Turf calculator
Enter your lawn dimensions in metres — or a total area for odd shapes — and get the number of rolls to order, with the industry-standard cutting allowance and the delivery weight you should expect on the pallet.
How the calculation works
Turf quantity is a unit count: lawn area divided by the coverage of one roll, rounded up, plus a cutting allowance. The UK standard roll coversapproximately 1 m² —Rolawn's Medallion specification is 610 mm × 1,640 mm, cut roughly 12.5 mm deep, weighing 15–20 kg depending on moisture. Because rolls are whole units, the calculator always rounds up — 52.5 m² of ordering area means 53 rolls, and part-rolls trimmed from edges are the allowance working as intended, not waste gone wrong.
Worked example
A 10 m × 5 m rectangular lawn:
- Area: 10 × 5 = 50 m²
- Cutting allowance at Rolawn's recommended 5%: 50 × 1.05 = 52.5 m²
- Rolls: 52.5 ÷ 1 m², rounded up = 53 rolls
- Delivery weight: 53 × 15–20 kg ≈ 795–1,060 kg — a pallet, arriving on a lorry that needs somewhere to put it
Measuring awkward lawns
Split any lawn into rectangles, calculate each, and add the areas — the total-area field takes the sum directly. For circles, use radius × radius × 3.14; for borders that curve, measure to the widest point and let the cutting allowance absorb the difference. Bump the allowance to 10% when the design is mostly curves: a kidney-shaped lawn produces offcuts at every edge, and turf offcuts, unlike paving offcuts, die before you find a use for them.
The clock starts when the lorry leaves
Turf is a perishable living product. Rolawn's guidance is blunt: lay immediately on delivery in spring and summer, within 24 hours in autumn and winter. Rolled-up turf heats from the inside in warm weather — the middle of the stack yellows first — so preparation order matters: rootzone cultivated, levelled and firmedbefore the delivery date, rolls laid the same day, watered within half an hour of the last roll going down. If the ground needs imported soil first, thetopsoil calculator sizes that order at 100 mm for the same area.
Frequently asked questions
How many rolls of turf do I need per square metre?
One — the UK standard turf roll covers approximately 1 m². Rolawn, the UK’s biggest turf grower, specifies its Medallion rolls at 610 mm wide by 1,640 mm long (1.0 m²), cut about 12.5 mm deep. So for a simple lawn, the m² area is the roll count before the cutting allowance; some suppliers sell smaller rolls, which is what the custom option handles.
How much extra turf should I order for cutting?
Rolawn’s own ordering guidance is to allow 5% for cutting and shaping, and that is this calculator’s default. Go to 10% for lawns with curves, circles or island beds — every curved edge produces offcuts that rarely find a second home. Under-ordering is the expensive mistake: a second delivery of a few rolls costs disproportionate money and arrives days later than the lawn you already laid.
How much does a roll of turf weigh?
Typically 15–20 kg per standard roll depending on how moist the soil is when harvested (Rolawn’s published figure). That matters twice: a 50-roll pallet is around a tonne — plan where the delivery goes — and moving eighty rolls by hand is a genuine day’s work, so have the ground ready before the lorry arrives.
How quickly does turf need to be laid?
Immediately upon delivery in spring and summer, and within 24 hours in autumn and winter, per Rolawn’s guidance. Turf is a living plant rolled up without light or much water; it heats and yellows in the stack remarkably fast in warm weather. Schedule delivery for the morning you intend to lay, not the weekend before.
How deep should topsoil be under new turf?
Rolawn recommends turf is laid onto a well-prepared rootzone, and around 100 mm of quality topsoil is the standard figure for a new lawn where the existing soil is poor. If you are importing soil, our topsoil calculator turns the same lawn area at 100 mm into cubic metres, tonnes and bulk bags — the two orders usually travel together.
Can I lay new turf on top of an existing lawn?
No — the new roots need to reach soil, not a thatch of dying grass, and the double layer settles unevenly as the old turf rots. Strip the old lawn, cultivate, level, firm and rake the surface, then lay. The preparation is most of the work and nearly all of the result; turf laid on a poor surface fails no matter how good the turf.
About the numbers on this page
The roll dimensions, weights, cutting allowance and laying windows are Rolawn's published specifications — the same grower whose topsoil ordering figure ourtopsoil calculator reproduces in automated tests; read how CubicMath works. Doing the job yourself? Our guide to laying turf covers ground preparation, the brickwork laying pattern, watering and the first mow. Different supplier, different roll? Enter their coverage per roll with the custom option — their spec sheet wins. Spotted a figure that looks off?Tell us — we check ours against the published sources.