Turf vs grass seed

Turf gives an instant, weed-free lawn you can usually walk on in around three weeks and use properly in about six. You can lay it nearly all year round, it costs more per square metre, it is heavier work to lay, and it needs a lot of water in the first few weeks.

Seed is far cheaper on materials and gives you more choice of grass mix, but you can only sow it reliably in spring or autumn. It is slow to green up, slower still to harden off, and while it is establishing it is at the mercy of birds, weeds and heavy rain washing it out.

In short: turf buys you speed and certainty, seed buys you a lower bill and more control over the mix.

Seed wins on raw material cost, no argument. Sown at the usual rate of around 35g per square metre, grass seed works out well under a pound per m2 in seed alone. Our premium lawn turf is £4 per m2, cut to order and delivered next-day.

Raw cost is not the whole picture though. With seed you often reseed patches that fail and the ground sits bare and muddy for weeks while it fills in. With turf you pay more up front and get a usable lawn far sooner. Both sit on the same topsoil bed, so that part of the cost is identical either way.

Turf is the more forgiving of the two. You can lay it almost all year round as long as the ground is not frozen, waterlogged or bone dry. Autumn and spring are ideal because the soil is warm and damp and the turf roots in quickly. Summer turf works, but you have to water it hard every single day.

Grass seed is fussier. It needs soil temperatures of roughly 8 to 10C and steady moisture, so the dependable windows are mid-spring, around April to May, and early autumn, around September to October. Sow in high summer and it dries out before it germinates. Sow in winter and it just sits there and rots or gets eaten.

This is the bit people skip and later regret. Turf and seed both need the same prep: clear the weeds and stones, dig or rotavate the ground, then spread a good bed of topsoil, ideally 100 to 150mm deep, firmed down and raked to a fine, level tilth.

For a seedbed our screened topsoil is the easy choice, at £70 per bulk bag, because the fine grade rakes down without lumps. The same soil works just as well under turf.

A bulk bag is about 0.7 m3 and covers roughly 7 m2 at 100mm deep, or about 14 m2 at 50mm. If you are ordering by the tonne, reckon on topsoil weighing around 1.5 tonnes per cubic metre.

Choose turf if you want a lawn this year, you have kids or a dog waiting to use it, you are working outside the seeding season, or the ground slopes and loose seed would just wash away. Turf also smothers weeds from day one.

Choose seed if the budget is tight, the area is large, you are not in a rush, and you can keep birds and feet off it for a couple of months. Seed gives you more control over the mix too, for example a hard-wearing rye blend for a family lawn or a finer mix for looks.

For most Leigh front and back gardens people want using this summer, turf is the practical pick. For a big new-build plot with time on your side, seed keeps the cost down.

We cut premium lawn turf to order and deliver next-day around Leigh. If you would rather not lay it yourself, Barrow Landscaping does the supply-and-lay. We also carry the topsoil for the bed and landscaping bark for the borders once the grass is in.

Delivery from Leigh is from £20, based on your postcode and how much you order. Order by phone on 0161 399 8706 or email with your measurements and we will work out exactly how much turf and topsoil you need.

Seed is much cheaper on materials, usually well under a pound per square metre, while our premium lawn turf is £4 per m2. But turf gives you a usable lawn in weeks instead of months, and both need the same topsoil bed underneath, so the real gap is smaller than the sticker price suggests.

With turf, keep off it for about two to three weeks while it roots, then light use is fine and full use after roughly six weeks. With seed you are looking at eight to twelve weeks before the first proper use, and a few months more before it stands up to kids and dogs.

Turf can go down almost all year as long as the ground is not frozen, waterlogged or bone dry, with spring and autumn ideal. Grass seed only germinates reliably when the soil is warm and moist, so stick to mid-spring (April to May) or early autumn (September to October).

Aim for 100 to 150mm of good topsoil, firmed and raked level. One of our bulk bags is about 0.7 m3 and covers roughly 7 m2 at 100mm deep, so a 50 m2 lawn at that depth needs around seven bulk bags. Give us your measurements and we will confirm the exact amount.

No. Laying turf over existing grass or unprepared ground gives you a lumpy lawn that dries out and dies back in patches. Strip off the old grass and weeds, loosen the ground, and lay a fresh bed of screened topsoil first. The same prep applies whether you are turfing or seeding.