Turfing & Lawns
Turfing and new lawns in Surrey and South West London
New lawns laid on graded, rotavated and topsoiled ground, so the turf knits in instead of sitting on clay.
9.86/10Turf laying, done from the ground up
A new lawn is 80% ground preparation and 20% turf. Rolls of cultivated turf laid straight onto compacted builder's ground will look perfect for three weeks and then go patchy, because the roots have nowhere to go. So we strip the old surface, break up the ground, grade it to a fall that drains, and blend in fresh screened topsoil before a single roll goes down.
Then the turf is laid in a broken bond with tight joints, rolled or tamped, cut to a clean edge against paving and borders, and watered in before we leave. You get a straight brief on watering for the first three weeks, which is the part that decides whether the lawn takes.
We also repair and level existing lawns, deal with the drainage that killed the last one, and lay artificial grass where a lawn genuinely will not work: deep shade, dogs, or a garden nobody has time for.
Your options
Lawn work we take on
New turf lawn
Cultivated ryegrass turf from a proper grower, delivered fresh and laid the same day onto prepared, topsoiled ground.
Ground preparation and levelling
Old lawn stripped, ground rotavated or dug over, stones and roots out, screened topsoil blended in and graded to a fall.
Lawn repair and renovation
Scarifying, aerating, top dressing, overseeding and edge reinstatement where the structure of the lawn is still sound.
Lawn drainage
Land drains, soakaways or a regraded fall where water sits on clay through the winter.
What's included
Every quote covers
- Levels and drainage checked before we quote
- Old lawn or surface stripped and carted away
- Ground rotavated or dug over, stones and roots removed
- Screened topsoil supplied, blended and graded to a fall
- Fresh cultivated turf laid in a broken bond and tamped
- Clean cut edges against paving, borders and beds
- Watered in, with a written brief for the first three weeks
FAQs
Turfing questions we get asked
How much does a new lawn cost?
Most new lawns we lay come in between £1,200 and £4,000, depending on the area, how much old ground has to come out and how much topsoil goes in. Turfing is often part of a bigger garden job, in which case it is priced within that scheme.
When is the best time to lay turf?
Autumn and spring are ideal, because the ground is warm and damp and the turf knits in with little watering. We lay through the summer too, but you have to be willing to water it properly every day for the first three weeks, or it will not take.
How long before I can walk on the new lawn?
Keep off it for two to three weeks apart from watering, then light use only until after the second or third cut. Children and dogs are best kept off for a month.
Can you just lay turf over the old lawn?
No, and anybody who offers to is selling you a lawn that dies. Turf laid on old grass or compacted ground cannot root. The old surface comes off, the ground gets broken up and topsoiled, then the turf goes down.
My lawn floods every winter. Will new turf fix it?
Not on its own. If water sits on the ground, the drainage has to be dealt with first, with a regraded fall, land drains or a soakaway, otherwise the new lawn goes the same way as the old one. We will tell you which of those your garden needs at the site visit.
Turf or artificial grass?
Real turf almost always looks and feels better and is cheaper to install. Artificial grass wins in deep shade where grass will not grow, in small courtyards, with dogs, and where nobody is going to maintain a lawn. We install both and will give you an honest answer for your garden.
Also worth a look
Related services
Artificial Grass
Free-draining sub-base, joins you cannot see, and a hard edge that stays put.
Artificial GrassFull Garden Transformations
Levels, structure, paving, planting and lighting, the whole garden in one programme.
Full Garden TransformationsGarden Maintenance
Regular garden maintenance and gardening services: hedges, borders, lawn care and seasonal cutting back.
Garden Maintenance
Free site visit
Get a fixed price for your turfing
We'll come out, look at the space and give you a proper fixed price, not a ballpark over the phone.