A green and verdant lawn exudes tranquility and peace. A wonderfully conceptualized landscaping complete with carved stone statues or center pools or cast wall fountains, the garden will still look lifeless and wilted if the lawn itself is not well-kept and there are bald patches here and there. What to do? Replace the old and unhealthy lawn with a new turf. Returfing and reseeding a lawn can make any garden look beautiful and fresh. The work is fairly easy that any weekend DIY-ers can do this work.
Here are a few tips that you can follow on how to reseed, returf and relay a lawn.

• Make sure that all the old remaining lawn is removed. Flatten the area by watering the soil quite heavily then run a roller over the wet soil.

• Once the area has been flattened, break the soil by using a garden fork. Make sure that the area to be turfed is still relatively even and flat. The same is true if the area to be returfed is inclined.
• Fertilize the soil. Use a fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen. It is best to use a rototiller to fertilize the soil. If you do not have a rototiller, you can just opt to sow the fertilizer manually. Turf or seed the lawn after.
• When reseeding, it is best to maintain soil moisture to keep the seeds wet until they germinate. This process usually takes two weeks. Wait for the grass to grow about 3 inches, and then cut it to 2 inches. When it grows to another three inches, mow the lawn again.
• Do not try to spray for weeds until the lawn has been completely mowed at least three times. This will ensure that the grass is completely established.
• When returfing, order 10% more of the computed number of pieces.
• Have the turf delivered to the roadside outside then move the turf by a wheelbarrow to where it is needed.
• Make sure the soil is fully watered but not to the point of saturation.
• Start resurfing in the middle of the lawn then work towards the perimeter of the lawn.
• Make sure each piece of turf is in contact with the next piece making sure they do not crowd each other. Lay the rolls of turf in a straight line.
• Cut the turf using secateurs when the last piece is laid at the edge of the lawn.
• Once the whole lawn is laid, run a roller through it to make sure the turf is even. If you don’t have a roller, it is best to thump each roll of turf as you lay it out. You can use a 2” x 2” x 6” wood as “thumper”.
• The newly-turfed lawn must be watered daily for at least a week and thereafter every after two days. Once the edge marks are gone, the returfing is a success.
• Mow the lawn after two weeks but not too much as the grass roots are nor fully established.

If there are garden fountains or stone wells in the garden, make sure your reseed or returf around its base too. Allow at least an inch of space from the base of the garden structure when rolling out the turf.