the turf in order for it to root nicely and flourish. Depending on the depth of the sand/gravel, you might need to remove a lot of what's been used to prepare the ground for the fake grass.

I'd dig out a small area to assess how good the soil is, how much debris is mixed in. The top inches of soil ideally need to be fairly fine, loose and healthy-looking before you put turf on it. Consider mixing compost into the soil to add more nutrients if you think it needs it, once the soil is broken up and the stones removed.

Clover tends to sprout in most lawns in the UK. My lawns are about 20% clover at this point. Most UK lawns end up with a mix of grass, clover, plantain, hawkweed, daisies, dandelions etc. Trying to maintain your lawns as a monocrop - just clover, or just grass, or one of the other alternatives - is something that requires a fair amount of maintenance (weeding, lawn treatments etc). Depends what aesthetic you want, really.

It probably doesn't need a professional, as long as you do your research. Just be aware that turf isn't something you can drop on top of any old substrate. You've picked the right time of year to do it though.
posted by pipeski at 3:52 AM on September 6, 2023

Clover tends to sprout in most lawns in the UK.

Clover has root nodules that host bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and turn it into fertilizer, so having a bit of clover in amongst your grass is really, really good for it.
posted by flabdablet at 4:18 AM on September 6, 2023 [5 favorites]

For 5m x 5m, and assuming that what's under the astroturf is not good topsoil, I would get quotes from local landscaping services to come with a minidigger, remove a few inches of subsoil and spread a few inches of topsoil, and then either have them spread grass seed or do that bit yourself by hand. Or if you want quicker results they can lay sod. If by chance you do have good topsoil under the astroturf, then jump directly to the seed or sod bit.
posted by Rhedyn at 4:21 AM on September 6, 2023

You could in theory do all this yourself, but 5m x 5m is a lot to dig out by hand even for just a couple of inches, and you'd need to have the removed spoil/fill taken away anyway and topsoil brought in. Once you're paying for those bits you might as well pay for the labour to be done by minidigger IMHO.
posted by Rhedyn at 4:25 AM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

I also have a small amount of astroturf for a lawn and I have learned that generally when artificial turf is installed correctly they put down a layer of gravel (at least a few inches) in between the soil and the turf. So you will most likely need to dig that gravel out - one of the reasons it's there is to discourage things growing through the artificial turf (although I think it's mostly for levelling purposes).

You'll need to look into what your disposal options are for both the turf and the gravel underneath (the gravel could be a couple of cubic meters worth).
posted by mskyle at 4:26 AM on September 6, 2023

I would ask a professional to come over and look at it. It will be hard for them to give a quote without even seeing it because they don't know if any of the existing soil needs to be removed (and what that entails) or just new soil added on top. And once they've seen it and given you a quote, you'll also know exactly what needs to be done and decide how much of it you want to take on yourself.
posted by easternblot at 4:35 AM on September 6, 2023

In my American experience, clover is easy to grow, but clover flowers, and flowers draw bees. That can be good or bad depending on your point of view. I know there were times I was cautious about letting the kids play on the lawn. Talk to some folks to get the UK experience.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:44 AM on September 6, 2023

I've just done similar. We acquired a 9m x 17m polytunnel [2nd hand] about 15 years ago in which we 1) dry laundry 2) grow beans and tomatoes 3) shelter sheep if the weather bodes terrible. The problem with tunnels is that it never rains inside. The sheep unit occupies 1/4 of the tunnel 4m x 8m at one end. Because no rain, it got deserty dusty down there which did the laundry no favors. So, in July I gave this hard-pan a good mattocking, raked it smooth-ish, cut a bunch of grass seed-heads from the garden edges and threshed them over the soil. 2 weeks later it was covered in green wisps and I mowed it last Monday when the grass was 30cm high. Cost = nothing; time maybe 3 hours including watering (which you can leave to the clouds). It's a work in progress which will require some continuing attention. Biodiversity rocks is good.

In your shoes, having known several small back gardens, I'd hesitate to start digging! It's flat now but you may turn up a bottomless pit of builder's rubble, which will cost time, money, effort, disruption to remove. Talk to your neighbours if any of them are growing veg or flowers to get a handle on how crappy the subsoil is. You want to give grass and clover a head-start over more weedy species that will sprout up anyway. You can buy a couple of tonnes of top soil which will cover your area about 6 cm = 2 in deep which will be enough to give the grass a chance. The worms will mix the soil with the gravel/sand you already have, but leave the broken bricks buried. By Xmas you'll have a lawn. Also be prepared to share your project with cats.
posted by BobTheScientist at 5:56 AM on September 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I read this article recently, about how poor soil / gravel is actually ideal for a wildflower garden:
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jul/28/hardcore-landscaping-how-to-grow-a-garden-on-sand-gravel-and-concrete
posted by snarfois at 6:25 AM on September 6, 2023 [2 favorites]

In my American experience, clover is easy to grow, but clover flowers, and flowers draw bees. That can be good or bad depending on your point of view. I know there were times I was cautious about letting the kids play on the lawn. Talk to some folks to get the UK experience.

I've sewn clover on my (UK) grass lawn - it took a while to sprout I think because it was in competition with the established grass, but it does indeed flower and attract bees. This is a feature rather than a bug (ha) for me though.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:39 AM on September 6, 2023

I am In sweden so you shouldn’t listen to anything I have to say. At a friends condo complex an area had to be dug up for some reason and the contractors were responsible for replacing the dark up landscaping with new soil and nice landscaping. The contractors left behind new, flattened soil. Well the soil was new to the complex it was not good soil and now the complex is arguing with the contractors because of all the stuff that grew up that was not lovely landscaping. I guess I’m saying sorry you have this problem and I hope it gets resolved with reliable professionals if you are unable to tackle it yourself. Good luck!
posted by Bella Donna at 7:13 AM on September 6, 2023

Tangential to your actual question, but just to check - do you have somewhere to keep a lawnmower?

(I do not, but I did eventually manage to find someone willing to go to the bother of mowing my small lawn every so often. Plan B was to somehow replace the grass with clover, which doesn't grow anything like as tall.)
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 7:18 AM on September 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is exactly the right time of year to be doing this, because if, as advised above, you can get the first few inches of poor quality topsoil/gravel removed, and new topsoil laid, then you'll have the entire winter to improve the soil with well-rotted manure, which you can buy at garden centres. Don't use fresh manure, as it is too concentrated and will 'burn' the lawn when it's eventually laid. Another alternative is seaweed fertiliser, which you can buy (again from garden centres) in liquid or granule form.

Spend the autumn and winter months nourishing and digging, nourishing and digging, and then in the spring you should have soil good enough for a lawn to 'take' and thrive.

If you have enough room, devote some space to a wildflower bed, for the bees.
posted by essexjan at 1:30 PM on September 6, 2023

You don't want to lay turf on top of rocky, sandy soil because, not only does it lack nutrients, but it will dry out very quickly in the summer and you'll be constantly watering to keep the lawn alive (unless it rains regularly in summer there).

I would dig 4-6 inches down and place some good soil (called turf underlay here), level it and place your turf in the spring. You could dig down to a lesser depth and then mix the existing soil with the good soil to make it easier, if it's more sandy than rocky. Make sure the turf has good contact with the soil and water daily at least for the first couple of weeks and you'll be cursing the lawnmower in no time ;-)
posted by dg at 1:24 AM on September 7, 2023

Agreement to most of the above, with the exception of worrying about mowing the lawn. For that size area, you can use an electric string trimmer aka weed eater faster than you can push and turn a mower around. No stinky gas mower, and the trimmer cord is lots easier to throw over your shoulder than trying to maneuver around an electric mower. Don't worry about the clippings--it's good for the lawn.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:16 PM on September 7, 2023