Grass Seed vs Turf – Which Makes the Best Lawn?

A beautiful lawn can transform the landscape of any property and make it look complete. When it comes to turfing your lawn, your options vary. Their pros and cons should be very well considered so that you can make your choice easily.

What type of turf or grass seed should you get? How much ground preparation for laying turf will be necessary? Is turf or seed better? If you are interested in finding out which option is right for you, keep reading.

This post is for:

• People craving the perfect lawn;
  
• Anyone torn between artificial and real grass;
  
• People that can’t decide between grass seeds and turf.

Advantages and disadvantages of real turf

Pros of real turf

One of the greatest benefits of turfing your lawn with real grass is that it’s one of the fastest ways to repair bare patches in your backyard or transform the area completely. It doesn’t take very long to lay the turf rolls and by the time you are done, your garden will have a new look. The most prominent turfing advantages include: 

• Instant transformation – As soon as you’ve laid the turf rolls, edged and watered your new lawn, your garden will look great immediately. 
• Quick establishment – It takes about 2 or 3 weeks for the roots to grow into the soil. Your new lawn will then be ready for foot traffic. 
• Environmentally-friendly – Real turf refreshes the air by enriching it with oxygen. 

If you are interested in finding out how to level a garden before turfing, check out our detailed blog post for more useful information.

Cons of real turf

The disadvantages of turfing your lawn are just as important to consider. For your convenience, we’ve listed the most important ones: 

Artificial grass – pros and cons

Advantages of artificial turf

If you are not willing to wait for a couple of weeks for your real turf to establish, then go for artificial grass installation. Below you’ll find some of the most important advantages one should consider before investing in fake turf:

Disadvantages of artificial grass

Even though it’s a low maintenance approach to having a new lawn, the cons of artificial grass are important. Here is a short list of the drawbacks of artificial turf you should be aware of: 

• Heat retention – Artificial grass can get really warm to walk on on hot summer days, unlike natural turf.
• Price – Due to the wide range of varieties, high-quality artificial grass can be rather expensive to install.  
• It’s not pet-friendly – Another downside of artificial grass is the fact that it isn’t appropriate for dogs and cats. Fake turf is not a surface that can absorb pet waste, even though it is permeable. Therefore, you should always make sure to clean after your pets. 

Benefits and drawbacks of grass seed

If you’re torn between grass seed or turf, there are several things to consider before choosing to seed your lawn. It is a long process, as it will take several weeks until new grass starts to actually grow. You also have to wait for the proper season. Between late summer and mid-autumn is when you sow your grass seeds.

Last but not least, if you decide to go for this approach, you’d better examine the entire outdoor area you intend to work on. Make sure to get rid of any weeds and unwanted vegetation before you move on to spreading the grass seeds all over your garden.

The pros and cons of grass seeds are important to keep in mind as they will help you make up your mind.

Pros and cons of seeding your lawn: