If there is one thing that matters more than anything else, its gettting the prep right!
You knew I’d say that didn’t you?… But its true, and by prep I mean getting the levels correct and using some good quality landscape mix as a base.
I have been asked to lay turf on a base of sand and rubble and while we can rake the rubble out and get the sand fairly level it is impossible to get it looking at good as what is possible with a 40-60ml bed of good soil.
Usually it requires a bobcat to excavate, level and spread, but you can do it by hand. Don’t be fooled though. If you have 100sqm of turf to lay and you need to remove 60ml of soil that is 6 cubic metres or 6 heaped trailer loads. Its a lot!
As I said, you can do it, but better to get a machine and save your body.
Its also smart to do this before you put your retic down otherwise chances are you will damage it with the load of the machine and with his blade excavating the soil.
If you ask someone to lay turf on hard limestoney sand that isn’t easily levelled then the result will not be as appealing as if you put down some good soil, not to mention the improvement in the quality of the soil itself.
So spend the time, spend the $$ and do it once, do it right