Seed & Turf Quantities

Firstly, a measurement of the proposed lawn area wouldn’t go amiss. You’ll never be millimetre perfect, so give or take, 10% accuracy is normally fine for sowing grass seed. However, garden turf is not cheap, so it is well worth being accurate if you’re turfing the lawn.

Turf

Not too many things can go wrong when laying turf, so you need what you measured plus a bit for mismeasurement and wastage; an extra 5 to 10% should be fine for a regular-shaped area, but if the shape is complicated, I’d add 10 to 20% to be safe.

Grass Seed

Because cost is not the major factor, you can and should be a little more generous with lawn grass seed quantities as follows:

• Add 10% for miss measuring
• Add 10% for the birds
• Add 10% for filling in the thin spots a month after sowing

So you need about a third more grass seed than your measured area. Any excess can always be used over the following years for lawn repairs or after raking or scarifying; it won’t be wasted.

Seeding Rate

When seeding a lawn, you could choose to be light or heavy with your application, as this will have some effect on the end result. For instance, if you wanted your lawn to be established as quickly as possible, you’d go heavy on the sowing rate. If, on the other hand, you have a weed-free seed bed, you may decide to have a light seeding rate. For the ins and outs of this, read How much seed do I need?