Artifical turf for a lush, green lawn all year round
Way back in 2008 I made the decision to give up on my small lawn, having already spent way too much on planting and re-planting with different grasses to have a lush green lawn. Too much shade and poor draining in the rainy season resulted in a patchy lawn that was a sad sight to behold.
The main problem was that this spot was shady for most of the day and the area tended to become water-logged during the raining season. At this time, a new product was being launched onto the market by Belgotex: DuraTurf, a synthetic lawn that looked and felt like the real thing.
It has been 5 years since the initial installation and my lawn still looks as lush and green as the day it was installed. When visitors pop round during the winter months, when everyone else's grass is brown - mine is still a glorious green.
While you may not think that artificial lawn is not exactly a move towards becoming more green, if you will excuse the pun. If you think about how much money and resources I have saved in the last four years, and the green manufacturing process used for the product, then it does actually make more sense.
Of course, an artificial lawn is not for everyone, but it's definitely something to consider in a small garden where you are battling to achieve a lush, green lawn, or where children play, or where there is lots of foot traffic.
Installing artificial turf can be done in a weekend, depending on the size of the area, and you need to remove any existing grass and level out the surface, making sure to remove any stones and rake level. We also had to install a French drain to re-direct excess water that pooled in this area of the garden. A trench was dug to lay a large diameter PVC pipe drilled with holes and this was covered with landscape fabric and the trench filled with small gravel and the water directed to a deep hole dug into the garden to allow for drainage away from the property foundations.
With the surface level and free of small stones it is now simply a matter of laying the artificial turf - or my garden carpet as I like to call it ! The artificial turf is delivered in a roll as a carpet would be, and is unrolled to cover the area.
You can use a sharp craft or utility knife to cut away any excess, or to cut to fit around walls or fittings. Where sections need to be joined together you are provided with all the instructions necessary for joining the seams with glue and tape.
