My garden turfing diary (pic heavy)

[Pints]

Eventually made the decision to replace the grass in our little garden with artificial turf.

Here are the progress pics:

Garden cleared of washline and kids' toys


Grass chopped ready for removal


Turf being removed


Stone base being loaded




Stone base being compacted




Underlay being laid


Turf being laid


Finished product


All done in a matter of 4 and a half hours. The two HalfPints love their new garden, and there's no mud being hauled into the house.

Definitely a decision I'm very glad I made.

[worley]

Good decision, grass is for the gardener to cut; failing that, concrete or astro!

[broken biscuit]

Would you mind giving me a ballpark figure for this? Had our garden turfed, but its not taking due to lack of sunlight, so this may well be an option for us.

[Toyless]

Surely friction burns are a bigger worry than a bit of mud ?








Seriously ?

[sussexjob]

but does this grass smells like a mouldy dish cloth after a while, i've heard from a friend who worked in this field/business.

[Dift]

Was in two minds whether to do this to my garden, albeit on a slightly larger scale.

Decided just to go for some normal turf, however the foxes are currently having mucho fun digging it up...

Kinda wish I had gone for the "fake" turf at the moment.

[Pints]

broken biscuit said:

Would you mind giving me a ballpark figure for this? Had our garden turfed, but its not taking due to lack of sunlight, so this may well be an option for us.

Top options in the range were £50 to £55 per m2 (fitted), which is what I went with.

[Pints]

Toyless said:

Surely friction burns are a bigger worry than a bit of mud ?








Seriously ?

This stuff is a far cry from the astro turf you played hockey on in your formative years.

Length of the turf is 26mm, although a 36mm option is also available for those especially concerned with carpet burn.

As mentioned, the 2 HalfPints have been running, falling and rolling on the stuff every day since it was put in (something they weren't doing on the real grass), and at the ages of 1.5 and 3 they'll very quickly let me know if something hurts.

[Pints]

sussexjob said:

but does this grass smells like a mouldy dish cloth after a while, i've heard from a friend who worked in this field/business.

I haven't had it long enough to give a definitive answer, but it does sound as though that would be caused by inadequate drainage.
My manager has had the same stuff for over 4 years and he has had no problems in that time. He also said it's one of the best decisions he's made.

[twiglove]

How do you 'clean' it, Just get the vacuum cleaner out?

[Pints]

twiglove said:

How do you 'clean' it, Just get the vacuum cleaner out?

The rain keeps it clean, or a hose during the drier seasons. I don't have any large trees around to dump its nasty leaves, but it I did I'd use a leaf-blower.

[Toyless]

Pints said:

This stuff is a far cry from the astro turf you played hockey on in your formative years.

Length of the turf is 26mm, although a 36mm option is also available for those especially concerned with carpet burn.

As mentioned, the 2 HalfPints have been running, falling and rolling on the stuff every day since it was put in (something they weren't doing on the real grass), and at the ages of 1.5 and 3 they'll very quickly let me know if something hurts.

Ah, ok, thanks for the reply.

[SPR2]

twiglove said:

How do you 'clean' it, Just get the vacuum cleaner out?

Yes a vacuum cleaner works well on it.

[KenBlocksPants]

So was that £55 per sq metre fitted or just the product?

Your patch looks identical in size to mine, do you mind me asking how much 'all in' it was?

Thanks

Edit, sorry just read you said fitted.

[Pints]

KenBlocksPants said:

So was that £55 per sq metre fitted or just the product?

Your patch looks identical in size to mine, do you mind me asking how much 'all in' it was?

Thanks

Edit, sorry just read you said fitted.

YHM

[dickymint]

What's the white gritty stuff He is using on the edges?

[Pints]

dickymint said:

What's the white gritty stuff He is using on the edges?

Just a fine sand. Prevents pooling of water during heavy rain.