Garden Advice
Which is Better: Real Turf or Artificial Grass?
Company Stories
[VIDEO] What to Expect When You Book Our Landscaping (+ Benefits)?
- Published: Mar 29/2018
- Last update: Jul 17/2024
- 6min read
- Views: 1,132
Every piece of land is a canvas of possibilities. To transform it into a beautiful garden that expresses your home individuality, your best bet will be to choose a landscaping service. We can’t be more excited when a garden makeover project is coming around.
Why? Because landscaping allows for nurturing a healthy client-contractor relationship by tailoring the service to the client’s needs, vision and desired results.
More often than not, it IS. Landscaping projects and garden makeovers require deep knowledge of plants and materials. These services also take longer to complete and require extra labour. While it’s fairly obvious that quality materials are not as cheap as we would all want to, the effort to clean up a garden to the bare bone and build it again from scratch requires extensive knowledge, skills, and experience.
There are easy ways you can spot a professional landscaping company:
All those factors weigh in on the final price of the service, and will determine its quality.
But it’s safe to say that it’s all worth it in the end, as you are about to find out below.
Let us introduce you to one of our recent garden transformation jobs. We had to start from scratch as the owner asked for a complete redesign, so we had to take four major steps down the road – clearing the garden, paving a patio, laying artificial turf, and adorning the client’s fancy fence with their own trellis.
Project Rundown:
The customer wanted us to cover 23 sq m with artificial grass and lay down additional 20 sq m of patio. We used high quality black tumbled limestone. Finally, we jet washed the dirt and mud from the patio.
It took us five consecutive days to polish the project down to the finest detail, but the end result was more than worth it. Check the video above to see how it went and then scroll down for in-depth details on the service performed.
Read further below for a complete project timeline:
There was much work to be done in the days to follow, so we decided to use one of the best practices we knew of how to deliver all the materials from the very beginning. But before that, we had to make up some space for the new garden to emerge.
We started by cutting off and uprooting some of the existing vegetation from the area which was going to be paved later. Then, we levelled the area and cleared some space for the necessary materials and equipment that were to arrive. No photos were taken this day as our photographer was busy at another location.
The second day was quite busy, but productive. When the team arrived, they installed the timber frame that would eventually form the patio and the artificial turf areas. The next part included filling the frames with aggregates and compacting them well to establish a stiff, even surface.
The area for the artificial lawn was also laid with anti-weed membrane beneath the aggregates to prevent weeds from popping up in the future. In addition, the client asked us to help with installing his own trellis, so we added that to the whole service. The stage was set for the main act to come in the next days!
On the third day, the landscaping team split up their tasks. While one of the landscapers was laying the patio limestones, the other person finished the levelling of the lawn area. In addition to adding a M.O.T. base, the area was also fine-levelled with compacted sand.
The fourth day was mostly about laying the astro turf in a precise manner so that it fits around the already existing plants that we had to keep. The landscapers worked together on the turf to complete what was the heftier part of the job, and then they split the remaining tasks between one another to finish the final installations of the patio.
When all paving slabs were laid and the lawn was attached to the ground, the landscapers filled all gaps with white gravel. It prevents mud from splashing on the fake grass and patio areas when it rains, and at the same time allows for rainwater to reach the plants’ roots. Plus, it looks nice, of course.
On the final day of this project, there were only two tasks left to be done. One of the landscapers jet washed the patio area to wet the surface and to remove any excess dirt and gravel bits on it. He then moved on to wash the decking area which the client also had, while the other specialist pointed the limestones.
The white colour of the grout contrasts the dark pattern of the limestone slabs perfectly, as you may have already noticed. It also matches the white gravel laid in between the gaps and gives the garden an overall stylish look.
***
In summary, this project combined four services together: astro turf laying, trellis installation, paving, and jet washing. But just exactly how beneficial was this work for the owner?
It’s true that landscaping work is often taxing on the wallet. But it’s also true that it’s a type of work that can really turn things around and transform an otherwise bland garden or yard into a beautiful slice of heaven, as seen above. So, if you are looking to realise a vision of your own, but the prices you’ve seen quoted online make you nervous, contact Fantastic Services.
Even if you feel like you’re stuck in a creative rut, our friendly representatives will work with your budget in mind to offer you green space ideas that relax the body, soothe the eyes, and inspire the mind. We only dispatch insured and vetted landscapers who can aid you with anything from patio laying, planting, and fencing to wiring outdoor lighting or installing irrigation systems.
Schedule a viewing.
***
Do you have some comments on the overall process? Are you experienced with landscaping yourself or have you had a landscaping service experience you’d like to share? We’d be delighted to hear more about your thoughts in the comment section below.
The only home improvement newsletter you will ever need!
We will never spam you. Pinky promise!
For more information, check out our privacy policy.