Turf vs Seed

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I'm trying to get others opinions/experiences with establishing a lawn via seed vs turf. We wan't grass in the backyard asap, it is a big dirt bowl and the dog and DS have nothing to play on. So is it realistic to be able to establish lawn with seed given we have a crazy digging dog, and a two year old or are we better off laying turf? I've had a look on Chris and Maries website and they have a lawn that sprouts in a couple of days, does anyone know anything about that? Given that the weather is also pretty hot at the moment, which would cope better in its initial days, turf or seed?

We were in the same situation, dog and kids and dust bowl, turf vs seed. But because I couldnt find the grass that I wanted in a seed we paid the extra expense for the 300 sq meters of turf.

I am so glad that we did. There was instantly no more dust... yahoo! And the kids could go outside again, not straight away, but sooner than was recommended. We of course didnt throw the ball for the dog for ages otherwise she would have torn all the new grass.

You say that your dog digs, it would break my heart if I paid all the money for turf and put some hard yards in to lay it and then the dog dug it up!!! : 0

Having said all that I have no idea about seeding the area as I have never done it. It might be exactly what you want.

Sandra

With seeding you need to keep it very moist most of the time and also having to fight the birds off who pinch most of it.

If you were to do it now youd be wasteing your time given the hot warm conditions we having at the moment.

Instant turf will give you results straight away without the troubles of watering every couple of hours.

Expensive it will be but you'll have a 100% strike rate with rolled out turf.

I understand that turf actually needs a light watering twice a day and a deep soaking every three days or so, neither of which is allowed using reticulated water in Melbourne at the moment (of course tank water or appropriately recycled water will be fine).

I reckon you'd have more problems with the dog than just scattering the seed around though--grass seeds becoming embedded in dogs' paws isn't pretty, and can cause some pretty serious problems.

On balance, if you can afford it you'd probably be better off with the turf, I reckon.

Sharee - if you can afford it, go with turf. Instantaneous results

We tried to re-do our front garden with seed (75m2) and it a complete disaster - dog tore it to pieces...

Hope it works out. Just imagine a world without dust

jonathan

yep buy the turf. To cut your costs just space the rolls out. fill the gaps with good soil and wait a few weeks for it to grow through.

It looks like the overwhelming response so far is turf which is also helpful to me at the moment. What is the best time of year to lay your turf? I'm assuming it might be early Spring....is this correct?

I'd love to be able to do this now but don't really see much point when it's stinking hot and I still need to get a water tank installed!

Good question Bella, I was wondering the same thing. I really really want to lay the turf now, but obviously if it is going to die then that would be a little pointless

well the best time would be autumn. many in the industry believe this should be Australia's spring for gardens. Not as we have traditionally done following European gardening. Autumn still as long enough of warm days and warm enough nights, more rainfall and all the winter rains ahead to prepare for the following summer with a good strong root system by then.

If in spring don't go by early or late or some sort of set time. We just can't do that. We have to watch the weather and when the night time temps start going over 10 degrees at night regular enough, the soils will begin to warm. Often the days can be warm but to the plant his roots are still in the cold ground and not much happens.

Wholesale growers look forward to the moment plants (turf included) can enjoy 10 degree + minimums . the crops and cuttings go mental with growth.

Those conditions may not happen till almost summer as happened here in the sw this year meaning retail nurseries didn't have all the spring stock range customers expect in early spring.

So for your lawn, I say Autumn. as a second choice, wait till spring nights get warm.

Weh ave had turf in the past and were considering it this time. Thing is seed comes in at about 20% of the cost of turf if you spread it yourself. Given the 1200 - 1400sqm we needed to palnt this was a reasonable consideration) We got our seed from the grass shop on Springvale road (the cluster of intresting nurserys on the way to Chris and Maries) and had a very high germination rate. I think all up with the fertiliser, we paid around $650 - $800.

We planted in late autumn and relied completly on rainfall to get the seeds to germinate. We planted in sections and the later planting took a bit longer because of the cold weather but they did come up. Quite rewarding to see the seeds grow into a beautiful lawn.

Probably not a good time to plant either seeds or turf with $0+ degrees this week. I suspect both will fail pretty miserably. Perhaps in April.

Oh and we don't have a dog but we do have kids and friends who bring their dogs around and the grass has survived fine. The main issue right now is the dry weather but this should pass.

Hi there,

I say if you can afford turf then there's no question what to go with. If you can't then it's seed. Turf is definatly the way to go.

We will have a decent size back yard, that will cost about $5000 to turf but we just think with the kids, dogs and dust bowl that we live in, it's a far better option.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.