laying turf

[santi]

Hi, I am new to this site and I was wondering, if anyone has any advice on laying turf.

I put turf down 1.5 years ago but unfortunately, the roots didn't grow very deep.
After about 4 weeks brown spots appeared everywhere and they didn't go away. It looked terrible and I decided to start again. I started pulling out the grass and discovered that the roots didn't grow very deep.

The soil is very hard. I assume it's clay soil. The first time we put turf down we used one of these garden rollers to flatten the soil. It probably didn't help, because it made the soil more dense.

Does anyone know, if I should loosen up the soil before I put the new turf down? Should I ad anything such as sand? And how much?

Does anyone know what kind of turf would be suitable to grow on clay soil? The first time around I used some kind of ornamental turf, which was probably not the right choice. Would stadium turf grow better?

many thanks

[The Helpful Gardener]

A layer of sand helps to level the surface and maintain aeration while the roots dig in; this is how golf courses establish turf. A layer of pounded clay to retain water with a few inches of sand. But they water constantly, a luxury we plebes cannot afford...

I would recommend tall turf type fescues for your area; very drought tolerant, with little need for increased fertility. But I know of no one doing turf of this type, it must be done from seed and that is best done in the fall...

HG

[santi]

thank you very much