UK Turf Prices to Increase

Rolawn, Europe's largest turf grower and Britain's leading topsoil supplier forecast that turf prices in the UK are set to increase over the next couple of years. Growing conditions have been particularly difficult throughout the UK recently and the company believes the drought and heat of last summer leading to increased irrigation costs for growers, followed by the floods this year will cause increased drainage costs and damage to turf stock. Added to this the sharp increases in oil prices over the last few years means that the costs of turf production have increased significantly.

Paul Dawson, Rolawn's Managing Director commented "At Rolawn our customers understand that we invest heavily in being able to continuously supply high quality turf year round and we are better placed than any turf grower in the UK to do this. The variation in weather conditions in the UK over the last two years also confirms our approach to developing our new seven cultivar Medallion turf mixture, designed to deliver optimum performance in the changeable British climate. Last year for obvious reasons drought tolerant varieties were at the top of the agenda, and indeed our Medallion mix contains over 50% of highly drought tolerant fescue cultivars. However we take a balanced view and this year has shown that lawns in the UK have to be able to cope under various different conditions.