New lawn

Hi Jemmonino pity Im not closer as have just dug a pond out and have tons of top soil youd be welcome to.Perhaps a goy member close to you could donate some to cover a relatively small area? Not the best time to lay turf unless you can keep it moist on a regular basis.Grass only sends it shoots down a few centimetres you still have the weed suppress sheet I d be tempted to rake off soil lay sheeting and return soil with small amount of compost.Effectively laying a weed barrier under turf.Would not recommend purely compost as dries quickly in hot weather stays moist in wet and tends to sink in hollows as difficult to compact before laying turf.You laid turf before?

Try to avoid using topsoil if you can. The problem is, unless someone kind gives you some real topsoil they dug like Bonkers (!) then you don't know where it's come from and it is not necessarily topsoil - just because it looks nice and crumbly and does not contain stones or sticks, does not mean it does contain all the humus and nutrients the plants/grass need. Topsoil is a pet hate of mine and yes, it is expensive and potentially an expensive mistake! But back to the point, as Bonkers said, if you sow now you will have to water constantly, but it might be ok. I sowed some about 2 weeks ago and it has started growing. Try to remove rocks from teh top few cms - deeper than that and they prob wont effect the grass at all. Remove any larger bits of wood as you might get mushrooms growing from them as they decompose. As for gravel, that might be a good thing, improving drainage. Hope this helps.

Hi, thanks for your advice! I wanted to lay turf so I can use the garden this summer, but I have heard that its not the best time of year. Does grass seed grow quite quickly? I know you're not supposed to walk on turf for several weeks anyway, so growing it might be a cheaper option and not make too much difference in the long run!
I think I'll leave the topsoil and compost idea and do as Sid has suggested :)
Thanks for the offer of topsoil Bonkers :)

Grass seed does grow quickly in good conditions, but we're getting a bit late for it now. However, from your picture, looks like the site is in partial shade, which might help. It will need watering daily to get it established. I don't know exactly how long it will be before you can use the area. Good luck with it.

Obviously seeding cheaper J you have an area 6m x 2m turf still sold in yards so 7x2 sq.yards should cover it.At @ £2.50 sq yd this would be £21 for turf so not expensive.A seeded lawn would take at least a couple of months to establish - turf ok after a month.