Preparing for Artificial Grass In Your Garden
Before getting artificial grass in your garden. There are a few things that you need to do. If you weren't aware, you can't just install artificial grass on turf or soil. You need to prepare the area first. If you are having a company do the install they should do it for you. However, it can save a lot of money if you do it yourself.
Additionally, if you are doing the full install yourself, you will need to prep the base work yourself. This is probably one of the most tedious steps. If you are doing the base work yourself, you may as well just finish off the install yourself to save a lot of money. See this post on how to install artificial grass.
However, albeit tedious, the base is by far the most important step that you don’t want to mess up. If your base works are done correctly, the install will last for many years. However if done incorrectly, your install may not make it past the first year. So this step is crucial to do correctly. In this post we are going to give you our main tips on installing artificial grass.
Preparation Tips
When creating your base you want to use a multi layered stone base we use 50-60mm of MOT type 2 stone and then a further 10-20mm of grit sand or granno dust, whacked. Once whacked, the total levels may only come out to 50-60mm. This helps to ensure a good surface to lay the grass on and increases how well the area can drain.
In some cases you may need to also install a herring bone drain if your garden is particularly bad with standing water. Or the area is made up mostly of clay making it hard for the water to soak away. The above measurements area minimum and to create good levels within your garden some areas need to have more stone.
We have had gardens where in places 500mm of MOT was needed to create a level garden. But as long as you have the minimum in any area, your base works will be good.
You also will need to dig off all of the natural turf and take the soil down somewhat. This ensures when you install the grass that it will lie flush with the house, patio or anything else the grass may go up to. Once this is down, you will also need to install a perimeter or edging for your artificial grass to be screwed into. Our preferred method for this would be timber or composite edging. However in some cases we use a concrete border with plugs and screws instead.
Our final tip for preparing your garden would be look for moles. If your garden has moles, you want to make sure they are caught and removed. Now you can install mole mesh as well, but removing the moles beforehand will ensure they your grass doesn’t see moles tear through it. If they do this is going to prove a very expensive and time consuming issue for you. There will surely be a mole catcher in your area you can contact to remove the moles before you install your artificial grass.
However if you have moles removed, we would still recommend a mole mesh. There is a reason they are in your garden in the first place, which means others may follow suit potentially ruining your newly installed artificial lawn.
Finally, if you are removing a lot of grass and earth, don't forget to order a skip. You need somewhere for all the natural material, off cuts and any other rubbish to go. A lot of people forget this when doing an install themselves, so don't get caught short.