Turfing and new lawns in Hastings
A lawn is the cheapest surface in the garden and the one most often laid badly, because almost all of the cost that matters is buried before the green arrives. We price the preparation and the topsoil into the job rather than leaving them out to make a number look better.
Turfing
from £45/m²
Includes preparation and 150mm of BS 3882 topsoil.
A starting rate, not a ceiling. Put your own numbers in → · Why we're not the cheapest quote you'll get
150mm of topsoil, to BS 3882
BS 3882 is the British Standard for topsoil specification. It grades what the soil actually is — texture, nutrients, contamination — and it is worth asking about, because "topsoil" on a delivery note can mean almost anything.
What it does not do is set a depth. The guidance range is 100–150mm, with 150mm recommended on clay. Clay is common, so 150mm is simply our depth, everywhere, rather than something that shrinks when a price is tight.
How we lay a lawn
Strip the old surface
Whatever is there comes off — tired lawn, weeds, rubble, made ground left behind by an extension.
Remove the spoil
Carted away rather than raked flat somewhere else in the garden.
Break up compacted ground
The layer most people skip. Turf laid straight onto a compacted pan sits on it rather than rooting into it.
Add and level 150mm of BS 3882 topsoil
Levels set deliberately, away from the house and away from anywhere water can pond.
Firm and rake to a fine tilth
Firmed so it does not settle into hollows a month later, then raked fine so the turf makes contact everywhere.
Lay fresh-cut turf in broken bond
Joints tight, laid in broken bond like brickwork, cut in around edges and beds.
Roll it in and water it in
Rolled to bed it onto the soil, then watered in properly on the day.
Turf is laid the day it is cut. Turf left rolled on a pallet in warm weather yellows within 24 hours, which is why delivery day and laying day are the same day on our jobs.
When turf is the right call — and when it isn't
When it's the right choice
- You want a real lawn and you are prepared to water it daily for its first fortnight.
- The area gets a reasonable amount of light and is not permanently in shade.
- The ground drains, or is going to be made to drain before anything is laid.
- You are happy to mow through the summer and accept a lawn looks tired in a drought.
When it isn't — say so and pick something else
- Nobody will be there to water it in the first two weeks. That is the single most common reason a new lawn fails.
- The garden holds standing water. That is a drainage job first — turf over a wet garden just hides it for one season.
- The area is heavily used, deeply shaded, or has dogs on it all day. Artificial grass is the honest answer there.
- You want it green in week one and perfect in week three. It roots on its own timetable, not yours.
The part we can't do for you
Turf is alive, and the first fortnight decides whether it takes. We lay it and we water it in properly on the day. After that it's yours, and what happens next is almost entirely watering.
Water it the day we leave, then every day for two weeks — twice a day in warm, dry or windy weather. It has to soak through the turf and wet the soil underneath, not just darken the grass. Lift a corner and check. Weeks three and four, water less often but more deeply, which pulls the roots down. Don't assume the rain has done it.
Keep off it for the first two to three weeks apart from watering. First cut once it's rooted and about 5cm, mower on its highest setting, taking the top third only.
What we guarantee: the ground preparation, the topsoil depth, the levels, and that the turf is fresh-cut and laid the day it arrives — never left rolled on a pallet overnight. If it fails in the first month we'll come and look, free, and if it's down to how we prepared or laid it, we replace it at our cost.
What we can't guarantee: turf that hasn't been watered. It's the one part of the job that happens after we've gone, and it's why most new lawns fail. We leave you written instructions, and we'd rather you rang us on day three unsure than day thirty with a brown lawn.
A fixed price before anyone starts digging
We measure, agree the build-up in writing and give you one price. It doesn't move. Not for hard ground, old concrete, rubble, roots or a soft spot — that's our risk and it's already in the number.
Zero deposit option for jobs that qualify — we confirm the terms with your fixed price.
Everyone else quotes "subject to survey" because they haven't checked the job properly. We do the survey first — measuring properly, checking levels and where the water goes, what planning rules apply, what has to come out, manholes, ducts, and access for digger and skip. So by the time we write the number down, we know what the job needs. That's why the price doesn't move, and why we can put it in writing before we start. If we ever do hit something, we stop, show you, and agree in writing what happens before we carry on. Ask your other quotes what they checked before they priced.
A written guarantee, and turf is judged differently
Ground preparation, topsoil depth, levels and fresh-cut turf laid tight are ours to stand behind. A lawn is alive, so it carries an aftercare boundary rather than a term in years: if a new lawn fails in its first month we come and look, free, and replace it at our cost if the failure was ours. Hard landscaping in the same garden carries ten years on the sub-base and ten on the surface.
Common questions about turfing
How much does a new lawn cost?
Turfing starts at £45/m², and that includes the preparation and the topsoil rather than treating them as extras. What moves the figure is how much has to come out first and how far the spoil has to travel.
How much topsoil do you lay?
150mm, to BS 3882. That standard grades what the topsoil is — texture, nutrients, contamination — it does not set a depth. The published guidance range is 100–150mm, with 150mm recommended on clay. 150mm is our depth everywhere, so nobody has to argue about it later.
How soon can I walk on it?
Keep off it for the first two to three weeks apart from watering. The first cut comes once it's rooted and about 5cm, mower on its highest setting, taking the top third only.
Do you lay turf that's been sitting on a pallet?
No. Turf is laid the day it is cut. Turf left rolled on a pallet in warm weather yellows within 24 hours, and a yellow roll is already a lawn with a problem.
Towns we cover
We cover Hastings and a 25-mile radius.
- Hastings
- St Leonards-on-Sea
- Bexhill-on-Sea
- Battle
- Rye
- Eastbourne
- Hailsham
- Robertsbridge
Worth reading
- Laying turf on clay: what has to happen first
Why turf laid straight onto clay dies, what the failure looks like at three weeks and at three months, and the preparation that actually works.
Includes: how to prepare clay ground and work out how much turf and topsoil you need
- Your new-build garden is waterlogged. Here's who's responsible.
Why gardens on new estates hold water, how to tell compaction from a drainage fault, and the order to escalate it in — developer first, warranty provider second.
Includes: how to run a percolation test and measure your topsoil depth