Turf or Seed?

cathie_3

Hello
We want to grass our back garden sometime this year, I wanted to pick your brains on which is the best Turf or Grass Seed.
Also
When is the best time in the year to do it?
Any advise is welcome
Cathy

ukjoel

Hi Cathy,
Pros and Cons for each.
Turf is quick with instant effect
Seeds take time, but greater choice of grasses to choose from and much cheaper.
I think it would be useful if you gave us some more info ie size of area being turfed, use of area, and when you want the grass for. I think the best time to plant seed is autumn so it has a few months to establish before summer but probably still be ok now.
Have a look at the rolawn web site - they are national but have a cost calculator on there i think. Its not cheap!!!
If u do go for turf B&Q tend to get deliveries in on a Friday morning and if you pop along on Saturday morning they have often reduced whats left from 3.49 a roll to 50p a roll.
Get there early though as the pro landscapers will and snap up the lot and keep it cool until they use it on Monday.

J

Suzy_M

Turf and seed are best laid in the Autumn as both would be very vulnerable to drought.

Having laid new lawns using both seed and turf I now opt for turf every time. Seed lawns take longer to establish and thicken up, and in the meantime are vulnerable to weed invasion. Prefer turf

Can't recommend the turf we've had from Focus over the past year too highly. 2008 season was £2.99 per square metre less any discounts you may be eligible for. If you have a full pallet delivery is free.

Only two problems with it (well one real one):
Availability in store is based on the Focus selling seasons which are totally unrelated to the gardening seasons! But if you want a pallet or more (60 one square metre rolls I think) at a time you can put in a special order .

If you are used to handling one square yard rolls like I was the extra weight in the one square metre rolls can take you by suprise / shock

Which ever you decide on the key to a good lawn is preparation, preparation, preparation so if you are not particulalry fit give yourself a few months to get the ground ready. - The Expert series of books have a good outline of how to do this.

MrsE_2

Turf is great for small areas
If its a large area then seeds are cheaper

Suzy_M

Unfortunately seed lawns are so labour intensive, requiring much more fiddly ground preparation and constant maintenance until well established - which can take a couple of years. You've also got the cost of additional fertiliser, weed control etc and it is more vulnerable to freak seasonal weather (as if). Ideally you should keep off seeded lawns until they are established so you are losing the use of an area of garden for at least a year.

Turf when laid in Autumn is fine by the following spring. It is the more expensive option but sometimes in the effort to save money the cheapest option is not necessarily the most economical particularly if you value your time.

hungrynurse_2

my lawn has quite an area which needs sorting. It was quite mossy when we moved in ast summer, and the dog has worn large areas of this & gass away playing on lawn over winter. I was planning on spreading some seed next month, but is this worth it? I really dont want to have a year of not being able to use the lawn, but also dont want a lawn as patchy as currently

ladymarmalade

we planted a box of seeds that cost about £5 early last year. Nurtured it for a month or so and i grew fine, we even had bbq parties on it etc and it did no damage. No its really thick and looks so much better than turf

Busybody

I am thinking of re turfing my lawn.
Could I get away with laying on top of the original lawn?

Suzy_M

NO! - Assuming you want a decent lawn.

Old turf is a dense mat through which the new turf roots won't be able
to develop and the new turf will need constant watering just to keep it green, never mind grow. Laying new turf on old also causes a some sort of disease - (some sort of fungus I think but I can't remember what it is called).

Taadaa

ladymarmalade wrote: »

we planted a box of seeds that cost about £5 early last year. Nurtured it for a month or so and i grew fine, we even had bbq parties on it etc and it did no damage. No its really thick and looks so much better than turf

Where did you get that from? I am re vamping our garden and we are on a tight budget