How do I lay artificial grass on soft ground ?

How do I lay my lawn on soil ?

To properly install your artificial grass on earth or soft soil in your garden, here are the steps to follow : prepare your site before laying your grass, install your rollers, fix your artificial grass and then brush it to achieve the final result. On an earthen surface, we recommend the use of accessories such as fastening grapples, non-woven geotextile and joining strips. To avoid any mistakes, don't hesitate to draw up a layout plan by hand beforehand. Synthetic grass is the durable, maintenance-free surface that will enhance all your outdoor spaces ! Ready for a clean, well-maintained garden all year round ?

Warning : If you lay your artificial grass near a bay window, beware of the magnifying effect caused by the sun's reflection on your artificial grass. The damage would be irreversible and you'd have to replace the damaged area. 

I clean and prepare my loose soil (earth, sand...)

To facilitate installation on soft ground, around your pool or on any other surface, it's best to do it in dry, preferably sunny weather. This will make your artificial grass easier to handle. Next, the ground must be weeded. Preferably use a natural, all-purpose weedkiller for fast, effective action and to prevent weeds from growing back.

Break up clumps of soil, remove debris and unwanted roots to achieve a clean, smooth surface. Laying your artificial grass on clean soil is important to ensure that it lasts over time and that the result of your installation is optimal.

If the soil is difficult to work, water the surface, making it more malleable and compacting it more easily, and avoiding a cloud of dust when laying your artificial grass.

Soft soil surface
Cleaning furniture surfaces
preparing loose soil

Cover with sand to level the ground and fill any holes. Your soil must be flat and homogeneous. We recommend using Aven sand with a grain size of between 0/2 and 0/6 . You can also use fillerized gravel or sand for petanque courts. Be careful not to use sand that is too fine, as this will impair the drainage of your artificial grass.

Compact the sand with a roller or vibrating plate to obtain the most linear ground possible. It's also possible to level out your soil without adding sand. To do this, remove the excess soil and compact it again to obtain an even surface.

Level the ground to obtain a perfectly flat surface or, failing that, soft shapes that won't affect the installation of your artificial grass.

Sandblasting
Vibrating plate for earth floors
leveling soft surface

In short, the ground must be clean, level, drained and compact. These steps can be carried out by professionals if the surface to be laid is too large, but most of our customers install their own artificial grass.

prepared soft surface

I lay my geotextile to protect my soil from weeds

Non-woven geotextile is an essential accessory for preventing weeds from growing back. Unroll the geotextile strips over the entire surface to be covered ; no direction of laying is recommended. If you wish, you can hold it in place with small staples, but your non-woven geotextile will be fixed to the ground with your artificial grass. 

It's time to unroll your rolls. To begin with, define the laying direction of your artificial lawn. Several choices are possible depending on the surface to be covered, but it's imperative that the strips are all laid in the same direction for a natural, shine-free look. Note that this laying direction must be respected even around a tree or swimming pool.

Carefully cut your grass strips to fit the entire surface to be landscaped, then keep the offcuts to one side to cover smaller areas if necessary. We recommend minimizing the number of seams for an even more breathtaking result.

Laying the geotextile
Rolls unrolled on geotextile
Cutting the strips

I prepare my junctions

Carefully lay the synthetic grass strips edge-to-edge to create a perfect, invisible seam.

Proceed with the trimming and cut the edge of each strip again, using the thread lines on the back of your lawn as a guide. The edges should intersect at the center of these lines.

Thanks to the previous step, you'll be able to reconstitute the original spacing between the lines, so your junction will be virtually invisible to the naked eye.

Joint preparation
Cutting synthetic grass strips with a cutter
Preparing final joints

Finally, replace the strips edge-to-edge as before, and recut the last ends if necessary. You now have a preview of the final look of your installation. All that remains is to glue the strips together in the next step.

Laying direction artificial grass

I make my joints with accessories for soft floors

Fold up the grass strips on either side to place the pre-glued or blank joint strip in the middle. Try to lay your splice strip straight for best results. Joining strips are designed to adhere to one side only.

Remove the protective film from the splicing strip so that it can be glued to the grass strips, or glue it with resin if it's a blank strip.

Fold down the grass strips again so that they meet perfectly. Be careful not to overlap them, as this will damage the strands of your artificial grass.

Using pre-glued joints
Joining strip between two strips
Final result of the joints

Exert strong pressure to fix the adhesion of your joint tape to the artificial grass. You'll get virtually invisible seams with ease !

Hand-pressed on artificial grass

Fixing and brushing my artificial grass

Fasten the synthetic grass around the edges by hammering fixing grapples flush with the ground every meter. Fixing grapples can only be used on loose soil, and their serrated teeth ensure a more durable hold over time. For smaller surfaces, you can also use galvanized staples, spaced at 50cm intervals around the perimeter.

To complete the installation, simply brush your artificial grass with a road sweeper or electric synthetic grass brush in the opposite direction to the direction of the strands. Carry out this operation as often as necessary to keep your artificial grass looking like new all year round (we recommend at least one or two brushing operations per year, depending on the model).

Invite your friends to enjoy your new social space ! You now have a beautiful green lawn, maintained year-round with no constraints. Would you like to know how to lay artificial grass on hard ground ?

Securing grass with grapples
Surface scanning
Result of installation on soft ground

accessories and care for your artificial lawn

In this section, you'll find all the accessories you'll need to lay your artificial lawn. Find our accessories for soft or hard floors.

How do you determine the laying direction of your artificial grass ? Discover this essential step for a natural result with no surprises.

Maintaining my fake lawn

Maintaining your artificial lawn requires just a very little effort. Discover our cleaning tips for maintaining a beautiful lawn all year round.

Laying grass on hard surfaces also involves a few simple steps. Click here to find out more and lay your turf easily and durably !

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