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Advice on removing artificial grass
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Advice on removing artificial grass


We bought a house last month, and one of my favourite aspects of it is the garden. It's a fairly decent size, south-facing and seems like it would be perfect for my very first gardening project. It has artificial grass down and I'm desperate to pull it up and start some real grass. I would also like to add some raised beds to grow veg, fruit and herbs.
I pulled up a corner and dug around – there's a layer of sandy soil, then some medium sized gravel, a membrane of some sort and finally what I believe is the original soil – which is a moist, clay type of soil.
I have no idea where to begin! Would I need to remove everything up untill the clay soil and then fill it up with ??top soil before planting my grass?
I've never had a garden before and it's all a bit overwhelming but I have a vision in my head of a wildlife-friendly, fertile and veg-filled garden! Please help me get there. đŸ„ș

by lemopolis

6 Comments

  2. Ambitious_Cattle_

    So when “properly installed” AstroTurf involves terraforming the ground to ensure there’s not a single living thing left in the area. This usually involves a compactor. They also should technically remove all the actual soil and build up on whatever the underlying natural substrate is (gravel, clay, whatever), or at a push the subsoil (similar material) so I’m not sure that what is under the membrane is actual soil or if it’s subsoil or natural clay (if done “properly” it shouldn’t be soil, but who knows who did what)

    The membrane needs to come out, so everything above it needs dug out. Some of the sand and gravel can probably go back in the hole after the membrane is out. Ideally you would want to run a compactor over this, just to get it all down nicely, then yeah, topsoil. 

  3. Cooking_With_Grease_

    Please post after pictures when you have sorted it out 🙂

  4. Medium-Walrus3693

    It’s so nice to see people getting rid of their plastic gardens!

    Here’s what I’d do in that space:

    1. Just rip that astro right up. Grab a corner and pull. You could advertise it on Freecycle/Trash Nothing to see if anyone wants it. If they do, they can do the pulling for you. I got a free shed this way, because they didn’t want to dismantle it, and I didn’t want to pay full price for a shed. Win win! Otherwise, check with your local dump to see how they’d like you to dispose of it.

    2. Do a bit of research into what kind of lawn you might like. If your goals are to have a wildlife friendly garden, you might want to consider more than your standard grass. Camomile, clover, creeping thyme, sedum, or a mix of different things. The classic green lawns are a definite step up from astro turf, but are still a monoculture that doesn’t necessarily support nature in the way you’d like. With a south-facing garden, you’ll have plenty of choices! What you choose will decide what you need to put down on your current ground. Some plants like a sandy soil and will thrive in your exact conditions without you needing to go to the effort of reconditioning. This will also save you some money, which I’d immediately spend on my next point –

    3. I bet those fences get lovely and warm. Get yourself some espalier fruit trees to grow along them.

    4. If you’re new to veg growing, I’d pop down to the local garden centre and pick up a tomato grow bag and a couple of tomato plants. They should be decently big by now, so you can handle them without too much worry. Plop these somewhere you think looks nice in the garden and see how you take to it. My husband tried to do too much his first year gardening, and got discouraged when most of it failed. Start with something manageable but fun.

    5. Settle in with Monty Don on a Friday night for Gardeners World. This was my gateway drug into gardening, and really held my hand as I took my first steps into growing my own food. It gives you an idea of the timings of the season, as well as showing you the basics of seed sowing, pruning, sunlight, and the joys of gardening!

  5. Somebody_Broke_That

    First, it’s great that you want to pull up the plastic stuff to replace with plants.

    For the grass, yes, just rip it up ([obligatory link](https://youtu.be/UzPh89tD5pA?t=32))

    Sandy soil layer, would probably be fine to keep, may help break up the lower clay. But you may need to do something about the gravel between the layers.

    But instead of getting rid of it, since you are talking about raised beds, could you reuse the gravel to form the paths between the raised beds? So put raised beds where you want them and move the gravel that’s inside the beds outside to form the paths? I know you mention grass but it can be difficult to maintain grass paths between raised beds since it can be difficult to mow & often gets worn down due to walking on it when ground is wet.

    Then just add some soil/compost to your raised beds and plant away.

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