Topic: turf v grass seed??

[cambourne7]

hi

we have an area we want to have as grass I want to put down grass seed husband wants turf but were not in a hurry so I can't see the reason?

what have u found works better??

cam

[goodlife]

Both works equally well..but if you don't need to access the area in a hurry then I would use seed as it takes longer to establish but is much cheaper option.
Turf will give you instant result and you can walk on the area quite soon..but you will have to keep watering and a lot to get it rooted in if weather is not favourable. Turf will cost you much more too.
Preparation wise same amount work is involved..
We have used both in our lottie..areas were we walk a lot I've sown hard wearing rye mixture and as we are lucky to get turf free, I've used some 'posh' fine grass turf in area that are not getting wear as such and around our barbeque area..so it feels nice under our bare toes ;D ;)

[cambourne7]

Thanks as always i will get the prepareation done once the ground is less water logged its been covered over with membrane to stop any weeds setting there sights on the area which i have already leveled and raked over and put a top dressing of soil will repeat this with some sand and grass seed if husband is not looking :)

[cornykev]

Cam, we did half and half in our back garden and as said it takes a fair while to get perfect with the seed, I was lucky with the turf as it was left over from one of my mates jobs and cost nothing, he even layed it for us, the turf we find grows a lot slower than the seed, even now three years on, which saves on the cutting.    ;D ;D ;D

[PurpleHeather]

I hate grass for a variety of reasons. I prefer a patio. Then use a strong weed killer between the cracks.

However I have watched those who like a lawn/grass over the years.

Turf gives a quick fix. planting your own grass seed means that you can not use the area for ages.

Both will get weeds but the turf will have the strength, so a weed killer can be used sooner

Sowing your own means you have the variety of grass you want. It will always need to be treated with a weed and feed type of product. As will turf.

At the end of the day...... grass, turf, &  lawns are hard work.

The nice thing about them is that when freshly mown, they give off a delicious perfume.

[goodlife]

I don't know what kind of area cambourne is planning  to grass over but what we have in lottie is very easy to maintain..and as it is not meant to be 'prize' lawn some weeds are not doing any harm. Once a week run over with mower is all it takes and all clippings are put into good use elsewhere....we actually have these lawn areas for that reason.. sort of crop..otherwise these land areas would be sort of 'wasteland'..not much else could grow there.

[cambourne7]

Thanks :)

The husband gave me 3 options (he hates gardening)

1) Artifical Grass
2) cover garden in concrete (no lie he suggested getting a mixer to pour into the garden till it was full) or
3) grass

As we need someware safe for baby it was going to be grass :) unless i can get turf cheap :( or free :)

Were not going to be going out into that part of the garden for a while and its only about 10ft square so once we plant up the border at the back and burry the conduit for power i think its grass seed as 1/5 of its in shade we can put the right seed down for the area.  Shame i missed planting the seeds end of last year :( Aiming for end of feb early march now. Is that about right?

[goodlife]

Yes that sounds about right...but little tip...if you have some horticultural fleece spare..after sowing the seed put fleece over...'peg' it down with bits of wire hooks or something similar. You get much better germination as fleece will keep humidity/moisture even, it will keep birds away form your seeds and give protection from frost.
And if you should need to do some watering you can do it trough fleece.
You can let the fleece on until you new grass is about inch tall.. ;)
My OH was laughing my fleece thing..we have 'his' and 'hers' lawns.. ::) But mine did come through much better than his.
OH is professional greenkeeper and I'm (only) a gardener...he has done his education with sport turfs and I have with amenity lawns.. ::)..not that much difference.. really..but he thinks he is far superior with his knowledge ::) Now everytime he does some 'repairs' on 'his' lawn I've seen him borrowing bit of my fleece ;D ;)

[cambourne7]

Yes i have fleece :) good tip :)

* saying nothing about the his and her grass just sitting here smiling :)