How Quickly Do I Need to Lay My New Turf?

Aug 22nd, 2025

So you’ve ordered your new turf to revitalise your garden, and are thinking about how to prepare for the laying process. Turf needs to be laid as soon as possible, so good planning is essential. In this guide, you’ll find our advice and tips to ensure that your turf is laid in good time and gets off to a great start.

Ideally, turf needs to be laid on the same day as delivery. If the turf cannot be laid on the same day as delivery, ensure it is laid the following day at the latest. Do not leave turf rolled up for any longer than this, since it is a natural, living product, and a lack of sunlight and water will cause it to deteriorate.

If you have left the turf on the pallet overnight, it may have lost a bit of colour. As long as it has only been left for one night, then this shouldn’t be an issue - it is just because the turf has been deprived of sunlight for an extra 24 hours. Once laid and watered, given time, it will soon green up again.

How to Prepare For Laying New Turf

You must do all your ground preparation before ordering any turf. That way, you will know that when the turf arrives, you’ll be ready to lay it straight away.

For all the information you need on how to prepare the ground for turf, read our preparation guide here.

At Online Turf, we work hard to ensure that our turf is as fresh as possible when it arrives with you. All turf is harvested to order and dispatched on an overnight next-day delivery service, so that wherever you are in the country, on arrival, the turf has been out of the ground for 24 hours or less.

We can deliver from Tuesdays to Fridays, or on Saturdays for a £30 surcharge. When placing an order, you will be given a calendar where you can select the delivery day of your choice, so choose delivery to fit in with your plans to lay. We offer fast delivery across the UK, so if you’re set to go, we can be, too. We only need your order by 2pm the day before delivery, so rather than guessing that a week on Tuesday you might be ready to lay the turf, you can be sure that you’re ready before ordering, as we don’t need much notice. Consider paying the extra £22.50 for an 8am-1pm delivery slot, particularly if you have quite a large area to cover. If it is a very large area, you may consider splitting the delivery over a few days - your turf supplier may suggest this to you.

Time to lay the turf. On arrival, the pallet will be shrink-wrapped – take this off straight away to allow the air to get to the turf. If you cannot lay the turf straight away, move it to a cool, shaded spot outside if possible. Turf can overheat if left stacked on the pallet for too long, particularly if you are laying the turf in the summer. Take the rolls off the pallet, making smaller piles so that the air can get to the rolls. You can even unroll the rolls if you have space to do so.

Many people believe that watering the rolls whilst on the pallet will help - avoid this! The water will get warm and add to any overheating, and steaming turf is never a good sign.

Once laid, water the turf well and continue to water the turf every day for the first two weeks at least, whilst the turf is establishing and rooting in. After around a week and a half, you’ll find that the turf is beginning to root firmly into the soil, which you can respond to by cautiously reducing the amount you need to water.

For more information on how to lay your new turf, visit our comprehensive turf laying guide.

At Online Turf, we don’t just lay turf, but lay the foundation for new gardeners to learn about caring for their garden. Browse our knowledge base for tips and tricks to help your garden blossom into a green sanctuary. If you have any questions about our products, contact us today, and our customer service team will be happy to help.