Installing new turf in Sydney North - talk to Green Care (James & Josh)

Mom's place lawn was over grown. Over ran with weeds. Not much of the original lawn left. We finally bit the bullet and looked for someone to put in a new lawn.

I have dug into the weeds in this project so to speak. Haha.. No pun intended.

My "advice" to people out there is it is a jungle out there. Talk to more people before you decide.

Here is the background. We have three levels in the garden. Total area is only about 130-140sqm depends on how you measure. So area is not so big. Tricky part is access. There are 20 steps to the first level. Then another 10 to the next level. Then another 8 to the next level. The house has front and back access. So if delivery can be done from front and back, it can minimize the moving stuffs around.

Pretty much everyone I talked to told me it was not an easy job (because of access). Imagine the large "rolls" of grass and then having to carry about 100 or so of the rolls up and down the steps.

This is what I learnt about laying new lawns... First, the old lawn needs to be poisoned (or dug up). Soil needs to be tilted. Then a new layer of top soil is spread over the old area. Fertilize. Then the new lawn is laid on top. So not rocket science but a lot of sweat.

And then I dug into the cost of lawn. We were looking for buffalo. Matt was telling us that a sqm of buffalo would cost $15-16 as the base case. Then I searched online. Essentially, one could buy buffalo direct from the farms (say in Windsor for $10-11/sqm). Delivery would be between $1-200 to where we are (sydney metro area).

Also some farms will even install the lawn for you. But they need you to prepare the ground first. For 120-130sqm with 20-30 steps, I was quoted $900 for installation i.e. they will carry the rolls up the steps and install the turf. I tried but could not get any quote just to prep the ground.

We got a few quotes from landscapers in Sydney, through one of the trade services websites. the quotes were all over the place... From $5-6K to $7-8K to $11-12K.

I also got a quote from a farm who will do preparation and installation of turf end to end... Their quote was $90/sqm or $110/sqm if they need more top soil. Or over $10K in total.

When I met with different folks, I asked them how long would the job take... Most answered 2-3 days with 2-3 guys.

Now if we back out the price of the lawn ($10-15/sqm depends on if the landscaper is lazy or cluey), we can see that some landscapers were looking to charge a lot for labor (of 2 or 3 guys over 2 or 3 days).

James from Green Care dropped by and offered us a quote as well. James and his mate (Josh) have an interesting story. Both are full time uni students. They started Green Care together only a few months ago (early 26) to do lawn and gardening work. They typically work in the North Shore area. They were friendly. Straight forward to deal with. Did not try to impress us what a herculean task it could be, unlike others. James just told us that it would take him and Josh 2 days and his day rate was this... He sent us a quote based on labor + materials. His quote was about 10-15% lower than the next quote.

The new turf looks great. He did a good job preparing the ground. James and Josh completed the project in 2 days, although on the second day, they got a friend (a rugby player) to help to move the turf.

If you are in the North Shore area, looking for someone to help with the garden or lay a new turf, worthwhile to have a chat with James and Josh. They are good "lads". Straight forward to deal with. Good honest folks.