How we chose
We started from the twenty-seven artificial grass and landscaping firms Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the BALI accredited member directory, the Environment Agency waste carrier register, each firm's own website and platforms such as Checkatrade [3] [4]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Eleven firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Start by matching the firm to the job. A specialist installer or landscaper owns the full build, from lifting the old lawn to laying the new one, while a supply-only yard suits you only if you or your own fitter will do the groundwork. Measure the lawn roughly, note shaded corners, soggy patches, pets and how the garden drains after rain, and say which rooms the fitters will carry materials through. Firms quoting blind on area alone usually revisit the price later.
Know what a proper installation includes so you can compare quotes. The old turf and a good depth of soil should come out, then go a compacted stone sub-base, a weed membrane, edging to hold the shape, and turf jointed and infilled to sit flat. Checkatrade's worked example for a thirty-square-metre lawn lists skip hire, crushed stone, labour, turf and jointing extras as separate lines [1]. If a quote skips the dig-out or the sub-base, ask what holds the lawn up and where rainwater goes.
Check the paperwork that matters for this trade. There is no licence for laying artificial grass itself, so the checks are about the business around it. Anyone carting soil and old turf away should sit on the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers, which you can search by business name [3]. Limited companies should match their Companies House record [6], and the BALI directory lists accredited landscapers you can search by area [4]. Ask for public liability insurance details and one recent local lawn you could view from the pavement.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same measured area, each separating turf, groundworks, waste removal and VAT so you compare like with like. Every quote should name the turf range, the depth of the dig-out, the sub-base, edging, start date, access route and payment stages. A deposit for materials is normal, while full payment in cash before work starts is not, and Citizens Advice sets out your options if a trader lets you down [5]. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question, not a bargain.
Telford gardens add their own wrinkles. Many new-build plots are small and overlooked, so agree where materials sit and how the fitters protect fences and neighbouring drives. Terraces with no side access mean everything comes through the house, which should appear in the quote. Ask where vans and any skip will park, since estate roads and permit bays complicate deliveries, and agree who reinstates any disturbed beds or paths.
At the end, collect the paperwork before you pay the balance: the final invoice against the quoted scope, the turf guarantee and the workmanship warranty in writing, with who to call if seams lift or dips appear. Photograph the finished lawn in daylight while the fitters are still there. File everything with your house papers, since a documented guarantee follows the garden when you sell.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, national cost guides put a professional supply-and-fit job at £45–£80 per square metre including the sub-base [1], with MyBuilder averaging £60–£75 installed [2]. For example, a twenty-square-metre lawn at those rates works out at roughly £900–£1,600 fitted. Get two or three local quotes to find where your garden lands, since access and ground conditions move most jobs off the average.
Turf alone costs far less: budget rolls run £9–£14 per square metre, mid-range £14–£24, and premium £25–£45 [1]. Fitters charging by the day ask £300–£600 [1]. Checkatrade's worked example for a thirty-square-metre lawn totals £1,756 including skip hire, crushed stone, labour and turf [1]. Supply-only turf from a local yard suits confident layers with their own fitter far better than full-service buyers.
Access moves the price most: barrowing tonnes of soil and stone through the house costs more than backing a van to an open drive, and lawns that hold water need deeper excavation and drainage work. Shape matters too, since curves and corners waste more turf off the roll, and small lawns cost more per square metre because the fixed labour barely shrinks [2]. The turf range itself, old-lawn removal and skip hire, and edging around beds and paths all add or subtract.
Ask whether each quote includes VAT or adds it on top, since published ranges rarely say. Get the scope in writing before work starts: the measured area, the turf range and pile, the dig-out depth, the sub-base, edging, waste removal, the guarantee terms and what changes the price if the ground proves worse than expected. Agree payment stages and keep every quote, invoice and guarantee together.
Red flags
Prices your lawn per square metre without visiting, measuring or asking for photos of the access and levels.
Cannot be found on the Environment Agency waste carrier register when the job includes carting soil and old turf away [3].
Gives one fixed price with no breakdown of turf, groundworks, waste removal and VAT [1].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [5].
Will not name the turf range or put the turf and workmanship guarantees in writing.
Brushes off drainage or dips in a lawn that holds water instead of pricing the base work to fix it.
Will not put the measured area, start date and price in writing before lifting a tool.
The bottom line
For most Telford gardens, start with Tradestone Construction Ltd: a long-trading builder for the whole project, flawless reviews on two public sites and free quotations, asking for proof of cover and an itemised quote first since insurance and rates stay unpublished. If the job centres on a driveway or patio with grass alongside, Right Choice Surfacing Ltd is the closer match, with stated cover and a free survey route.
Match the firm to the job otherwise: V Scapes for a specialist lawn or putting green, SM Landscaping for grass inside a wider redesign, and Tafs for supply-only grass with local delivery. Then get two or three itemised quotes on the same measured area, confirm the waste carrier registration and insurance in writing, and keep every quote, invoice and guarantee together.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.