Artificial grass has been increasingly popular as a low-maintenance and adaptable substitute for natural lawns in recent years. Though it’s frequently utilized for conventional landscaping, its applications go far beyond turf. Artificial grass is incredibly versatile, long-lasting, and appealing, making it the perfect solution for any outdoor living area.
1. Cozy Outdoor Seating Area:
Cover your outdoor seating arrangement with artificial grass to transform your backyard into a comfortable haven. For a laid-back and welcoming ambiance, arrange cozy seats, benches, or even a hammock on top of the grass. This gives your room a little greenery while also offering a comfortable, padded surface for entertaining and relaxing on.
2. Playful Pet Playground:
Put fake grass in that area of your yard to make it a pet-friendly area. Artificial turf offers a sturdy and hygienic surface for play and leisure, perfect for households with dogs, cats, or other furry companions. Make a fun and interesting playground for your pets by adding some agility equipment, pet-friendly toys, or even a small sandbox.
Lack of proper upkeep: Although artificial turf requires less maintenance than real grass does, it still needs attention to stay in peak condition. Regular upkeep is crucial, including brushing the fibers to keep them upright and clearing away dirt. Failure to do so might lead to matting and compaction, which would make the turf more vulnerable to harm. Additionally, routine cleaning to eliminate organic debris, dirt, and dust will aid in preventing the establishment of mold and mildew, which can damage turf.
Sharp Things and Pet Damage: Sharp things, such gardening tools or high-heeled shoes, can rip or pierce the synthetic grass, resulting in permanent harm. Additionally, pet pee can leave scents and, if not cleaned up right away, may fade the turf or otherwise harm it. Keep pointed things away from the artificial turf area and clean up pet feces right away to prevent this kind of damage. Consider purchasing artificial turf for pet owners that has drainage that is specially developed to address pet-related difficulties.
Chemical Exposure: The synthetic fibers of the turf can be harmed by exposure to some chemicals, such as abrasive cleaners, insecticides, and petroleum-based products. Always use the gentle, non-toxic cleaners the manufacturer recommends when cleaning artificial turf. To avoid inadvertent spills or leaks, keep any chemicals away from the lawn.
Incorporating hardscape into your landscape design is a surefire way to improve your home’s curb appeal. To start, consider elements that can function as a focal point of the design: a pergola, water feature, gazebo or structured flower bed. These focal points automatically add character to your home and distinguish it from your neighbors’ properties.
This type of focal point should draw the eye, but not overwhelm the space. You will also want to take into account the maintenance costs necessary for each element — for example, the cost to maintain a large garden bed or to supply water to a running water feature.
Hardscape can also add splashes of color to your landscape design. This can be achieved through some of the more basic hardscaping project elements, such as pavers, mulch, or gravel paths.
Be sure to consider what colors will best complement your home’s exterior. This includes the colors of exterior paint or siding, but also the colors present in existing plantings.
Enter through this arbor way and be amazed by the beautiful pink flowers in bloom. Hydrangea trees are a beautiful addition to any landscape, but make sure to prune them properly and at the correct time of year.
Fieldstone Walkway
Fieldstone walkways create a natural, elegant, and easy to follow front yard entrance way. Flat fieldstone is the most natural looking stone and when installed correctly, can become a smooth surface to follow along. Often, fieldstone comes in varying heights and widths and therefore finding the correct stone is very important for creating a smooth walkway. Front entry walkways are very important for curb appeal and adding an edged garden bed with various plants and shrubs will enhance the natural look of fieldstone.
Woodland Garden
A client of Moodscapes was struggling for years trying to get lawn to grow in a section of their backyard. The area could not get enough water from the ground and the grass always ended up dying. It was built on a large tennis court many years ago and was located in a very shady area. We decided to take a new approach and create a woodland garden with stepping stones throughout. In the end, the project created a space for the whole family to sit, converse and enjoy. This created a solution to the ongoing issue of not being able to use their backyard, through a combination of hardscape and landscape.
A type of stone native to the northwestern United States, bluestone comes in multiple colors ranging from blue to gray to green. Shapes can vary from a straight-edge square to irregular pieces similar to fieldstone. Bluestone can be set on a sand foundation and provides a nice flat surface for patio furniture, a pergola or gazebo.
Repurposed Hardscape Materials
Do you have leftover materials from a home project that you just aren’t sure what to do with? Repurposing them as the basis of your new hardscape is a great option to maximize their use while minimizing your costs.
Repurposed hardscape materials can fit in both of the categories we already explored above. Salvaged bricks, wood, concrete and cobblestone all are great options for a hardscape project. You may also want to upcycle old materials that would otherwise be discarded, such as metals, by giving them new life in your hardscape design.
Examples of Hardscape
Front Entry Walkway
At this client’s home, a beautiful arbor design is complimented by an existing hydrangea paniculata ‘Pink Diamond’ Tree. Well designed front entry walkways connect the front yard to the back yard in a fluid manner. This particular side yard design has fieldstone steps surrounded by plants as you walk through to the back yard.
Hardscape refers to the man-made components of a landscaping project, such as walkways, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, patios, fireplaces, fire pits, divider walls and even driveways. Hardscape can transform a basic yard into a functional — and beautiful — outdoor living space. Hardscape can be used to create natural points of connection and flow from your home into the outdoors. Think of a walkway leading from a side door to the backyard, or a patio near the kitchen that becomes the perfect space for outdoor dining.
Hardscaping can also assist in creating separate oases within a larger yard, such as a built-in fire pit or small patio to establish a space for lounge chairs.
When done thoughtfully, hardscape can add value to your home by improving its curb appeal and increasing usable space on your property.
A great way to sell your rental property to tenants is to let them know that they’ll never need to mow their lawn or go to great lengths to keep their grass green. For tenants with families, modern artificial lawns meet and exceed expectations. Children and adults alike will never have to worry about uneven landscapes, holes, or divots that can become a safety hazard and cause falls or other injuries. Parents will also be happy to hear that artificial grass has incredible draining capabilities that will prevent puddles and mud. No more pets or kids dragging mud through the house or kicking muddy shoes off onto the carpet. Artificial lawn is also perfect for small gardened homes, especially pet-friendly residences. It creates a small, virtually maintenance-free area for pets to play, and pet-waste cleanup is easy—just scoop as you would on any other grass, and give it a hose down. The antimicrobial fibres within each blade of grass ensure that your yard stays odour free. Whether you or your tenant is paying the water bill, artificial lawn helps to keeps the cost down. During the summer season, the bill can really start to add up and that’s if there isn’t a hosepipe ban. By conserving water, you’ll help sell the property to prospective renters, help save the planet, and save on time and cost!
Cultivate your landscape design so that it is inviting, providing a full sensory experience for your guests. Having a variety of plants to look at, smell, taste, touch, and even hear rustling in the wind, will engage your friends and family on another level.
Having a wide variety in your landscape, with varying heights, widths, and depths, can increase the visual interest in your backyard, and can even make it look larger. A professional landscaper can offer tips on what to plant, and when.
Adding many types of trees, shrubs, and perennials in a space adds tons of beauty, and even a very small space can include a wide variety with an efficient planting plan implemented by a design firm. For example, consider starting off with a couple of larger trees, which will add height and create privacy. Dogwoods like the Cherokee Princess Dogwood have great height and gorgeous flowers.
It’s important to select plants with varying seasonal interest so that you can enjoy your garden throughout every season. For example, fothergilla is a good choice, as they exhibit fiery shades in the fall. White astilbe and yellow ligularia offer early summer blooms to start the season with color. For easy care and year-round interest, choose a low-maintenance ground cover that corresponds to your planting zone.
Something very important to consider no matter what type of entertaining you’ll be doing is whether you’ll have sufficient shade and lighting. If you lack shade trees, it may be a good idea to consider having an arbor, pergola, gazebo or some umbrellas installed for the comfort of your guests.
Adding outdoor lighting to increase visibility and safety during after-sunset gatherings can be simple, with options ranging from hanging string lights to installing more permanent and appealing solar or wired lighting throughout your landscape.
A useful and comfortable outdoor entertaining space often reflects your home. Much of the entertaining you do will allow you the chance to make your backyard a fresher, roomier extension of where you live — an outdoor living room, really, in your backyard space.
The most important thing in customizing your backyard design for entertaining is to make sure that it works for you.
Debris like leaves, twigs, and other yard waste can accumulate on your artificial grass. A leaf blower is an efficient tool for removing this debris quickly. Blow the debris into a corner of your yard for easy collection and disposal. This method is especially useful after storms or during the autumn when leaves are abundant. It’s a fast and simple way to keep your lawn clean, saving you time compared to traditional mowing.
