Old lawn and debris stripped
Whatever is there comes out. Laying new turf over an old lawn or builders’ leavings is how you get a lumpy one that dies in patches.
Kia ora — the Bay of Plenty’s new lawn install crew
New lawn install across the Bay of Plenty
A new lawn install runs the length of the Bay of Plenty, from bare new-build ground at Pyes Pa to a tired old lawn being replaced in Welcome Bay. The prep underneath decides whether one takes, so that is where most of the work goes before any turf is unrolled.
From $35 per m²ready lawn, supplied & laid
- Ground graded and prepped first
- Turf or seed, honestly advised
- Watering plan for the first weeks
- Police-vetted crew
Ground tested before anything is laid
New lawn install quote
Where the section is, and roughly how big.
Prep done properlyGraded, not laid over rubble
Grass picked for hereWarm-climate varieties
Police-vetted crewChecked before they start
Priced per square metreSupplied and laid
What you get
What a new lawn install actually involves
Roughly three quarters of this job happens before a single roll of turf comes off the truck.
Graded so water runs away
The fall gets set before anything else. A flat-looking section that holds water in one corner will always have a dead corner.
Topsoil to a workable depth
Roots need somewhere to go. Turf rolled onto compacted clay stays a rug sitting on concrete and never knits in.
Turf laid tight and staggered
Rolls butted hard against each other with the joins offset, so there are no gaps to dry out and brown off along the seams.
A watering plan you can follow
Exactly how much and how often for the first fortnight. This is the part that is on you, and the part most people get wrong.
Knowing when to first mow
Told plainly, because mowing too early tears the new roots straight back out of the soil.
Who it is for
When a new lawn install is the right call
Sometimes the existing lawn is worth saving and sometimes it genuinely is not. These are the cases where starting again wins.
New-build sections
Bare fill left behind by the builder. Almost always needs breaking up and topsoil before anything will grow in it properly.
Lawns too far gone to rescue
More weed and bare patch than grass. Past the point where feeding or dethatching gets you anywhere, and starting again is cheaper than chasing it.
After a renovation or a build
Trenches, stacked materials and machinery tracks. The ground needs putting back before a lawn goes over it.
Properties going to market
A fresh lawn is one of the cheapest things that changes how a section photographs and how it feels at an open home.
Around a new pool or deck
The strip left bare after the hard work is finished, usually compacted by everything that was driven over it.
Lawns wrecked by dogs or shade
Worth knowing the cause first. If the dog or the shade is staying, a new lawn in the same spot goes the same way.
Lawn thin but still mostly grass? Starting again may be money you do not need to spend. Weed control and fertilisation or dethatching recovers a lot of lawns people had written off.
The ground, not the turfAny turf looks perfect the day it goes down. What is underneath decides month three.
Water in the first fortnightMore new lawns are lost to under-watering in week two than to anything else.
Leaving the first mow lateCutting before the roots have knitted in lifts the turf straight back off.
Pricing
New lawn prices across the Bay of Plenty
Ready lawn is $35 per square metre to start, supplied and laid. Four things decide where yours sits:
01
Square metresPriced by area, so the measure is the first thing that happens on site.
02
What is under there nowClean level dirt is ready to go. Compacted clay or building leftovers mean machinery and cartage first.
03
Turf or seedTurf costs more and you walk on it sooner. Seed is cheaper and asks you to wait.
04
Getting it onto the sectionTurf is heavy and comes on pallets. A clear driveway and a hand-barrow up a right-of-way are different jobs.
The process
How a new lawn install runs
1
Send the section
Address and rough dimensions to start with.
2
We dig a test hole
What is under the surface sets the real price.
3
Prep, then lay
Stripped, graded, topsoiled, then turf goes down.
4
The first six weeks
You water to the plan and it knits in.
New lawn crew
Why new lawns fail, and how we install instead
A new lawn that dies rarely died because of the turf. It died because it went onto ground nobody prepared, or because the watering stopped in week two. Both are avoidable and neither is the grass’s fault.
We dig before we quote
A test hole shows whether there is topsoil or 100mm of compacted fill down there. Quoting without looking is guessing with your money.
The aftercare is written down
How much water, how often, for how long, and when to make the first cut. A new lawn is a shared job and your half starts the day we leave.
Honest about turf versus seed
Turf is not always the answer. For a big area with time to spare, seed costs a fraction and ends up just as good. We will say which suits you.
Where we install
Bay of Plenty towns we install lawns in
Every town below has a page of its own. Turf travels fine, so a town off the list is usually still workable — worth asking. Our other services are listed on the Bay of Plenty page.
TaurangaCity centre & harbour
Mount MaunganuiBeaches & The Mount
PapamoaCoastal growth suburb
BethlehemRiverside family suburb
OtumoetaiHarbourside peninsula
MatuaQuiet harbourside suburb
OhauitiEstablished residential
OmokoroaPeninsula & orchards
Pyes PaGrowing northern suburb
TaurikoNew-build & lifestyle
Welcome BayEstablished eastern suburb
Te PukeKiwifruit country
Te PunaRural & lifestyle blocks
Local know-how
What a new lawn in the Bay of Plenty has to cope with
The climate here is generous to new grass and generous to everything competing with it. Four local factors we plan around.
Warm-climate grass establishes fast
The varieties that suit this region strike quickly through the warm months, which is an advantage worth using rather than fighting with a cool-climate mix.
A long laying window
Turf goes down most of the year here. Spring to early autumn roots fastest; midwinter works but sits there looking unconvincing for a while.
Drainage shows up quickly
Wet and warm turns a badly graded patch into a yellow one within a season. Getting the fall right costs an hour now and saves digging it up later.
Sand near the coast, clay inland
Coastal sections at Papamoa and the Mount usually want topsoil brought in. Inland around Te Puke the soil is better but heavier, so compaction is the thing to break up.
FAQs
New lawn install questions we get asked
Mostly turf versus seed, and how soon the kids can be on it.
How much does a new lawn cost in the Bay of Plenty?
It opens at $35 a square metre, turf supplied and laid. Where yours lands depends on the area, the condition of the ground underneath, turf versus seed, and how hard it is to get pallets onto the section.
Turf or seed, which should I pick?
Turf if you want a lawn that looks finished the day it goes down. Seed if the area is large and you can wait a couple of months, because it costs a fraction and the end result is the same lawn.
How long before I can walk on it?
Turf roots down enough for light foot traffic within a few weeks in the growing season, longer in winter. A seeded lawn needs to be left alone considerably longer while the seedlings establish.
How much watering does a new lawn need?
A lot, and more often than people expect, for the first fortnight. You get a written plan with amounts and frequency. Under-watering in week two kills more new lawns than anything else we see.
When can I first mow it?
Once the turf has knitted down and resists a gentle tug. Mowing before that lifts the rolls straight back off. We tell you what to look for rather than giving you a date to tick off.
Can you lay turf over my existing lawn?
No, and anyone who offers to should be questioned. The old lawn and its thatch have to come out or the new turf sits on a spongy layer that will not let roots through.
What if my section is just compacted fill?
Common on new builds and it is why we dig a test hole first. Compacted fill needs breaking up and topsoil brought in. It costs more, and skipping it is how you end up relaying in two years.
Can you do it in winter?
Yes. Turf laid in the cold months establishes slowly and looks unconvincing for a while, but it takes. If you are not in a hurry, waiting for spring gets a faster result.
Do you handle the old lawn and spoil?
Everything stripped out goes on the trailer, including the old turf and any excess soil from the grading. You are not left with a heap on the drive.
Which Bay of Plenty towns do you install in?
Bethlehem, Otumoetai, Matua and Tauranga on the harbour side. Ohauiti, Welcome Bay, Papamoa and Mount Maunganui east. Tauriko, Pyes Pa, Omokoroa, Te Puna and Te Puke west and inland. Somewhere else, ask us.
More across the Bay of Plenty
What a new Bay of Plenty lawn needs next
Lawn preparation is most of the job and most of the cost, which is why the ground work carries its own line on the quote. Once the lawn is down it wants mowing on a round and weed control and fertilisation through its first season.
Get a new lawn install quote
Send the address and rough section size. We measure it and check what is under the surface.
