What Do You Do With a Small Backyard?
For Cindy and Marc Mendonca of Merivale, the decision to invest in an artificial lawn for her townhouse was not taken lightly. She had wanted to create a garden space that served many purposes, all-year-round. With a dog as part of the family, too, she knew whatever lawn she chose, it needed to be hardwearing and long-lasting. The small lawn was proving a challenge to maintain in its previous form, and it certainly didn’t do the landscape justice. Add Alfie, the labradoodle into the mix, and there were brown spots on the lawn and muddy paw prints being tracked inside the house.
“To be honest, we just weren’t getting the use out of the space before,” says Cindy. “But within a very short timeframe, we now have a functional landscape that looks and feels a lot bigger than before.”
Cindy worked with Craig Wilson of Form Garden Architecture, to design a landscape plan that makes the most out of what was a very small outdoor living space. “The section is only 10m wide, so part of the design brief with both the house and landscape has been to create the illusion of more space.
Installing SmartGrass and remodelling the garden edging has certainly achieved this,” says Cindy.
Craig’s idea – not just a square of green lawn – added these fingers of Jarrah sleepers into the design which really creates a nice flow from the side of the house into this area.
A common question homeowners have is around the look of the lawn – will it look like real grass? Cindy’s mentioned that choosing the right product was important. “We’ve all seen artificial grass that sparkles in the sunshine, so choosing a natural look that really fits in with our native planting and landscaping was important. That’s why we chose SmartGrass.”
Cindy also explains that anyone looking at getting artificial grass installed should think about two things. “Get the right type of grass – we went for SmartGrass because it is dog friendly.
The second thing is spending a bit of time looking at what grass will look best in the area because there are – surprisingly – different colour greens available.” Another priority for Cindy was the durability and feel of the artificial lawn. “It needed to be comfortable for Alfie the dog and us sitting on it, walking on it, lying on it – and it has certainly been like that.”
“There is a little bit of envy – that you know – we don’t need to mow lawns in the weekend!”
“I’d recommend SmartGrass to anyone who wants more time and more use of their outdoor area. I think a lot of the time we invest money in the details of our outdoor space - the planting, seating, shade - when the thing that makes up most of the area is actually the lawn.”
The addition of an artificial lawn has made Cindy’s outdoor living space more functional and inviting. Thanks to the durability and reliability of SmartGrass, this is a benefit that will last well beyond the summer months.