Some gardens fight a real lawn every year: heavy shade, permanent damp, dogs, or a space so small it's more hassle than it's worth. Artificial grass solves those, but only if it's installed properly — badly laid fake grass shows every ripple, seam and soft spot.
The install is all in the base. The old surface comes out, a compacted stone sub-base goes in with a laying course over it, levels and falls are set so water drains away rather than sitting underneath, and the edges are fixed to a solid detail — timber, stone or the slate-faced beds you'll see in our gallery. The grass is then cut in tight, seams joined so they disappear, and brushed up.
Done that way it stays flat, drains after Yorkshire rain, and takes a hammering from kids and dogs. It sits particularly well against sandstone or porcelain paving in a modern garden design.
