How to Lay Artificial Grass

Green is beautiful, and so is a well-groomed lawn. However, taking care of a lawn can be difficult sometimes. From watering to grooming, a lawn has a lot of requirements to maintain a healthy green effect. It is even more complicated when you work stressful hours every day or have to travel frequently. What started as a friendly, green patch might end up looking like a big brown smudge.  

How then can you have a lawn without all the hassle of regular care and maintenance? Well, the answer is artificial grass. Artificial grass allows you to have the look of a healthy lawn just like everybody else, yet without the extras to keep it that way. And you don't have to use water!

There are professional artificial grass installers equipped to do the job, but you might want to do it yourself, get your hands a little dirty, and feel the earth between your fingertips. The good news, laying artificial grass is a simple DIY project. 

Before you begin, you will need the following tools;

• A sharp knife and spare blades
• Knee pads and a pair of gloves
• Tape measure 
• Roller or tamper
• Turf cutter 
• Stiff outdoor broom or motorized power brush 
• Sand spreader 
• Large galvanized nails 
• Hammer 

Remove your old lawn:

Your old lawn has to go for the new one to replace it. If your lawn is still healthy, you can offer it to your neighbor looking to add more patches. You have to rent a sod cutter to do the job.  If it is beyond saving, you can remove the clumps and level the area. 

Install the artificial lawn 

Installing the artificial grass requires several steps. But before you begin, you have to make sure that the area is leveled and even. If you have problems making it even, you apply a base layer of sand or crushed stone and use a tamper to smoothen out the surface.  Once you have done that, then you can begin to follow the following steps; 

• Using the tape measure, measure out the length and breadth of the ground to know the amount of artificial grass you need.

• Install an underlayment that will serve as a cushion for your artificial lawn. The underlayment should be permeable so that water can pass through. 
• If you are covering a large area, it is best to install the grass in multiple strips. 
• Make sure that the strips are placed directly next to each other and facing the same direction. 
• Nail the strips down to the lawn firmly. 
• Ensure that the nails are firmly in with the spike head at ground level so that there are no exposed metal parts.
• Use the stiff broom or power brush to brush the lawn so you no longer notice any difference between the pieces. 
• To secure the lawn even better, use the sand spreader to add a layer of silica sand to the grass. This will help to add weight to the yard and keep the pieces from moving or separating. 

With these simple steps, you can have yourself a healthy, green lawn without all the fuss. One piece of advice, though, is to wear shoes on the lawn in summer. Unlike natural grass, the artificial retains heat and can be hot to the touch when the weather gets hot.