Turf and Grass Seed

A beautiful lawn is a wonderful sight and when creating a new lawn the first decision is often whether to use turf or grass seed.  There are advantage to both choices and to help you decide we've listed the pros and cons of turf versus grass seed below.

Grass Seed - Advantages

• There are greater varieties of grass seed than of turf so if you want a particular tawn type e.g. hard wearing for utility areas or ornamental, you have a wide choice of lawn types when using grass seed.
• The cost of seeding a lawn is a fraction of the cost of turfing a lawn, the cost is seeding a lawn is approximately 10% compared to the cost of turfing so if you are on a small budget, seeding is a good choice.
• It is much quicker to seed an lawn than to turf.  lawn seed can be spread by hand or using an inexpensive tool like a spreader.
• Lawn seed acclimatises better than turf especially in extreme conditions for example if you are growing lawn in a well shaded area, grass seed establishes long term, much better than turf.
• Grass seed will keep for a number of years so if you need to repair or extend the lawn, there is no problem.

Grass Seed - Disadvantages

• Grass seed can take a while to estabilsh, it is not as instant as a turf lawn.
• You are at the mercy of the elements and wildlife.  Heavy rain is liable to wash away the seed and at the other end of the scale, drought conditions can affect the time the lawn takes to establish.  So generally more care is needed once the grass has been sown.
• Needs to be done during the growing season so restricted to spring / summer months.

Turf Lawn - Advantages

• A turf lawn is instantaneous, once the turf is down, the lawn can be fully used within a month.
• Turf laying can be done all year round although it is more advantageous to lay in winter.
• Less care is needed immediately after laying although some watering may be required.

Turf Lawn - Disadvantages

• A turf is more expensive than a seeded lawn and large areas of turf lawn can be very costly.
• There is only a limited choice of turf that is readily available.
• Turf cannot be easily stored and needs to be laid as soon as possible.​