Turfing costs broken down
Guide prices for Hampshire gardens. Larger lawns usually improve on the rate per square metre.
The laid rate
Turf supplied and laid over ground that is already close to level costs £14 to £22 per square metre. That covers the rolls, delivery, laying in a staggered bond, tight joints and cutting the edges.
Very few gardens are actually at that starting point, which is why the quote you receive is usually higher than the rate you read online.
What preparation adds
Stripping an old lawn adds £4 to £8 per square metre including taking the waste away. Imported topsoil, which most Hampshire estate gardens need, adds £45 to £70 per tonne spread, and a tonne covers roughly 20 square metres at 50mm deep.
Put together, a full lawn from a tired garden usually works out nearer £25 per square metre. A 50 square metre garden lands between about £900 and £1,600 done properly.
Why the ground decides the result
Turf knits into soil, not into subsoil or rubble. If the roots hit a compacted layer 40mm down, the lawn yellows in the first dry spell and thins out by its second summer no matter how much you water it.
This is also why we never lay over an existing lawn. The old grass dies under the new roll and leaves a spongy layer that stops the roots ever getting a grip.
Turfing
- Ground cleared and prepared
- Accurate levelling
- Aftercare guidance included
Where you can genuinely save
Larger lawns come down in rate, because the setting out and delivery are spread further. Removing your own old turf saves the clearance line. Beyond that, cutting the preparation is not a saving, it is a deposit on redoing the whole thing.
Returfing an existing lawn vs turfing bare ground
The figures above change depending on where you start. Turfing bare ground that is already cleared means the work is mostly levelling, soil and laying. Returfing an existing lawn adds a stage at the beginning: the old grass has to be lifted and taken away before the ground can be prepared, which is why stripping appears as its own line in the table. Old lawns also tend to hide problems, such as compacted patches, buried rubble or low spots, that only show once the turf is up and need putting right before the new rolls go down. Bare ground can have its own surprises, especially builders' subsoil on newer estates, so either way the ground is checked on the visit. Our guide to returfing an old lawn walks through that job stage by stage.