People ask what a new lawn costs per square metre, and the turf price is the smallest part of the answer. The real cost of lawn installation in Adelaide is in what happens before the rolls arrive. This guide breaks the job into its parts, compares the three turf types that suit Adelaide, and explains where it is worth spending.
The parts of a lawn installation
- Removal. Old lawn, weeds, builders' rubble on new sites. The more there is to take out, the more it costs.
- Soil. A new lawn needs 100 mm or more of good sandy loam over the existing ground, improved with organic matter. Skip this and the lawn struggles on Adelaide's clay every summer.
- Levelling and compaction. A gentle fall away from the house, no hollows, a fine finish.
- Irrigation. Pop-up sprinklers or sub-surface drip, installed before the turf so the lawn gets water evenly from day one.
- Turf. Priced per square metre, delivered on pallets, and laid the day it arrives.
- Laying and aftercare. Rolls laid brickwork-fashion, rolled, watered in, with a watering and first-mow schedule.
Kikuyu, Buffalo and Couch compared
| Kikuyu | Soft-leaf Buffalo | Couch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turf price | Lowest | Highest | Mid |
| Shade tolerance | Poor | Good | Poor |
| Wear and recovery | Excellent | Good | Good |
| Winter colour | Fair | Good | Browns off |
| Water needs | Moderate | Moderate to low | Low |
| Mowing | Frequent in summer | Fortnightly | Frequent, low cut |
| Invasiveness | Runs into beds | Contained | Runs |
| Best for | Full-sun family yards, Tea Tree Gully and Golden Grove new builds | Part-shade established gardens in Norwood, Burnside, Magill | Full-sun show lawns |
Kikuyu is the budget workhorse: cheap, tough, fast to establish, and it will take a football. It will also invade your garden beds, so it needs edging. Soft-leaf Buffalo (Sir Walter and similar) costs more per square metre but copes with the dappled shade of the established eastern-suburbs gardens, stays greener in winter and stays where you put it. Couch gives the finest, tightest surface but wants full sun, a low regular mow and goes brown in winter unless you oversow.
Where the money is well spent
If the budget is tight, spend it on soil and irrigation and choose Kikuyu, rather than buying Buffalo and laying it on unimproved clay with no watering system. A cheaper turf on good preparation beats a premium turf on bad preparation every time.
Timing affects the price too
Spring and autumn are the easiest times to establish a lawn in Adelaide, and turf farms are busiest in spring. Laying in summer works but needs more water and more attention. Winter laying is slow to knit. I avoid laying during heatwaves entirely.
Questions to ask before you accept a quote
- How deep is the soil being brought in, and what is it?
- Is the old lawn and any rubble being removed, or just covered?
- Is irrigation included, and is it going in before the turf?
- Which turf variety, and from which farm?
- Does the price include laying, rolling, watering in and the aftercare schedule?
A quote that cannot answer these is a quote for the turf, not for a lawn.
I install lawns across Tea Tree Gully, Modbury, Golden Grove, Norwood and Adelaide's eastern suburbs, with the irrigation in first. See turf installation or get a quote, and mention the size of the area and how much sun it gets.