Options when laying a lawn

Seed versus sod when laying a lawn

Sod (we call it turf in the UK) is the easiest option when laying a lawn, especially a new lawn, but obviously it is far more expensive than seeded lawns. Laying down turf is fairly quick, but you must nevertheless take care to do it properly or your hard earned cash will be wasted. The additional benefit of using sods to create an instant lawn is that you can see where your lawn is growing immediately and lay the turfs in exactly the right place.  Seeds have a tendancy to drift, and are disturbed by animals and wildlife. You may find that you think you have covered all the ground when seeding your lawn only to find that as it grows it has bare patches! Some helpful books to guide you on laying a lawn and caring for are

If you don’t have a lot of lawn to lay or you are just rejuvenating an exisiting lawn, then it makes more sense to buy lawn seed.  Choosing seed you need to know about the different types of grass and also what kind of activity is going to take place on your lawn. Your choices of seed vary according to which part of the world you live in and your local climate.  According to a very useful seed map, Europe is zone 1 and can grow a variety of grasses, from Bentgrass, to Bluegrass, Fescue and Rye grass. Here in the UK we are zone 2 which is cool marine and a popular grass used in British lawns is Ryegrass as it is tough and hard wearing. The equivalent USDA zones are 3-6, the cooler parts in the North. Grasses that like warmer climates are those such as Bahiagrass, Bermuda, Carpetgrass, Centipede, St Augustine and Zoysia.  As a rule you should think about mixing your seed if you have a transitional climate, perhaps mild wet winters but dry scorching summers or even a combination of dry hot summers and freezing winter!  Laying a lawn needs to take into account rainfall as well as temperature and your grass seed is likely to be more effective if it is a mix of seed types. Read more »