Advise on sorting lawn ready for artificial grass

gemma.threadgoldPB7Z1krJ

So I have tried and tried to get my lawn to take with the clay clumpy ground I have here since we moved in 2019, thought I cracked it in summer got myself those stabby airiating? Shoes and plodded about and the grass looked great roll around to Oct/November it started dying

so my boys (pooches) got cut off from the garden again at this point and we installed the fence , we had a little go at faking it on the patio section yesterday with just just cheap bit of grass from BNQ, digging that by hand wasn't terrible but will definitely be getting thicker grass for the main section.

But looking at it the last few days I have had enough 😑 and so I'm going to artifical it for my sanity and so we can actually use the garden all year round. 

So my question is where do we start so we need to get a turf remover first then rotavate it or will it just rotavate 

Pete.8

I think you should choose which type of artificial lawn you want then speak to the manufacturer and ask how to prepare the ground.
They'll know what needs to be done for a successful installation.

AnniD

From what l gather, you'll need to remove any existing lawn first. As in all things, preparation is the thing.
https://www.carpetright.co.uk/artificial-grass/how-to-lay-artificial-grass/

You can lift the turf and stack it upside down in a corner somewhere, it will eventually rot down and you can add it to any flower beds you might have (or offer it to any gardening neighbours). 

Alternatively you might be so fed up of the sight of it you might just want to chuck it in a skip 

Fairygirl

I agree. You need a proper base with hardcore/and etc, so the turf isn't suitable for laying the plastic stuff on top. You can remove it yourself and stack it though, as @AnniD says. It isn't too difficult unless it's very dry.

The stabby shoes for aerating grass are a waste of time. Even good crampons wouldn't do the job

Cambridgerose12

I see where you're coming from with this, but I am not convinced artificial grass will prove to be the right answer. It fades and curls over time and never looks quite natural; also, it's really bad for the environment.

Had you thought of planting the soil area with low-growing shrubs? Your lawn isn't happy because of the wear on it from the dogs, but also, by the look of things, because of shade and compaction. With the dogs around you'll never manage to keep it looking nice. But some ground-covering shrubs to soften the edges, and then some gravel near the paving slabs, might solve your problems. It partly depends on the sort of look you want.

gemma.threadgoldPB7Z1krJ

AnniD said:

From what l gather, you'll need to remove any existing lawn first. As in all things, preparation is the thing.
https://www.carpetright.co.uk/artificial-grass/how-to-lay-artificial-grass/

You can lift the turf and stack it upside down in a corner somewhere, it will eventually rot down and you can add it to any flower beds you might have (or offer it to any gardening neighbours). 

Alternatively you might be so fed up of the sight of it you might just want to chuck it in a skip 

I have a hippo bag already of soil from the small section we have just dug out 😂

Thank you will check it out 😁

gemma.threadgoldPB7Z1krJ

Fairygirl said:

I agree. You need a proper base with hardcore/and etc, so the turf isn't suitable for laying the plastic stuff on top. You can remove it yourself and stack it though, as @AnniD says. It isn't too difficult unless it's very dry.

The stabby shoes for aerating grass are a waste of time. Even good crampons wouldn't do the job

It's not dry as such but like concrete 😆 it always has been since we moved in it's always been dead as such or just full of weeds 

Which is why I was wondering if a rotavator straight off would be OK as there's not really much turf. 🤔 

Fairygirl

Grass needs sun, drainage and moisture to thrive. If you don't have that, it's difficult. Once you had in dogs/children it's even harder. 
There'll still be all the root system, so yes - it might be easier to rotovate it, but a turf stripper would be better. Rotovating means you still have all the soil/turf, so your plastic grass would be at a higher level. Same as if you laid it on the existing grass. If that doesn't matter, that's fine, but you'd need a border/retaining edge for it all.

I personally wouldn't have plastic grass either, but it's your choice as to what suits your lifestyle etc. 

gemma.threadgoldPB7Z1krJ

Cambridgerose12 said:

I see where you're coming from with this, but I am not convinced artificial grass will prove to be the right answer. It fades and curls over time and never looks quite natural; also, it's really bad for the environment.

Had you thought of planting the soil area with low-growing shrubs? Your lawn isn't happy because of the wear on it from the dogs, but also, by the look of things, because of shade and compaction. With the dogs around you'll never manage to keep it looking nice. But some ground-covering shrubs to soften the edges, and then some gravel near the paving slabs, might solve your problems. It partly depends on the sort of look you want.

I have gone over this a lot I am OK with the unnatural look , the dogs haven't been on the grass since Oct last year the grass has just never rooted this is what we had when we moved in 😆  

We definitely aren't experts amd have no clue what what are doing DIY wise but we have been learning by doing with the help 9f Google and you tube!, we added a patio extension then put a lean too up, though accidentally killed a bit of grass off while ee mixed concrete from the patio base 🙄😬

Fake grass I know is bad for the environment but surely completely slabbing isn't much different? We did discuss the possibility of just slabbing but I am not keen

The garden I managed to get looking pretty good but I just can't get this grass to take my boys just plod about they wee up fences not on the grass so it's not burning it....its looks bad currently as I had been stabbing it again in prep to reseed but its done for 😆

gemma.threadgoldPB7Z1krJ

Fairygirl said:

Grass needs sun, drainage and moisture to thrive. If you don't have that, it's difficult. Once you had in dogs/children it's even harder. 
There'll still be all the root system, so yes - it might be easier to rotovate it, but a turf stripper would be better. Rotovating means you still have all the soil/turf, so your plastic grass would be at a higher level. Same as if you laid it on the existing grass. If that doesn't matter, that's fine, but you'd need a border/retaining edge for it all.

I personally wouldn't have plastic grass either, but it's your choice as to what suits your lifestyle etc. 

I think the drainage is the problem our neighbours in our cal de sac have either total gravel or slabbed gardens, one neighbour completely returfed and that looks OK the neighbour next door has the same issue as us with the garden just clumpy and patchy. 

Thank you as long as I can get it a good depth so I can put a decent membrane and base layer down for drainage underneath I will be happy, I shall have to have a border around the outside as I have my roses and rather a border around the adjoining fences 😊 

Chris-P-Bacon

In this instance, and if it's in your budget, I'd hire a contractor to pave it and if required install some drainage.
Grass in that situation is an utter waste of time.
I'm not going to recommend artificial grass because..well..it's crap - it looks awful, it'll smell of dog pee before too long, it'll fade..etc etc..
After all that I'd add a few nice largish terracotta pots with evergreen shrubs.