Part 1: The Problem

Here, at Manor Lodge school, they had a problem where water was gathering and made the certain area swampy. To come up with a solution to this we had to go out and assess the site to see what could be done.

All the areas were the same, it made these benches unusable and really put things to waste.

This is the same with standing gazebo. Our plan is to put in a drainage system running down the edge so the gathered water can soak away. This means following the natural slope of the surface already and using pea gravel as a soak away.

Part 2: The Preparation

The pieces of wood are from the previous picnic benches where the school wanted to keep them level. As we were digging out it was best to keep the legs standing so we could run the artificial grass around them.

We can work versatilely, which isn’t a problem for us, as the school then changed their mind and wanted the benches taking out completely (however, this was a bit later on than this picture).

A digger is used to create a channel down the edge ready for the soak away to be formed. At the same time we have other people working on raking out and levelling the stone going down ready to be compacted. The wooden border is run down the edge at the same time ready for the grass.

On the right side, you can see the darker stone which is the gravel aimed for the pre-emptive water gathering. There’s also the skip which shows just how much ground is taken out to level the surface and provide the perfect preparation for the artificial grass and drainage overall.

The legs are still in here that further got removed. But you can see the groundwork is really starting to come along well here, with the stone compacted and the sand to go over the top of it.

Surfacing is already showing a vast improvement next to the gazebo here. It’s more level, more even, and has a drainage system in place ready for the inevitable.

A weed proof membrane is then put in place and temporarily held down with bags of sand. This ensures that no weeds or unwanted plants are going to go through. It is porous though, so the ground underneath doesn’t dry out and crack.

Next, the membrane is fastened down with pegs and ties – ready for the artificial grass. The grass is then laid out in the same way as the membrane, by being held down temporarily with sand bags to get the correct sizes and lengths.

You can see 3 different stages happening in this picture, from groundwork preparation, to membrane, to artificial grass.

The edges then get folded into the wooden border, previously installed, and tucked in neatly. Cutting commences ready to shape it round the curves.

Part 3: The Finished Product

Here it is fully installed. Note that the grass looks slightly shiny – that’s because it’s flat and hasn’t been brushed yet.

To get rid of the shiny look we mix in sand to spread out the lush pile. This also helps it to stand up and not fall over time.

We use a power-brush to make the blades of grass stand tall and really get the sand embedded into the fabric underneath.

Here’s the finished outcome – with the built in drainage underneath the grass. The colour starts to show as soon as it’s brushed up. You can browse through the finished pictures below to see what you think.

[Note: there's a blue cable running along the grass here]

Part 4: The Finishing Touches

Lastly, we clean up the area properly by using a jet wash to make sure we don’t leave a trace behind.