I've been doing a job today for a long term client today, I am re turfing the front and back lawn removing old turf and re leveling areas. I had hired a turf cutter for today and did the back lawn which went well I'll rotavate and level tomorrow . But on the front I just can't get the old turf off it that chock a block full of tree root from conifers and a medium size monkey puzzle tree in the centre, turf cutter get stuck after a foot risk of damaging it was to high, doing it by hand isn't much better .
I am fishing for some ideas what to do next ?
I am on plan B now do you think this will work - Attack with the scariflier and try and rip the old lawn to bits ( they not much to the old lawn I did weed kill it about a week ago ) aerate with a fork to relieve compaction and add 2-3 inch of top soil and lay new turf . They is quite a bit of coal ash when you get past the top layer which I beileive was common in the 70's for lawns .
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I've never used a turf cutter and don't see any practical use, unless your reducing levels or clearing I'd use a digger. Weed kill and rotovate.
Andrew, we had exactly the same issue recently, like you we'd killed the old lawn but the dead turf was virtually impossible to remove because of roots.
We ended up using a rotovator to scratch as much of the old surface off, couldn't get much penetration but it did loosen the surface enough to be able to rake off most of the dead turf, then spread 3 inches of top soil. I don't think you'll have much luck with a scarifier and it's going to give it some grief!! If you haven't got a rotovator they are relatively cheap to hire for a day I wouldn't worry too much about the coal ash.
As the badger said, spray to kill the grass and then rotovate or scarify when it's died off. You'll have to wait a few weeks this time of year, but it's far less aggro.
Can't imagine any grass thriving with all those roots under it................much as I hate the stuff, could this be a case of using artificial grass or some something like slate chippings, shingle etc?
I have been laying turf for 36 years and for eleven years between 2005 and 2016 I used to re-turf a little over 200 graves every winter. In the cemetery I never removed old turf. Given that the problem with graves is that they sink, it was always the case that the levels needed building up anyway. So I used to run over the area with the machine [Stiga mower], in order to compact the ground and then level up with screened top soil. I used the machine to compact the top soil, rather than the ‘heal’ method. This was much quicker and easier on the legs. A final level up with the rake and lay the turf.
In your case where there are roots etc., I would suggest that the above method would be perfect. You could raise the level by only one or two inches, levelling out in the process. This would then mean that any roots are buried. The top soil method is much easier and faster than rotovating. Once the ground is rotovated it has to be consolidated and compacted again anyway in order to create a solid, walkable base.
The results were always perfect. This is an area of graves re-turfed using this method. You can see the 12 graves in a row with new turf and the 3 or 4 beyond and the one in the foreground with the original grass -
That looks a fine job Vic . wish the Graveyards I do had striaght lines I am all over the place zig zagging in and out and then the strimming round them all.
Thanks for the pointers , I didn't risk the scarifier but I tried the rotavator instead carefully after a couple of passes it got most of the turf off , quick rake round and cut the loose roots off the rotavator pulled up. I am satisfied with it even though its not ideal.
It been one of them jobs I should of said no to but it hard to say with a client I've been working for them for years , They've moved house so garden were in a right mess . I only really do small turfing jobs this one 360 square metres in total has comfirmed I'll only do small turf jobs in future .
I'd simply spray it off, level with sharp sand and lay on top
Personally I'd always remove the old turf. I have a client who's front lawn was returfed without striping, she asked me for a price to take it all up and start again. If the old is uneven, I don't see how you're ever going to get even compaction.
Kill the existing turf and rotovate the top surface, no need to remove turf, such a waste.
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