Turf Vs Seed

I'm sure this would havebeen dont to death already but I really need to know which is best - turf or seed?

I would prefer turf as i believe we would get a better, more even finish? Whereas seed might look a bit rough and messy - is this correct?

Our garden is about 30' x 15' - does anyon know what kind of price it would be to turf/seed?

Any advice and pros/cons greatly appreciated!

 

Turf will be around £1.50 per sq.m and seed quite a lot less than that.

Seed you need to plant in early Autumn, and by next Spring you will have a young looking lawn. With good care by mid Summer, next year, it will look established.

Turf you can lay at any time. During Summer it will take a lot of watering (i.e. a commitment of your time moving sprinklers etc.). If you turf a very large area your water pressure may not be enough to water all the area regularly enough.

Turf will get shaggy before it has rooted into the soil underneath, which is when you can first start cutting it. It may be hard to get it short and "established" looking for while after that (I laid some turf in May, still trying to get the height down to match the rest of my lawn ...) so may look a bit unkempt during that time. But you will have an instant lawn.

Turf may not be quite the mix of grass seed that is ideal for you - there are a limited number of grass mixes available (well, "affordable available" !!) so you may have to compromise.

Turf will probably have no weeds, whereas your seeded lawn will have some. Either way, you are going to have to treat them both the same each year thereafter, so its not a very significant point in my book.

For me Seed is cheaper, less mollycoddling in its first year, but takes longer to get an established lawn, and you may have bare earth whilst you wait for the best time to sow seed, so some patience, or planning-ahead, required.

If you need to be able to walk on the area soon after it is "created" then seed is no good - it needs a decent while before it can be walked on frequently.

Soil preparation is very similar for both seed and turf, so there is no "easier" option available for one over the other, I'm afraid.

 

Thanks kristen - that is very informative! We haven't actually moved into the house yet so we wouldn't need to walk on it. We're hoping to move in for xmas although it may be jan/feb before we get in there. Only other little problem i have is that we have cats living either side next door and at the moment they keep pooping in my dug over garden (if i wasn't a vet nurse i would consider killing the little buggers! - only kidding, i would never ever hurt an animal - but you get the jist of my anger lol!!)
Would the cats make a difference to your choice of lawn? You sound as though seed would be your preference but if i used seed would the cats make a mess of the new lawn before its even grown?! maybe i could cover the garden with netting to stop the blighters ruining the seeds/grass until it is established?

 

Personally i always seed in preference to turf.

The key is to take time preparing, kill off, cultivate, rake roll and ree rake. Sow the seed in two directions and very lightly rake in. Personally I often then dampen with a sprinkler then if sowing in warm weather cover the area with clear polythene, with care I can get germination within 36 hours due to the micro climate it creates, as soon as germinated the polythene comes off.

IMO you will get a better and cheaper lawn from seed.

 

I'd go with seed. Turf is for the instant effect, and is okay in some circumstances.

Preparation is the key to getting a nice lawn from seed, and also to make sure there is plenty of seed sown. Grass will thicken up once you start cutting it, and with seed, you can always sow some more if you have a bare patch or two.

I would sow as soon as you have the area prepared, unless we have a sudden heatwave, as I'm sure you will agree, that we are experiencing more Autumnal conditions at the moment than Summer.

Hope this Helps!

 

"We're hoping to move in for xmas although it may be jan/feb before we get in there"

That's too late to be sowing a lawn (unless you can do it sooner, before you move in).

Autumn is ideal - still enough heat in the soil so that it germinates, and makes a start. The weeds are not interested in growing any more, so they don't make too much trouble. Come the spring the grass is mature enough to use selective weed killer on it (only certain selective weed killers can be used on new lawns, and IME they aren't much good!)

OTOH if you sow in Spring the soil will be cold, germination slower, and as the grass gets going the weeds will be too - making it harder for the grass to get established.

Personally I wouldn't sow grass seed during the Summer. Way too much trouble trying to keep it alive during dry weather. And in most circumstances people will be needing to walk on it. That's when I would use turf (but my preference would still be to leave the soil bare, and sow come the Autumn).

None of those approaches is wrong though! Those are just my preferences, based on my experiences :thumb:

 

Turf for me in all cases,looks good straight away and you don't have the worry of the seed getting washed away or the birds eating the seed.Also with seed it could end up being patchy if some of the seed doesn't germinate straight away. The only time I use seed is if I have a few bare patches of lawn that need filling in:D

 

Thanks everyone. I think seed may be the way to go. Kristen - we own the house now but we're doing it up and it wont be ready til xmas. So i can sow seed whenever it is best - which i gather is autumn.

How do i prepare the ground? Is it best to get a professional in (is there such a person that would do it?) as i'm a novice in the gardening world and i dont want to mess it up! Half the garden is clear of weeds and i pull them up whenever they start to sprout. The other half is yet to be cleared but i have applied weedkiller (around 6 weeks ago) and most of the weeds are actually dead. I will need to dig it over and pull the weeds up from the root.

 

If you applied weed killer 6 weeks ago I would go over again and spray anything still green - i.e. bits that you missed, or stuff that has come up since. Leave it a fortnight and then dig away!

You need to prepare the ground reasonably for a lawn. Rotavating should eb sufficient (the soil isn't full of burried builders rubble, is it?), then firm down (tread with your boots, or use a roller), then rake (fixed-tine rake, not a spring-tine one) this-way-and-that to get a smooth surface and a fine tilth. That's pretty much it. A landscape bod would do it for you, but if you don't know of anyone, and no one who can give you a recommendation, I'd be a bit wary of whether they will be competent, or not.

You need a seed-sowing-hopper-thing. Sow 1/2 the seed in one direction first, then the other 1/2 at right-angles. That way you won't miss any spots between rows.

I usually get a large plastic sheet, fill the hopper with seed and run it over the plastic sheet 10 times (or more). Be careful to start & stop at the same point on the sheet each time. Carefully gather up the seed and weight it, work out the width x length that was covered [on the plastic sheet], and from there how much the seed sowing hopper sows in ONE pass per sq.m. Then you can work out how many passes you need to make to get the correct amount per sq.m. (The ones I have used dribble out the seed pathetically, and I have had to make four or five passes to get the right amount, which is fine by me because that many passes evens out the sowing so its all nice and even :thumb:

You need to choose the type of grass seed you want to. Do you want a bowling green, tough grass for kids to play football on 24/7, or something in between?

Bowling green (well not to that standard, but "fine" grass) has less top growth, so less to cart away when you cut, but important to have a good mower (preferably a cylinder mower, and one with a roller even better), and it will need more careful care feeding and so on, but it will look very smart.

If you have got some areas under trees etc. that is heavily shaded you could buy some grass seed suited specifically to shade - and then sow use in the area under the trees.

Bit of the appropriate fertilizer (for the time of year) and some more come the spring, and Bob's your uncle!

Sow it at the earliest reasonable date in the Autumn (I can't remember off-hand when that is, but the more heat in the soil the more it will get established before the Winter)

Dr Hessayon does a good booklet called "The Lawn Expert" (all the books by him in the Expert series are brilliant), which you might like to browser in your local book store, or garden centre, and buy if you like the look of it.

http://www.bookbrain.co.uk/pricesearch.aspx?isbn=0903505487

 

I have used the following method in re-laying a lawn using seed. Takes a bit of work but I found the results fine.

I actually had to start by diggging the whole area out and removing many bags of stones. Got the earth roughly level and about 4cm below final height after treading and raking. Used stakes to establish the level with the top of the stake at finish level. Added earth that had been through a 1/2 inch riddle to bring the level up to 1cm below final. Roughly marked out yard squares using flour. Then using earth that had been through a 1/4 inch riddle added 50gms (2oz) of seed to 1 bucket of earth. Mixed the seed thoroughly in the earth using two buckets and pouring the earth back and forth a couple of times. Spread the seeded mixture over 1 square yard. After seeding the whole area I then topped off with fine earth until final level was reached. Netted over to keep cats off but no problem with birds as seed out of sight.

Grass germinated in 10 days Spring and Autumn. Started walking on it when first cut required. Level will sink slightly but top dressing will sort that out. Removed stakes after first cut using an old corkscrew screwed into the wood and stake pulled out. May need to put a couple of boards either side to stop lifting surrounding earth and then fill stakehole with riddled earth with a little seed in the final layer.

 

Thank you all for your help!!