Plan your lawn job — patch it, replace it, or rebuild it
Start with the job, not the tape measure. Pick what you're actually doing and we'll tailor the materials, the advice and the honest total.
Quick answer: A new lawn costs £10–£22 per m² in 2026 if you do it yourself the common way: lift the old grass, improve the soil, lay new turf (rolls of real grass). A full rebuild — where you put down a fresh 100mm layer of topsoil first — costs £15–£35 per m². Paying someone to lay it adds £10–£27 per m², so a typical 50m² lawn lands around £700–£750 supplied and laid.
How an expert would do it: cut each bad patch out as a neat square a little larger than the damage, level the hole with a bag or two of topsoil, and lay new turf proud by a few millimetres — it settles flush. Buy the same turf type as the lawn or the patches will show forever, and water patches like a whole new lawn for three weeks. For the size boxes below, add up just the bad areas (e.g. three 1×1m patches = 3m² total, enter 3 × 1).
How an expert would do it:hire a turf cutter (~£40 a day) — it strips the old lawn in an hour and leaves the levels intact. If grass grew acceptably before, the ground underneath is fine: work a 50mm dressing of fresh topsoil into the surface, firm it, rake it level, and lay. Old turf stacked green-side-down becomes superb compost in a year, or budget a skip if it has to go.
How an expert would do it: this is the route for builder-compacted plots, waterlogged clay or ground that never grew decent grass — the problem is under the surface, so fix the underneath. Break up the compaction, then build a full 100mm bed (150mm is better still). Over about 3m³, a loose-tipped load of screened topsoil costs half what bulk bags do. And if there's no deadline, remember seed: a fifth the price on this identical bed — see our turf vs seed comparison.
Not sure which? If less than a third of the lawn is bad, patch it. If grass grew OK before, replace — the ground is fine. Only rebuild when the soil itself is the problem (compacted, waterlogged, builder rubble).
2 Tell us the size
Measure in:
Rough size is fine — pace it out: one stride ≈ 0.9 m.
No tape measure? Tap a typical size:
3 The job, costed
No measurements yet? Tap a typical size above for an instant estimate, or see the worked examples.
Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a commission, at no cost to you.
Switch the job type above and the numbers, advice and shopping list change with it.
These figures are planning estimates. Order turf for delivery the day before laying (it's perishable), and whichever route you pick: the bed preparation decides the lawn, not the turf brand.
💷 Where you can save on this job5 honest saves
Check the lawn actually needs replacing. Most 'dead' lawns are compacted and hungry, not dead: a September renovation — scarify, aerate, feed, overseed — costs about £50 in kit and rescues more lawns than turf does. Replace in spring only if that fails.
Turf where it shows, seed where it doesn't. Seed costs a fifth of turf on the identical prepared ground. Turf the bit you look at from the kitchen; seed the stretch behind the shed.
Loose-load the soil. Past about 3m³, tipped topsoil is half the price of bulk bags — on a full rebuild the soil is the biggest line, so this one change can save three figures.
Buy hard-wearing, not premium. Show-lawn turf under kids and dogs is money down the drain — the £4–£5/m² hard-wearing blends outlast it in a family garden.
Let autumn do the watering. September–October laying means the sky handles the daily watering a summer lawn demands — and establishment rates are better too.
What to actually buy (and where)
A rebuild is three jobs — strip the old lawn, build the bed, lay the turf — and you buy them in reverse of instinct: turf is alive and dies within 24 hours of delivery, so everything else gets bought, delivered and finished before you order a single roll. Nobody needs a lawn roller (a plank does the same job free), and where the budget option is a false economy, we say so.
Some links below are affiliate links — we may earn a commission, at no cost to you.
Petrol turf cutter
£50–£65 per day, ~£100 per week (local hire)
Above roughly 20–30m² a turf cutter turns a brutal weekend into a couple of hours and leaves a cleaner, more level base than hand-stripping — book it for a day when the ground is moist, not sodden. Under ~20m², keep the £50: a sharp spade and some graft does it fine. Ring the local independent first — national chains list the same machine at higher rates.
Planning the rebuild weekend: Backwards from normal shopping: prep first, turf last. Book topsoil 2–3 days ahead, then order turf for laying day — Rolawn lets you pick the date at checkout (earliest 1–3 working days; no Mondays, it's cut fresh daily). Plan to be in: delivery is an all-day window (7.30am–6pm), and Saturday costs £72.
Topsoil for a smaller rebuild (2–3 bags): Bulk bags kerbside: Wickes' 500L Hallstone is £109 excl. delivery; Rolawn's 750L is £155.99 delivered (flagged as a limited-time price). Convenient, but the dearest soil there is — each bag holds well under a tonne against ~£36/tonne loose — and the pallet stops at the kerb: every barrowload after that is yours.
A full 100mm bed over 40m²: That's 6+ tonnes of soil — loose-load territory, at roughly a third of bag price (~£36/tonne: Hertfordshire Soils charges £475 excl. VAT for 16 tonnes, grab-placed over walls and fences). The catches: minimums are real (15–16 tonnes), it's delivery only, and you need somewhere to tip a very large pile.
Tempted to one-click the whole job?: Genuinely fine for the parcel-sized kit — fertiliser, sprinkler, tap timer. Wrong for turf: the sole genuine fresh-turf listing found was £126.31 for ~4.5m² (£28.07/m²) with a three-week delivery window — for a product that dies in 24 hours. Bulk topsoil is no better. Buy both direct from the grower and the merchant.
🚜 Strip the old lawn (hire, don't buy)the honest pick
One-day hire
Petrol turf cutter£50–£65 per day, ~£100 per week (local hire) Above roughly 20–30m² a turf cutter turns a brutal weekend into a couple of hours and leaves a cleaner, more level base than hand-stripping — book it for a day when the ground is moist, not sodden. Under ~20m², keep the £50: a sharp spade and some graft does it fine. Ring the local independent first — national chains list the same machine at higher rates.Hire it (HSS) →
🟫 The bed (the one part you can't redo)3 honest picks
Most rebuilds
Screened topsoil to BS3882, bulk bag£109 per 500L bag excl. delivery (Wickes) to £155.99 per 750L bag delivered (Rolawn) The label needs two things: BS3882:2015 (lab-tested growing soil, not builder's spoil) and screened (rakes to a level bed instead of costing hours of stone-picking). A 750L bag covers ~15m² at 50mm — halve that for a full 100mm bed. Caveats: Rolawn's £155.99 is a flagged limited-time offer, and past 2–3 bags the loose load below wins outright.Hallstone 500L at Wickes →
Rebuilds over ~40m²
Loose load from a local soil supplier, tipped or grab-placed~£36/tonne — £475 excl. VAT per 16-tonne load (Hertfordshire Soils) A full 100mm bed over 40m² is 6+ tonnes — loose-load territory at roughly a third of bag price, and a 7m grab arm places soil over walls and fences a pallet trolley can't. Ask for a BS3882 analysis certificate, or at minimum 'screened to 10mm'. The catch: 15–16 tonne minimums, delivery only, and you need somewhere to tip the pile. Search '[your town] topsoil loose load'.Example: Hertfordshire Soils loose loads →
Patch repairs only
25L small bags of topsoil£4.50 per 25L bag (B&Q Verve) Levelling low spots or dressing a repair, this is the right buy — don't order a pallet for a barrowful. As the bed for a whole lawn it's a false economy: a 100mm bed swallows four 25L bags per square metre, so small-bag prices multiply fast against one bulk bag.Verve 25L at B&Q →
🌱 Pre-turf feed (the most oversold item in lawn prep)the honest pick
Tired or sandy soil only
Balanced granular fertiliser (Growmore, NPK 7:7:7), raked in at ~35g/m²£16 per 10kg tub (B&Q, promo — was £17) On a fresh BS3882 bed, skip this entirely — certified soil already carries nutrients, and the RHS only calls feed necessary on light, poor soil. Where it is worth doing, a £16 tub covers ~285m² at the RHS rate; branded pre-turf boxes (Rolawn GroRight, £28–£34 for 50m²) do the same job at roughly ten times the price per square metre. Buy those for zero-maths convenience, not because the lawn needs it.View on Amazon →
🌿 The turf itself (order it last)3 honest picks
Most lawns
Family rye-blend turf from a national grower, delivered on a named day£12.29/roll at 10–19 rolls, falling to £6.49 (40–99) and £5.89 (100+), delivery included (Rolawn Medallion; 1 roll = 1m²) Named-day delivery solves the thing that actually kills DIY turfing: turf goes down the day it arrives — 24 hours at the absolute most. A mid-price rye blend is all a family lawn needs; paying more buys appearance, not survival. Order your area +5% for cuts in one order — per-roll prices drop hard with volume — and never order turf 'to have it ready'.Medallion turf at Rolawn →
Shade (under half a day's sun)
Shade-tolerant blend with named species (Poa supina, smooth-stalked meadowgrass or tall fescue)£12.86/m² at 10m², £6.83/m² at 50m² delivered (Turfonline Shadesman+); George Davies from £9/m², 25m² minimum delivered Standard rye thins and dies back under trees and close fences, so on a genuinely shaded lawn the premium beats re-turfing. Two honesty checks: nothing survives deep full-time shade — under half a day's sun may still need annual overseeding — and if your lawn gets sun most of the day, this is wasted money; the default rye blend handles ordinary family wear fine.Shadesman+ at Turfonline →
Small patches, laid same day
Collection from a local turf farm£3.24/roll collected (Paynes Turf, Essex — expect similar farm-gate prices regionally) vs ~£6.50–£9/roll delivered nationally Genuinely fine — arguably the freshest turf there is — if the farm cut it that morning, you unroll a corner before loading (moist soil, green to the edges, no sour smell) and you lay it that afternoon. The false economy: rolls weigh 15–20kg, so 20 rolls is 300–400kg of car payload — past ~20m², multiple trips cost more than a grower's free named-day delivery.
💦 Keeping it alive (the first fortnight)the honest pick
Non-negotiable in a July lay
Oscillating sprinkler + battery tap timer£30 sprinkler (Hozelock 220m² at B&Q); ~£80 with a programmable timer (Hozelock Select Controller £52.99, up to 4 cycles/day) New turf needs water daily — twice daily in hot spells — for the first fortnight, and the gaps between rolls shrink visibly the first day you miss. A sprinkler on a timer running two cycles a day does it while you're at work. Genuinely fine to skip if someone's home morning and evening with a hose. Note: some online listings are the smaller 180m² variant — check the size against B&Q's £30 220m² model.View on Amazon →
Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. Retailers named because we checked their prices in July 2026, not because they paid to be here.
📅 How the job actually goes4 stages
Strip: Old lawn off with a turf cutter and away. Quick — an hour or two for a typical garden.
The prep: Soil improved and raked to a fine, firm, level tilth — walked over heel-to-toe twice. Whatever levels you accept at this stage are the lawn's levels forever.
Laying day: Turf delivered fresh that morning, first row dead straight, joints staggered like brickwork, worked off boards. A 50m² lawn lays in an afternoon.
The three-week wait: Soaked the same day, watered daily in dry spells, and nobody walks on it — including the dog, who has not agreed to this.
🛡️ Before you hire anyone2-min read
A proper written quote itemises:
Stripping and disposing of the old lawn
Soil improvement: what's added and how deep (in mm)
The turf itself: type, grower, and that it's cut fresh for the job
Levels: what they'll do about hollows and humps
Watering handover — who does day one, and instructions for you
Questions that sort pros from cowboys:
What goes into the ground before the turf, and how deep?
Which turf farm does it come from, and when is it cut?
How will you handle the levels?
What aftercare do I do in week one?
Walk away if:
Turf laid straight onto the old compacted ground
'An inch of topsoil over the top' — over rubbish, that's a short-lived carpet
Turf that's been sitting rolled on a van since yesterday
No aftercare instructions offered
Booking: Landscapers slot lawn jobs between bigger builds — expect 2–4 weeks. A 50m² replacement is a 1–2 day job.
Sense-check it against real quotes
Our figure is researched, but it is not your garden. Post the job free and local landscapers reply with real prices — the honest way to check the estimate above before you commit.
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Never done this before? Start here
Turf is real grass, grown on a farm and cut into rolls. You unroll it like carpet and it becomes a lawn in weeks.
Topsoil is the good, loose soil that grass roots grow into. It sits under the turf, and it matters more than the turf does.
A new lawn is really two jobs: get the soil right first, then lay the grass on top. Rushing the first job to get to the second is where most lawns go wrong.
The build, in order
1 · Clear and level. Take the old lawn off, get the weeds out, and sort the rough levels. (Garden overgrown? Our clearance calculator prices that part.)
2 · Build the bed. The bed is the layer of topsoil the grass will live in. Spread 100mm of decent topsoil, rake it until it is fine and crumbly with no big lumps, then firm it down — walk over it on your heels, rake again, repeat. This step decides whether the lawn is still good in five years. Details on the topsoil calculator.
3 · Turf, delivered fresh. Turf is alive and dies fast once it is cut, so book delivery for the day before laying. Lay the first row dead straight, stagger the joins like brickwork (so the lines don't all line up), work off boards so you never stand on fresh turf, and push the edges tight together. Details on the turf calculator.
4 · Water and wait. Soak it the same day, water daily in dry spells, and keep everyone off it for 2–3 weeks — including the dog, who will not sign up to this voluntarily. The roots need that time to knit into the soil.
Worked examples — full DIY build
Lawn
Topsoil bed
Turf
DIY total
Small — 20 m²
£215–£625
£85–£190
£300–£815
Medium — 50 m²
£540–£1,560
£210–£475
£750–£2,035
Large — 100 m²
£1,080–£3,120
£420–£945
£1,500–£4,065
Most of the gap between the low and high price is the soil, not the grass. The high end is posh soil in bags; the low end is a loose load (soil tipped off a lorry in one big pile). Over ~3m³, a loose load halves the soil cost — that's the single biggest saving on a new lawn.
What moves the total
• How much new soil you need — if the soil already there is decent and just needs improving, the soil cost halves.
• How the soil arrives — a loose load (tipped off a lorry) costs about half what the same soil costs in bulk bags. That's a 2× swing on the biggest single cost.
• Turf grade and order size — buy more and the price per roll drops fast. Premium turf halves in price per m² between small orders and 100-roll orders.
• Labour — a pro team turns a weekend of barrowing into a day. Budget £150–£250 a day per person if you'd rather watch.
Common questions
How much does a new lawn cost in the UK in 2026?
It depends which job you're really doing. Patching a few bare spots costs pounds, not hundreds — turf is £4–£9/m² and you only buy it for the bad areas. Replacing a whole lawn on decent soil — the most common job — costs roughly £10–£22 per m² DIY, which includes working a 50mm layer of fresh topsoil into the ground. A full rebuild, where you lay a new 100mm bed of topsoil first, is £15–£35 per m² DIY. Paying someone to lay it adds £10–£27 per m² whichever route you take.
Do I really need new topsoil?
Only the rebuild route needs a full new layer. The honest test: did grass grow OK here before? If yes, the ground is fine — lift the old turf and rake a 50mm layer of fresh topsoil into the surface. If the ground is packed down hard, always soggy, or full of builder's rubble, no amount of nice turf fixes it — the problem is underneath, and that's when you pay for the full 100mm bed of new soil.
Can I just patch the bad bits?
Yes, and it's the most under-rated lawn job. If less than a third of the lawn is bad, cut the worn bits out as neat squares, level the holes with a little topsoil, and lay new turf on top. Two rules make patches invisible: buy the same type of grass as the rest of the lawn (a different type will always show as a different-coloured square), and water the patches like a brand-new lawn for three weeks.
What order do I do a replacement in?
Lift the old turf (hiring a turf cutter — a machine that peels it off in strips — makes this painless) → rake fresh topsoil into the ground until it is firm, level and crumbly → let it settle a few days if you can → have the turf delivered the day before laying → lay it, soak it, keep everyone off for 2–3 weeks. The classic mistake is ordering turf before the ground is ready. Turf is a living plant: it is perishable once cut, so it won't wait for you.
Would seeding be cheaper?
Yes — grass seed costs about five times less than turf, and the ground preparation is exactly the same. The trade-off is time: seed takes 8–12 weeks to become a lawn you can walk on, against 2–3 weeks for turf. Our turf vs seed comparison prices both for your size.
📋 Where these prices come from25 sources
Every price band on this page traces to a source we checked ourselves, with the date we checked it. Prices move — if one of these looks out of date, tell us and we'll recheck it.
topsoil bed 100-150mm; prices per m³ £90-260 bags, loose halves; turf £4-9/m² delivered; laid £10-27/m²myjobquote.co.ukchecked July 2026
Rolawn Medallion £12.29/roll base, quantity breaks £8.85 (20–29), £6.89 (30–39), £6.49 (40–99), £5.89 (100+); free named-day delivery Tue–Fri to most UK mainland, Saturday £72 (£60+VAT) per order; standard delivery is an all-day window (7.30am–6pm), kerbside pallet offload needs a flat firm surface — no gravel, earth or slopes; roll approx 1m², 610mm x 1640mm, 15–20kg; lay immediately on delivery in warmer months, unrolled within 24h in autumn/winterrolawn.co.ukchecked July 2026
Rolawn: choose a delivery date at checkout, earliest usually 1-3 working days; turf is freshly harvested each day so no Monday deliveries (or Tuesdays after a Bank Holiday); Saturday delivery £60+VAT where availablerolawn.co.ukchecked July 2026
Turfonline Shadesman+ 50% Poa supina / 50% Poa pratensis; £23.26/m² at 5m², £12.86 at 10m², £6.83 at 50m², £6.72 at 250m²+; 'Perishable living products should be installed on the day of delivery'; standard all-day kerbside pallet delivery included for most UK areas, Tue–Fri; underperforms in deepest shade (under half-day sun may need annual overseeding)turfonline.co.ukchecked July 2026
George Davies Turf shade-tolerant blend (30% perennial ryegrass, 20% tall fescue, 50% smooth-stalked meadowgrass) from £9.00/m²; minimum order 25m² for delivery, 20m² for collection (depots Olney and St Albans); lay same day as delivery or within 24 hours at the latestgeorgedaviesturf.co.ukchecked July 2026
Paynes Turf (Essex turf farm): £3.24/roll collected from the farm; local delivery £3.60 (CO), £3.96 (CM/IP), £4.20 (SS) per roll by postcode; farm's price page dated 27 May 2026paynesturf.co.ukchecked July 2026
Amazon UK search for real lawn turf rolls returns almost entirely artificial grass, grass seed and seed mats; sole genuine fresh-turf listing ('Real Lawn Ready to roll... NO Synthetic') was £126.31 for ~4.5m² (£28.07/m²) with a FREE 5–7 August delivery window (~3 weeks) — confirms Amazon is not a sane route for perishable turf; amazonFit false for all picks; re-verified live in browser 16 July 2026amazon.co.ukchecked July 2026
Hallstone Blended Loam Topsoil Bulk Bag 500L £109 excl. delivery, certified BS3882:2015, screened to minimise stone content (Wickes)wickes.co.ukchecked July 2026
Rolawn Blended Loam Topsoil 750L bulk bag £155.99 (page flags this as 'Special offer – limited time only'), delivery included to most of UK mainland, analysed to BS3882:2015, covers up to 15m² at 50mmrolawn.co.ukchecked July 2026
Verve peat-free top soil 25L £4.50 at B&Q (small-job option)diy.comchecked July 2026
Hertfordshire Soils loose loads: minimum 16 tonnes, economy topsoil £475 excl. VAT per 16t load (planting loam £650 excl. VAT); single tip or 7m-reach grab 'over walls hedges and fences'; delivery only, no collections; loose loads save money vs tonne bags at 16thertfordshiresoils.co.ukchecked July 2026
Topsoil Shop: loose topsoil deliveries from 15 tonnes upwards in 8-wheeler and artic tippers; under 15t they direct buyers to 25L or bulk bagstopsoilshop.co.ukchecked July 2026
BS3882:2015 defines Multipurpose grade topsoil (fit for grass/trees/shrubs) via lab limits on texture, pH, nutrients, organic matter and contaminants; applies to soil that is moved/supplied/tradedtopsoilshop.co.ukchecked July 2026
Westland Growmore Universal Fertiliser 10kg £16 at B&Q (promotional price — was £17)diy.comchecked July 2026
Rolawn GroRight Lawn Establishment Fertiliser 2kg £33.99 direct from Rolawn, covers approx. 50m², NPK 7:10:10rolawn.co.ukchecked July 2026
Rolawn GroRight 2kg £28.00 at AWBS (retailer price for same product)awbsltd.comchecked July 2026
RHS turf-laying guidance: firm new turf gently with a lightweight roller or home-made tamper (no roller purchase needed); general-purpose fertiliser optional at ~35g/m², only on light poor soilrhs.org.ukchecked July 2026
Turf cutter hire £65/day, £100/week (KSS Hire price table; based in Wickford, Essex)ksshire.co.ukchecked July 2026
Turf cutter hire £50 for the first day (L.F. Hire, Doncaster)doncastertoolhire.co.ukchecked July 2026
Hozelock Rectangular Sprinkler Plus 220m² oscillating sprinkler £30 at B&Q (not promotional)diy.comchecked July 2026
Hozelock Select Controller water timer £52.99 (Bosworths Garden Centre; price only — page carries no spec detail)bosworthsgc.co.ukchecked July 2026
Hozelock Select Controller spec: 16 pre-installed programmes, 2-60min watering up to 4 times a day (Hozelock's official Amazon UK listing title)amazon.co.ukchecked July 2026
Live Amazon UK listing exists for Hozelock Rectangular Oscillating Sprinkler Plus 180m² — note: 180m² variant, not the 220m² B&Q model (price not rendered server-side; verify vs B&Q £30)amazon.co.ukchecked July 2026
Live Amazon UK listing exists for Westland Growmore 10kg, ASIN B003KNFDTC, NPK 7-7-7 confirmed in listing (price not rendered server-side; verify vs B&Q £16)amazon.co.ukchecked July 2026
Doing more than just the real lawn?
We'll carry this over — your real lawn and the size you just worked out — and you can add
anything else you're thinking about: clearance, paving, decking, fencing, lawn, driveways, planting.
You end up with one brief to send to three landscapers, so they all price the same job and you can
see which one has quietly left something out.
Doing it yourselves? It sizes your materials list too. Already holding a quote?
It gives you the same numbers we'd check it against.
Patch repairs only
Shade (under half a day's sun)
