Turf Grass Buyer's Guide

Turf Grass Buyer’s Guide for the Island of Ireland

Choosing the right lawn is a long-term investment. This Turf Grass Buyer’s Guide provides an essential comparison of quality, costs, and soil types for customers across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

From the premium root zones used in professional sports to the common pitfalls of agricultural meadow turf, we break down the critical factors that influence price and performance. Learn the vital differences between pasture and cultivated turf, the impact of heavy clay vs. free-draining sandy soil, and how to identify aggressive weeds like scutch grass before they take root in your garden. Whether you are in Dublin, Belfast, or anywhere on the island, use this Turf Grass Buyer’s Guide to ensure you get a beautiful, durable lawn that offers genuine value for money.

In general, “turf” prices can vary from approximately £1.50 to £15.00 (€1.75 to €17) per square metre. Like any material, this variation depends on the quality and specification. The purpose of this guide is to explain the characteristics of turf that lead to this price range, ensuring that when you are buying turf, you have the confidence that you are getting good value for money.

Loosely categorising the market: at the top end is turf grown for specific sporting applications on special growing mediums or “root zones”. “Cultivated” turf follows, with “pasture” or “meadow” turf at the bottom end of the market. Ultimately, the price is generally representative of the quality; however, the only way to be sure is to verify the quality and provenance of the turf before buying.

While industry experts often suggest visiting a turf farm in person, this is not always practical with a busy, working environment. Instead, the hallmark of a premium grower is their track record. At the very least, you should request referrals to accessible sites where the proposed turf has been recently laid or look for a grower with a proven portfolio of prestigious national projects.

Key Selection Criteria: The Turf Grass Buyer’s Guide Checklist!

The most important criteria you should look for when buying turf rolls include:

  • Good quality cultivars of seed specific for the purpose
  • Absence of broad-leaved weeds (e.g. thistles)
  • Absence of coarse grass weeds (e.g. “scutch”)
  • Tightly knitted, short sward, with an attractive appearance
  • Consistency in roll size, thickness of cut, weight, and strength

Pasture Turf vs. Cultivated Turf

Not all turf is grown equal. From the soil structure to the grass species selected, the distinction between purpose-grown cultivated turf and stripped agricultural pasture is a significant factor in the lifetime quality of your new garden lawn.

Pasture or Meadow Turf

At the bottom end of the market, “pasture” or “meadow” turf is stripped from agricultural fields previously used for grazing livestock. Depending on the maintenance program, this sward can often be invaded by broad-leaved weeds, such as thistles, and coarse grass weeds, such as “scutch”.

Because the original grasses were not selected for lawn purposes, they are often coarse in texture, thin in density, and unsuitable for close mowing. Consequently, the chances of ever achieving a satisfactory quality lawn with this material are extremely limited.

Cultivated Turf

“Cultivated” turf comes from agricultural land that has been prepared and sown with garden lawn species with the intention of being used only for lawn purposes. However, the vast majority of agricultural land is not ideal for cultivated turf production because it is not relatively stone-free or is too “heavy” (containing too much silt and clay).

On land with high stone content, the harvested turf must be cut “thick” to allow for the stones. Otherwise, a thinner cut would be weak when handled due to a lack of uniform root structure. Conversely, “heavy” land with high silt and clay content is slow to absorb water. During or after rainfall (see rainfall data from Met Éireann or the UK Met Office), turf harvested from this land will be heavy to handle and consequently weak or brittle.

Turf from these types of land is often cut in “slabs” or small rolls of less than one square metre to overcome these weight and weakness problems. This makes the turf more time-consuming to lay than full-sized one-square-metre rolls, as there are more units to handle. Any inherent brittleness can also lead to excessive wastage, potentially leaving you with insufficient turf to complete the job.

Turf Lawn Maintenance and Quality

Cultivated turf reflects its maintenance program through its visual quality. Turf that has been closely mown on a regular basis will have a dense, “cropped” sward. If maintenance has been poor, the grass will be long and sparse, leading to thinning and a vulnerability to weed invasion once it is eventually mown closely. Our Turf Grass Buyer’s Guide recommends looking for a dense, uniform sward as a primary indicator of professional care.

Broad-leaved weeds should be completely absent if the grower has been diligent with suitable herbicides. However, coarse grass weeds like “scutch” are notoriously difficult to control. Scutch is aggressive and can colonise an entire lawn quickly, with coarse creeping tillers that look unsightly compared to finer lawn species. These coarse weeds generally thrive in heavy, slow-draining land and are less likely to prefer free-draining, sandy soils.

The Turf Grass Buyer’s Guide from Emerald Lawns

Emerald Lawns was established in the 1980s and remains Ireland’s leading cultivated turfgrass sod grower. We manage in excess of 200 acres of the lightest, stone-free land in the country, specifically selected, tested, and dedicated for this purpose.

Our size, structure, and experience allow us to produce the highest quality turfgrass sod at competitive prices, even when delivered to any location in Ireland. Emerald Lawns is the most frequently specified turfgrass sod grower for unrivalled quality, performance, and value. We continue to supply some of the most prestigious and demanding customers in the country, including Lansdowne Road, Dublin, and the K Club in County Kildare, alongside numerous other leading organisations.