Turfing for Esher gardens
KT10 is a mix of period houses and later twentieth century detached stock, with noticeably larger plots on the roads off the High Street and around Esher Green. Those bigger gardens are where the full transformations happen: levels to resolve, a terrace big enough to be a room, and enough depth for real planting.
Esher is a short run from our yard in Thames Ditton and it is the town we work in most after our own. Deliveries get staged rather than dumped, which matters on roads where a lorry cannot sit for long.
The build
How we build it, Esher or anywhere else
The method does not change: old lawn off, ground broken up and graded, screened topsoil blended in, fresh turf laid the day it arrives and watered in before we leave. What changes is how much spoil has to come out and whether the ground drains.
Turf is heavy and perishable, so access decides the day's plan. We check it on the first visit rather than finding out with a pallet on the pavement.
- Levels, drainage and access checked on your plot
- Old lawn stripped and carted away
- Ground rotavated, stones and roots removed
- Screened topsoil supplied and graded to a fall
- Fresh cultivated turf laid, tamped and edged
- Watered in, with a written first-season brief
- Full clear-up, pallets and packaging taken away
The full detail on materials, build-up and what a quote covers is on our turfing & lawns page.
A Esher project
New turf lawn, Esher


A tired lawn stripped out and replaced with fresh turf on a properly prepared base, running from the house down to the pergola seating area.
- Timescale
- Under a week
- Approximate value
- Available on request
On the ground
Working in Esher
How we work on site
The larger plots around Esher Green often have side or rear access that lets a machine work on site, which speeds up the groundworks stage. The older village properties nearer the High Street need a barrow route or, occasionally, a crane over the back where there is no side access.
Waste and permits
Elmbridge Borough Council skip permits are sorted before work starts, especially on the busier stretches near the High Street where parking pressure decides the best approach.
Reviews
What our clients say
“The professionalism, skill and wanting to do the very best for their customer, shines from the first moment you meet the team to discuss your thinking.”
Checkatrade Reviewer · 3 months ago
Checkatrade · 10/10
“We had a great experience with HD Landscape Gardeners. They were a pleasure to deal with from start to finish.”
Checkatrade Reviewer · 3 months ago
Checkatrade · 10/10
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.
Free site visit
Get a fixed price for your Esher garden
Tell us the postcode and roughly what you are after. We will come out, measure up and give you a proper fixed price for Esher, not a ballpark over the phone.


