Combination of Lawn Seed and Turf
mattgarden
Posts: 109
Hi all, I'm back again. I asked this on a different, non-dedicated thread, but it got diluted down by others so I wanted to ask again.
In a nutshell I have about 160sq meters of garden to lawn. It was covered in pebbles, gravel, black pavers when we bought the house.
I planned to seed it at the end of last Summer to have a decent lawn, however our wedding and previous to that poor health got in the way!
I am nearly down to the soil and ready to create the lawn soon. I need a lawn swiftly this spring for my 14 month old daughter to play on asap. My plans were always to seed due to money constraints, however this will now not be possible in my timescale due to having to keep off the lawn for months. But I am still trying to be thrifty, so my question is:
Is it a good idea to perhaps turf around 100sq m of the lawn to use asap in Spring and seed the remaining 60sq m?
Ideally I'd turf it all now, but I do want to do it as reasonably cheap as possible without cutting massive corners.
I can see an issue with matching the seed to the turf, but could I overseed the turf with the seed later in autumn to try to match it up? Would that make it look ok?
If it is a good/feasible idea, do any of you have any tips, or things I need to consider?
Ultimately I would like as nice lawn this Spring on as cheap as possible!
Many thanks for your continued help
Last edited: 06 February 2018 21:18:19
Posts
You can do that, but like you said matching them up can be a problem, ask the turf supplier what types of grass is in the turf, can normally find it online if its a large supplier.
One of the problems is with turf though you get what you pay for, if its the cheapest turf it more like a Utility lawn, perfectly fine for children to play if that what you want, but its not the best to go for if you want a nice lawn. I've seen some cheap turf of very poor standard, Keep a eye out for weeds in the turf and it shouldn't be breaking apart, a thin soil level will cause it to break , dead / yellowing grass means it been rolled up for to long.
Going with seed is much cheaper and you can pick which grass types you want to grow, and for conditions like shade? Keep a eye out for Fescue and dwarf perennial rye grass, it would make a nice looking lawn which is quite hard wearing as well. Wimbledon Tennis courts are 100% dwarf perennial rye grass and the grass seed is quite cheap.
Thank you for your help. Does anyone know of a quality turf provider in the west Midlands who is recommended? It will help to solve the problems you mention
I have asked about but nobody I know has a good suggestion
Mattgarden. Why not look at the problem from a different angle. Find a sunny spot smooth it out and lay a small square of Astro Turf, enough for a baby to sit and play on safely plus all the toys sand pits slides swings that a baby needs. fence it just high enough to keep the child in and there are plenty of smooth wooden or plastic Rail types in Garden Centres. You can now proceed with the Lawn at your own speed sowing would be best as when the child outgrows the space you can then lay it to lawn using the same seed. Astro Turf can be washed and dried and if laid on sand will be ideal. I am a gardener and hate people making it permanent lawn but there are times you have to cut your cloth to suit the coat.
This will ease the need for speed probably once you take the hurry out of the equation it will give you time to work at your own pace and do a proper job. This is just a thought always more than one way to do a job and even rolled turf needs time to settle and root so again not always the best option.
Frank
How much would this astro turf cost? Would need to be at least 5 metres sq to have any value to the little one
Short answer a lot less than rushing to put down a lawn that could fail if not done properly but here are some prices.
Budget Astro Turf between £4-6 per square metre. Astro Cushion £6-7 per Square metre, Classic £8-9 per metre, that will depend where you get it and if you go into a garden centre and see it feel it and ask you may get a discount at this time of year. The other point is short gap projects tend to last a lot longer than planned so it may be there for quite a while.
Plan the job measure exactly and go and see the cost plus of course some sort of barrier to keep the child in the area. Once that is sorted you can take time over the proper lawn at a much warmer and better growing period. When I was sorting my new build garden out i had some large pots full of shrubs and flowers which i moved about as I worked on each section of my project it kept the wife happy as she sat in the sun trap I had made for her surrounded by scented plants she did not have to see me sweating. All gardeners do this as gardens are never finished.
Frank.