An artificial lawn that held the smell of three dogs, relaid properly on a new base, with the borders replanted.
// The brief
Sam's artificial lawn had been laid on sharp sand, and with three dogs it smelt, worst of all in the sun.
Sam already had artificial grass, but it had been laid on sharp sand. With three dogs, the sand soaked up the smell.
The grass was ripping where the dogs dug at it, and the edges kept coming up. Old sleepers ran across the middle to split the two levels. The borders were thin, a lot of the plants had died, and there were leylandii the family really didn't like.
// Before and after
Both are real photos of this job, taken before we started and when we finished.
// What we did
We stripped the lawn back to the stone base, put the base right, and relaid it on granite dust: fine crushed stone that packs down firm and lets water drain through. The new grass has a latex-free PU backing, because latex is the part of a backing that holds the smell of dog urine. That took seven days, finished in March.
In July we came back to replant the borders. Out went the dead plants and the leylandii. A nursery drew up the planting plan with us: different heights and colours, flowering at different times of year, so the beds stay full without being crowded. The soil is heavy clay, so we dug out the deep beds and refilled them with topsoil, manure and grit, and worked grit and manure into the narrow ones.
// Problems we solved
The problem
The old grass sat on sharp sand. With three dogs, the sand held the smell, and on a warm day the whole lawn smelt.
How we solved it
We dug the sand out and relaid on granite dust, with new grass on a PU backing. It has no latex, and latex is the part of a backing that holds the smell of dog urine.
The problem
Under the sand, the stone base had barely been put in. In places there was about 20 mm of it before we hit the membrane.
How we solved it
We dug down where it was low and built it back up with fresh MOT Type 1, the crushed stone a lawn sits on, so the new grass has a firm, even base all the way across.
The problem
The grass was screwed to thin timber battens round the edge. They had rotted, so the grass kept coming up.
How we solved it
We set charcoal block edging on concrete all round the lawn and glued the grass to it. The sleepers between the two levels became charcoal blocks too, to match the slate-grey paving.
“It just wasn't laid properly at all.”
// Honestly
// More photos
A garden paved wall to wall, opened up with curved paving, two lawns and proper drainage.
Chalfont
80 square metres of sandstone, raised to house height over failing concrete.
Luton
A garden left half dug by another firm, made safe and rebuilt with a porcelain patio and lawn.
Got a garden like this?
Book a free design consultation. We’ll look at the space with you and talk through what’s possible.
Book a free design consultation, get an instant estimate online, or call us on 01582 377 593.
Where we work. Dunstable, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, and the towns and villages in between.