Rolled turf or sow yourself??

I just looked out of interest... at first, everywhere promises me something around 2,x€. And when I enter the postal code and quantity, depending on the provider, I end up somewhere around 6-9€. So it seems to be either very region-dependent or just bait offers.

With such small quantities, the freight charges will certainly be high, and of course, that has something to do with the region. It could also well be that it is still the pre-season. But I'm not really sure about that. We also have a regional roll turf supplier here, and the plantations don't look that advanced yet.

Did someone here speak about golf turf? I believe it is being used incorrectly. Golf turf consists of completely different mixtures with much lower cutting heights, etc. The effort here is significantly higher again. Turf is always the most expensive and labor-intensive plant in the garden. How hilly the turf is depends on how the subsoil is prepared. However, this can be balanced out by sanding... General statements like self-sown is better than rolled turf are also useless as long as the respective turf mixtures are not named. One should also say something about maintenance. To bring a self-sown lawn to the level of a rolled turf takes 3 years and quite a bit of work. If there are areas for bees, butterflies, etc. in the garden, there is nothing against turf. I prefer the rotors from Hunter. But that is a matter of taste. You can't go wrong with either of the two manufacturers.

We had the same consideration and then decided on roll-out lawn. The waiting time I saved with it was worth the extra cost to me. We also have Hunter rotators (at the cistern) and an Automower (435x because of the slope). The comfort advantage combined with the fact that it always looks well-maintained is definitely worth it to me. Unfortunately, I managed to over-fertilize a few spots, which I now have to nurse back to health first. But you never stop learning.

Did someone here talk about golf greens? I think that term is used incorrectly. Golf greens are completely different mixtures with a much lower cutting height, etc. Here the effort is clearly much greater again.

He did, but I plead guilty to the leading question :) There is a wide range of grass areas and the terms are often mixed up. At one extreme is the lawn (think golf green, English lawn). Pure grass, lush green, cut short. Accordingly high water and nutrient demand and high maintenance effort. As always, you can partly replace labor with capital and send a robot mower or install an irrigation system. You still have to scarify and fertilize. And, as nicely shows, you can also do quite a bit wrong in the process. At the other extreme is the wildflower meadow. Many different little flowers and grasses grow freely. Nice for wildlife but rather unsuitable for walking on. You don’t have to mow that often, but when you do, it’s with a brush cutter. And in the middle is the herb lawn or flower lawn. Dandelions, clover, and co are tolerated there and tolerate mowing at a higher height reasonably well. Fertilizing and watering are rather unnecessary and mowing is done only every 2-3 weeks. Thinking back about 3-4 weeks, most gardens here don’t have a pure lawn but rather an herb lawn/flower lawn. Colloquially, however, this is also referred to as lawn. That’s why I also asked about the goal. Because you can’t just switch from one area to another. To illustrate, you can look at the poorly done meadows on public areas. There they simply let it grow until June and then go over it with a large mulcher. The result is a lot of tall grass, few flowers and the whole mess hangs over half the bike path after rain...

Robotic mowers do not work on golf greens. They do not cut deep enough. We are talking about cutting heights of 0.5 cm. Daily dew brushing etc. is also necessary. One needs spindle mowers with a grooming unit etc. It also depends on the lawn mixture. A short lawn does not necessarily require more water or nutrients. I am also in favor of balanced vegetation. Alone our wild green roof probably has more area than most gardens. Additionally, beds, climbing plants etc. We have many birds in the garden. The stork comes daily to drink…

There is Kiepenkerl grass seed for dry locations. It does not need water. At least it stayed green without watering through the last 3 summers. However, it will not be a lawn with dense, lush green without weeds and not suitable for robots. When it gets hot and dry, it is not mowed and it hardly grows anymore. It will not become knee-high brushwood. Still, the grass is too tall afterwards to work with a mulching mower. The long blades do not rot quickly enough. Sod is no guarantee for well-maintained, lush, weed-free green.