By Jmb
United Kingdom 
I had brand new turf laid in late January. The contractors who laid it said that unless the weather changed significantly watering shouldn't be necessary. A few weeks later and the gaps between turf patches have largened slightly and a few bits of turf have gone slightly brown. I've been told by the site manager (we live on a new build estate) that he thinks this means it needs more watering. However, when I lift up a corner of the turf the ground underneath still feels moist to the touch, as does the underneath of the turf, so I'm worried that watering it may be unnecessary or even harmful. We had a few days of sub-zero temperatures shortly after it was laid: is it possible the shrinkage and browning is frost damage rather than a sign it needs more watering, given how moist it feels?
3 Feb, 2011
Answers
Couldn't agree more Bamboo, i think you've covered everything! I bet the turf was the cheapest they could find as well.
3 Feb, 2011
And quite possibly laid on a few inches of top soil over rubble. Shouldn't be allowed.
3 Feb, 2011
...and if it's anything like mine, they will have had massive vehicles and machines going over and over the ground compacting it until it's like concrete, then put about four inches of soil on top with the turf on that!!! sorry....I've gone off on one....grrrrrr builders!
3 Feb, 2011
It doesn't need watering - you're right, the site manager's wrong (hardly surprising, he's a builder, not a gardener, and will talk any old rubbish to get rid of you, lol). Wait till early March - if the weather then is mild, go out with some decent friable, soil (you could use John Innes No. 1, buy in bags from the garden centre, it's loam based) and fill up the gaps between the turves where necessary. If you have large brown patches, you may need to buy some grass seed to do repairs - you'd need to cut out damaged areas, level off with soil and sow the seed on top (sow plenty, the birds'll want some). You could do all this now, but I don't know what part of the country you're in (so can't tell when spring will begin) and we may yet have more bad weather, so I'd wait till March. The only thing that worries me slightly is that builders do have a tendency to bury rubble and rubbish in the gardens of new builds and cover the whole lot with turf - rubble underneath the turf will cause trouble. Therefore, if its really bad by March, nag the site manager to redo the turf. They shouldn't have laid it during the hardest winter we've had in many a year.
3 Feb, 2011