Cheap Lawn Seed or Expensive Turf? HELP!

Confusedmumofthree

Looking for help please,

My husband and I are planning on selling our home to move closer to his parents. The house is a medium sized three bed with a decent garden. The kids have trashed the lawn with bikes and games over the summer and our estate agent says that this is likely to effect the value of the house far more this year than ever before (lock down has added value to larger gardens). My husband and I have decided to revamp the lawn area but I cant believe how expensive turf is! We have bought wildflower seeds from an online company called www.shepherdseeds.co.uk previously and they also sell bags of grass seed. When my husband called them they said we would need about 20kg of lawn seed costing a total of £60.00 to do the whole area! We measured it out and its roughly 500 sqm. some of the grass is ok so we would keep a bit of it. We spoke to someone at BnQ over the weekend and they said it would be almost £1000 to do that area with turf! We were hoping to move before Christmas so the turf would have been a quick fix. I think lawn seed will take much longer. Is anyone able to advise what's best to do? 

Thanks x 

ciderboy2009

It's really a bit late in the year to do either - particulaly with the chance of frost getting more likely each day.

If you really must do it now then I think that turf is really your only option. 

Whichever you choose then the imprtant thing is to make sure that it's extremely well watered until established

gwynlas

Is your garden really that bad? It is unlikely that anyones is looking good going into autumn and most people are looking to give lawns the last cut of the season. If you are not keen gardeners yourselves then you could get somebody in to do a good clear up and reseeding of the grass and let viewers know this. You could visit a garden centre and buy some potted plants to perk up dull areas. Wildflower seeds are not going to germinate before next year so it is pointless sowing them. It is very unlikely that you will be able to move prior to Christmas unless you get an offer soon and everything goes smoothly. Just ensure thay you have a thorough declutter and depersonlise your home to make it appeal to the majority of viewers hiring storage if necessary to make each room look fresh and inviting. You need to pack things away anyway in order to move.

greensalad

Personally I don't really agree with the EA unless it's really really really awful. I was a buyer looking for a large garden as part of a purchase and honestly the condition of the lawn was low priority. You're paying for the space and opportunity after all. 

Soot2006

It's warm, it's rainy, chuck down the seeds ASAP and you should have new growth within weeks.

Skiddaw1

greensalad said:

Personally I don't really agree with the EA unless it's really really really awful. I was a buyer looking for a large garden as part of a purchase and honestly the condition of the lawn was low priority. You're paying for the space and opportunity after all. 

I agree. I'd just make sure the garden is tidy and as well-presented as possible and leave it at that.

Section62

Soot2006 said:

It's warm, it's rainy, chuck down the seeds ASAP and you should have new growth within weeks.

^This.

With the caveat that using a springtine lawn rake before and after spreading the seeds will give the best chance of them germinating quickly and not being eaten by birds.

https://www.toolstation.com/bulldog-springbok-rake/p30383

RS2OOO

We specifically waited for summer before listing our house for sale. Our large and stunning garden was a major selling point in our opinion, even though Estate Agent told us otherwise.

On the main day of 12 viewings it actually rained, yet every viewer spent at least 10 of their 15 minute viewing slot walking around the garden and a further 2 minutes in the double garage. This made me partly proud but also left me wondering if they were serious buyers having barely spent 8 minutes viewing the rest of the house. But to my surprise the offers came flooding in.

Garden looks a mess now and if our current sale fell through we'd be in a dilemma as to whether to re-list now or wait for next year.

Section62

RS2OOO said:

On the main day of 12 viewings it actually rained, yet every viewer spent at least 10 of their 15 minute viewing slot walking around the garden....

I would also prioritise time in the (rear) garden.  Usually you can't see it from the street, nor on streetview etc.  Being in the rear garden can give you a better sense of what the neighbours might be like, and provides a good viewing point for possible defects on the house that can't be seen from the road.

By coincidence, the last house viewing I went on (not my purchase) was also in a fantastic garden in the rain.  And I added checking the inside of the shed to the obligatory inspection of the garage.

bramptonbrew

If you want to do something, go for the cheaper seed option. You don't know what the eventual buyer plans to do with the garden - they might want to completely landscape it to their own tastes, and putting turf down just for them to rip it up seems like a waste of money!

I'd say as long as the garden itself was relatively well-kept and tidy, a bit of patchy grass wouldn't put me off, especially if I knew children were currently living there (and with lockdown and home schooling, probably spending more time in the garden than they would usually).

SandyShores

We used https://goodgrow.uk/grass-seeds/ for our garden seed.  It might be slightly more expensive but you know what you are getting, and they give you good advice.  They say best to plan before mid-Autumn, and you should treat your lawn first.  We raked and aerated our lawn and then spread the seed.  You have to keep it damp, which probably isn't a problem at this time of year.  Be prepared for the birds to love your lawn for a while - I think its best to spread more than you need because of this.