Laying a new lawn in your garden can be quite a challenge, especially if there's already an old, dying lawn in place. We get a lot of people asking the question "can I lay a new lawn over an old one?" because they know this is the easiest option. However, if you want to give your new lawn the best chance of thriving in your garden, we recommend that you remove the old lawn first. While it is possible to lay a new lawn over an old one, it won't thrive and might not even survive! Here's why...
Root system problems
One of the main reasons why it's not recommended that you lay a new lawn on top of an old one is because the root system of your new lawn will struggle to bed into the soil. Preparing the ground before laying new turf is very important, otherwise you run the risk of your new lawn dying before it's had chance to settle in. Before installing new turf, you first have to loosen the soil so that the roots have room to grow. Next, you need to add 60-100mm of top soil and a layer of grass fertiliser to help provide drainage and feed the growing lawn.
As you can imagine, preparing the ground for new turf is much more difficult if there's already an existing lawn in the way. It becomes much harder to loosen the top layer of soil to the correct depth because there's an existing root system in the way. Chances are, if you installed a new lawn over an old one, the root system would be very weak and shallow. This is not conducive with a green and healthy lawn. In fact, if a new lawn isn't provided with enough root space, it will more than likely wither and die within the first year.
Read More: How to Prepare Your Ground for Seeding or Turfing
Existing lawn issues
If one of the reasons you want to lay a new lawn is because your old lawn is riddled with disease, fungus and pests - think again. Laying a new lawn on top of existing lawn issues is not going to fix the problem. In fact, you'll probably find that a lot of the same lawn problems crop up in your newly laid turf, meaning all the time and money you put into the new lawn will all have gone to waste.
As lawn care experts, we would recommend dealing with the problems in your existing lawn and returning it to its former glory rather than trying to cover one lawn with another. We offer a wide range of lawn care services that can restore your lawn including:
The right way to lay turf
If you've decided that new turf is the only way to go, we'd recommend installing it the right way - not on top of your old lawn. Installing a new lawn can be daunting, but don't worry, there are lots of turfing companies out there (including Lawn and Weed Expert) who are on hand to help. We've installed lawns across the South Wales and England, so you can rest assured we'll get the job done properly! Fill in our enquiry form below for a turf quote.
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