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Goodbye Astro - Hello Clover Lawn (I Hope)

Kayleigh.GKayleigh.G Posts: 21
in Garden design
We inherited artificial grass in our new house (lucky us). It will be coming up to two years since we moved in and I cannot take it any longer!

I have done a fair amount of work on the garden. Raised beds and pots galore to create a planty haven, I even built my own pergola to climb plants up (the jasmine is so happy!), but I cannot cope with the fake grass.

It is not our forever home, but I have become so fond of gardening I thought I would try my hand at ripping up that awful plastic stuff and planting a clover lawn!

Now, is it worth it? Will it be hard? Can I even achieve this? 

Our garden is west facing, gets a lot of morning sun which does stay for the majority of the afternoon where the lawn will be. We have some huge trees at the end of our garden (behind our fence) which can cast some shade from the late morning. Our left hand fence can also cast shade, but plants seem to survive near this area as it is warm and sheltered.

I have no idea what is beneath the plastic lawn. I think its some kind of stoney, soily mess. I assume a lot of compost and top soil will be needed.

Please help me, sincerely a 27 year old novice gardener who hates plastic grass!  B)
West facing garden in North Hertfordshire. Novice gardener but a long time house plant lover!
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  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    edited 26 January
    I have no personal experience of doing this but l have a feeling it might be a tricky job. I seem to recall a forum member saying something about doing it and taking the old astroturf to the tip, so hopefully there is someone on here who has experience. 
    I know someone who has recently had some installed and the preparation was quite involved, so as you say it's not just a question of getting the stuff up but sorting out the preparation for the clover lawn.

    In the meantime, l've found this, hopefully it will help until someone with hands on experience arrives.

    https://thegrasspeople.com/how-to-replace-artificial-grass/

    Edited to add, l think clover lawns prefer a fair bit of light,  so from your description l think you should be ok, but might think about changing the shape/size of the lawn area while you're about it. 

    https://thegrasspeople.com/eco-clover-lawn

    No connection to this company l hasten to add !
  • Kayleigh.GKayleigh.G Posts: 21
    Oh yes, I have actually been on this website a few times as I know they sell clover and grass mix for lawns.

    Thank you :)
    West facing garden in North Hertfordshire. Novice gardener but a long time house plant lover!
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I wonder why the previous owners decided plastic grass was needed? Sometimes it's just laziness but make sure there wasn't an issue like poor drainage for something that inhibits lawn growth first.
    If the plastic grass is in good nick it might be worth listing it on Gumtree or similar in case someone can reuse it.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Kayleigh.GKayleigh.G Posts: 21
    wild edges said:
    I wonder why the previous owners decided plastic grass was needed? Sometimes it's just laziness but make sure there wasn't an issue like poor drainage for something that inhibits lawn growth first.
    If the plastic grass is in good nick it might be worth listing it on Gumtree or similar in case someone can reuse it.
    I am going to brave pulling up a corner soon to see what really lays beneath. I can see some of my neighbours have grass, but I am unfortunately surrounded by paved gardens.

    It is quite a large area of lawn, and it is very good quality so I will try and sell it give it away. As much as I hate the idea of other people changing to a plastic lawn, it is better than it ending up in landfill!
    West facing garden in North Hertfordshire. Novice gardener but a long time house plant lover!
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited 26 January
    You might want to try using micro-clover or try it in one patch, as a test. It's a neat, short version. I have been experimenting with putting clover everywhere and using it as a green crop cover. If you are not planning to ever mow it, regular 'pure' clover patches (it seems) can get quite straggley and long. I will be putting in more micro-clover this year. 

    If you are interested, just be sure to go just for 'pure' clover seed - with no grasses in the mix, else the grasses are likely outcompete the clover.

    If you have morning sun, it's probable that the garden is east facing.




  • Kayleigh.GKayleigh.G Posts: 21
    Fire said:
    You might want to try using micro-clover or try it in one patch, as a test. It's a neat, short version. I have been experimenting with putting clover everywhere and using it as a green crop cover. If you are not planning to ever mow it, regular 'pure' clover patches (it seems) can get quite straggley and long. I will be putting in more micro-clover this year. 

    If you are interested, just be sure to go just for 'pure' clover seed - with no grasses in the mix, else the grasses are likely outcompete the clover.

    If you have morning sun, it's probable that the garden is east facing.




    Ah yes, I am interested in a micro clover. I want it to be dense! 

    I could have sworn it was West facing, I will check when I am home - but i know it does get good sun during the day either way.

    Thank you :)
    West facing garden in North Hertfordshire. Novice gardener but a long time house plant lover!
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited 26 January
    It can be a bit counter-intuitive to figure out which way a garden is "facing" as it doesn't have a "face" :D It usually means, "which direction does your back door look towards if you stand on the step it gazing at the garden?" (NESW).
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Fire said:
    It can be a bit counter-intuitive to figure out which way a garden is "facing"
    Up, normally.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Kayleigh.G You will obviously attract alot of bees. Not always a good idea if you have children who like to go barefoot. However I do think clover lawns will continue to become more popular. They stay green and don't scorch in the same way as turf.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • Kayleigh.GKayleigh.G Posts: 21
    Fire said:
    It can be a bit counter-intuitive to figure out which way a garden is "facing" as it doesn't have a "face" :D It usually means, "which direction does your back door look towards if you stand on the step it gazing at the garden?" (NESW).
    Can confirm, it is definitely West! 

    The front of the house and the back of the garden get the morning sun. Then the sun moves over the main lawn area through the day ending with the lovely evening glow on our decking area right outside of the back door! 

    Glad I got that right, and I got to use a compass for the first time in years (even if it was just an app on my phone!)
    West facing garden in North Hertfordshire. Novice gardener but a long time house plant lover!
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