Yesterday (15 May 2025) we laid turf in front of the National Monument, an area previously completely barren and eroded.
The team led by the Park Rangers, first rotavated the compacted earth, then raked it to remove stones and debris, and added new top soil. Then we laid 120m2 of RTF turf in a 30m by 4m east-to-west-oriented rectangle.
We used rhizomatous tall fescue (RTF). This is a durable, dense, hard-wearing turf with underground stems called rhizomes, which allow the grass to spread and repair itself. We also scattered grass seed on the strips of bare earth, surrounding the turf.
Many thanks to Park Rangers and volunteers from Gleeds Property & Construction for doing a great job of preparing the ground and laying the turf — also to our funder the University of Edinburgh micro grants.
Given the current, hot, dry weather we will need to water the area regularly. Unfortunately there is no high-pressure source of water on the hill, but the council have ‘bowser trucks’ on hand with large water tanks.
