Re turfing

Hi there

My lawn is about 15 metres, by 8

I used to have a concrete path right down the middle, with concrete washin g psot at the end.
I dug this out many years ago when patio was done.

Obv there is a dip right up the lawn where this was dug out.
And in places the lawns always been abit uneven

I want to re turf is and have wooden borders.

I got a price for £790

But my partner who is a personal trainer, and pretty strong, says why dont we do it together? he can push a rotivator, and lift turfs ect (now me, I shall be wearing marigolds to protect ones nails )

So im wondering 1) could we? 2) will we save enough money, for it to be worth it.

Maybe £790 is good?

 

Its its done right, then £790 is probably the going rate. Remember, thats lifting the old turf and taking it away (skip), rotavating the whole lot, adding a sharp sand and top soil mi then getting it even and laying.
You could do it a lot chearper than that i would have thought but it all depends whether you can deal with the mess and heavy work.

Turf Striper - £25 Hire
Rotavator - £25 Hire
Skip - £80 hire
Top Soil
Sharp Sand
Turf

Lots to think about.

G

 

£790!

Why do people add sharp sand when they lay turf now? Saw my neighbour do it recently, never seen the technique in any books I have mentioning turf laying.

I personally wouldn't bother getting a skip in for a little job like that. If you have room pile the old turf facing each other and let it rot down into loam.

Skips are a waste of money when most people will take your rubbish away for free.

Also wooden borders = Raised beds?

 

am just guessing here ....

expect to pay approx £3.80 per square meter .... so 120 sq meters will cost £456

you will need several bags of compost .... work on £50

you will need to hire a skip for a day .... work on £60

hire a rotivator ....£50

add all that up and you get £616

-----------------------------------

or .....

hire a rotivator .... £50

hire a skip .... £60

compost ... £50

10kg of quality lawn seed .... £40

total cost ... £200

good weather and you have a lawn in a month

 

You forgot to add netting to keep the birds from pinching the seed.

Even cheaper than a skip is a waste removal company who will show up and take the stuff away in hours rather than days for you. I won't use skips anymore because these companies are so much cheaper.

Make sure they are licensed though, over wise they may be flytippers

 

I've never done that, and all the lawns I have seeded come out lush .... my method is to seed, use a rake to try and get most of the seed below the soil, then by hand, I throw compost (thinly) over the seed .... most of the seed is then hidden from the birds

14-20 days after seeding, the seeds sprout ....

 

and I forgot to add the cost for topsoil for levelling (as there is a dip)

and I never added the cost for the wooden borders

 

I always look for the most economical way to do things (some might call it the quick and dirty option LOL) so that is the background of my take on things ... I recently turfed a 16 foot by 16 foot bit of garden (it's got a patio circle in the centre) and did it myself. Much smaller job than yours I know but it just cost that of the turfs, about £40. Didn't hire any machinery or buy any topsoil, sand etc. Removed existing chippings, bagged up and steadily took in back of car to recycling centre. Dug over earth underneath (mostly clay, so back breaking), broke top layer down to fine tilth. Laid turf I bought from B&Q. That was a few weeks ago and it has taken well and looks good. So far so good.

Don't know if £790 is a good price, but my way of thinking would be that if I could do it myself I could use that money on a lot of things that need improving in the house or go towards another project or spoil yourself.

I used to have a large lawn that was really uneven and had an awful set of dips and rises in the centre where old trees had been removed and then sunken sections appeared. Rather than relawn, I carefully removed the sunken section in small turfs (with a sharp spade, was hard work!), backfilled and evened out with bought in topsoil (it wasn't a lot), levelled it off and then relaid the turf (using some additional bought turfs). It worked well and was cheap. If your current lawn is "basically" ok but needs reworking, have you thought of this option? If it is really bad it may not be worthwhile of course.

Good luck whatever you choose to do!

 

You add sharp sand to help on heavy soils. The worst thing for lawns is compaction and poor drainage, recipe for puddles and weeds. Basically a crap lawn. If you have amazing free draining soil then i wouldnt bother but if heavy or clay then sharp sand is a must.
G

 

A month on grass seed dim ? Not sure about that, may look ok but it will be thin and root system not great. I found seed is certainly the cheaper option but on large area's often can be trouble. When you sow your seed and leaving it for a month or so then you are inviting weed seed aswell. If this happens you could be back to square one. I found seed is good for patches of when treating your lawn in spring but for large areas' the turf is a must (although granted it is a lot dearer).

regards
G

 

Wait until early Autumn, spray the area with Glyphosate to kill it, rotavate to make a seed bed, sow grass seed (bit more to it than that, but that's it in essence). By the Spring it will be a done-deal. Do it now, turf or seed, and you'll be having to water it all Summer to get it established and keep it alive - unless you have a wet Summer - and if you have a hosepipe ban you have only 28 days (if your water company allow it) to use a hose to get it established, after than you'll be lugging cans and pails ...

Personally, depending on the size / depth of the hole, I would just put some topsoil in the hole and over-seed it (in the Autumn). Lot more work reseeding a lawn than repairing an existing one.

 

I've seeded loads of gardens (especially new builds) .... works out a fraction of the cost of turfing, plus you can buy a really good seed blend for the specific area
http://www.bshamenity.com/products.php?mc=landscaping

and this is my favourite for sunny areas:
http://www.bshamenity.com/product-detail.php?product=a7_(olympic_sportsground)

and this one is supposed to be the best for a shady area (I have not needed to use it yet)
http://www.bshamenity.com/product-detail.php?product=a6_(supra_shade)

compare a lawn which has been seeded using the olympic blend vs the normal B&Q turf, and there is no match

after 10-14 days, the seed sprouts .... 2 months later, you can give it the 1st mow ...

obviously, you need to keep it damp for a while and not walk on it till the lawn has established ....

and as Kristen says, autumn is the prefered time of seeding (mainly due to the watering aspect) .... but I have seeded lawns sucessfully in spring and summer aswell

No weed and feed fertilizer should be used for at least the 1st 6 months

savings are huge by seeding vs turfing, especially when you have areas of 800 meters square and larger ....

work out the cost of turfing 1/2 an acre (2000 square meters) .... you need a 2nd mortgage to turf .... costs a fraction to seed

 

As i said dim, seed is by far the cheaper option, granted.
Personally i wouldnt compare to B&Q turf. Go to a decent turf merchant in your area, often they can cut it to requirment, much better quality.

regards
G

 

I try to always seed in Autumn, mostly because the weed seeds don't germinate [as much] so there is less competition for the grass, and by the Spring, when the weeds do germinate, the grass is further ahead, and old enough to use herbicides on.

Its just the selective weed killer bit, "feed" is OK (although need to be careful not to overdo it!)

I have a section of my main lawn here that I turfed (where I filled in a pond). You can still see, 3 years later, than the grass there is "different" to the main lawn. The areas I have had to seed have blended in better I think.