I've never laid an artificial lawn @mswarren21, but i think the ground preparation is similar in ways to a grass lawn. Adequate drainage and get it level. Good link there from Obelixx 👍.
If you were to lay it without digging anything out, you'd need a good thick layer of sand on the stone to prevent it feeling like a picnic blanket on a pebble beach. You may have to install an edging to increase the depth to accommodate inches of sand and prevent it washing away over time.
Be aware that garden areas which have sat under a layer of stones/membrane for years will have very compacted soil, which equals poor drainage for lawns whether it's real or artificial.
Just a word of warning: when I worked in a garden centre we had a permanent display of sheds set on artificial grass, which had been professionally laid. Because of the sand underneath, weed seeds germinated in the artificial grass and it soon looked even more realistic, with dandelions flowering in it... You may need to spray it with weedkiller.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Just a word of warning: when I worked in a garden centre we had a permanent display of sheds set on artificial grass, which had been professionally laid. Because of the sand underneath, weed seeds germinated in the artificial grass and it soon looked even more realistic, with dandelions flowering in it... You may need to spray it with weedkiller.
I don't plan to have artificial turf, but if I did lay it and then got dandelions growing through I would be extremely p'd off.
I suppose that it has to be permeable otherwise there'll be standing water on it, and if water can pass down through it then seedlings can grow through it too ... or am I missing something?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thats good to have love for greenery and you have planted artificial grass in your lawn but i would suggest you to go for rear one. The artificial is somehow difficult to maintain once it start vanishing while the real grass is also good for ground water recharge.
mswarren - it's a fair question but I guess you've learnt by now that in these parts people like to keep their gardens in tune with nature. I learnt that when I started talking about killing aphids
As for laying fake grass, personally I would want to get it professionally fitted. It's not cheap and it could look like a disaster if the prep work isn't done properly, especially after a couple of years.
I think the others have made good comments about maintenance: Weeds and moss can grow in it, and ideally you would wash and vacuum it to keep it looking good. They can also really suffer in high traffic areas so the "grass" looks really flat like a worn carpet.
A half decent fake lawn would cost about £4000 for 50 square metres if done properly (you could spend more if you wanted though!). If lawn maintenance isn't your thing, I would suggest laying your own turf (a bit of work but not too hard), and then putting that £4k towards a gardener. At £15 per visit and 30 visits a year, it would cost £450 a year. So based on these estimates, you can pay for about 8 years of gardening for the price of your fake lawn. That's what I would go for.
My son and dil have a small suburban garden and 4 children. They found that real grass quickly turned into a mud bath and we laid an artificial lawn for them. It was a fairly simple job, not too expensive and means the area is usable all year round. Maybe when the children are bigger they will revert to proper grass but at the moment it's fine.
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Good link there from Obelixx 👍.
If you were to lay it without digging anything out, you'd need a good thick layer of sand on the stone to prevent it feeling like a picnic blanket on a pebble beach.
You may have to install an edging to increase the depth to accommodate inches of sand and prevent it washing away over time.
Be aware that garden areas which have sat under a layer of stones/membrane for years will have very compacted soil, which equals poor drainage for lawns whether it's real or artificial.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
As for laying fake grass, personally I would want to get it professionally fitted. It's not cheap and it could look like a disaster if the prep work isn't done properly, especially after a couple of years.
I think the others have made good comments about maintenance: Weeds and moss can grow in it, and ideally you would wash and vacuum it to keep it looking good. They can also really suffer in high traffic areas so the "grass" looks really flat like a worn carpet.
A half decent fake lawn would cost about £4000 for 50 square metres if done properly (you could spend more if you wanted though!). If lawn maintenance isn't your thing, I would suggest laying your own turf (a bit of work but not too hard), and then putting that £4k towards a gardener. At £15 per visit and 30 visits a year, it would cost £450 a year. So based on these estimates, you can pay for about 8 years of gardening for the price of your fake lawn. That's what I would go for.