Case study: A dog-friendly Salford garden, hand-dug over a weekend.
Jason and Mandy called us with two specific requirements: their existing lawn was past it, and the family dog meant any new lawn had to handle odour control as well as look the part. The garden was a tidy 4m x 6m rear plot in Salford -- but with ...
Project at a glance Verified Wolsten build
- Property type
- Rear garden, restricted access -- Salford
- Time on site
- 2 days
- Pile height
- 45mm 'Cape Verde' super-premium artificial turf
- Subbase
- 4" MOT bed, 1" grano sand top
- Surrounds
- Hand-dug -- no machine access
- Finish
- Kiln-dried sand top-dress
- Customer
- Jason & Mandy Bradley
Why Jason & Mandy Bradley called us.
Jason and Mandy called us with two specific requirements: their existing lawn was past it, and the family dog meant any new lawn had to handle odour control as well as look the part. The garden was a tidy 4m x 6m rear plot in Salford -- but with one twist: no machine access. Everything had to be hand-dug.
Liam came out the day after the enquiry call, quoted, and brought sample turf with him. They picked the 45mm Cape Verde super-premium. Installed two weeks later, over a full weekend. Two days on site, three crew.
What we did.
No machine access means every shovel-load is moved by hand -- 4 tons of earth out before the first MOT load went in.
The build sequence:
- Hand-dug the full 4m x 6m footprint -- over 4 tons of earth removed by shovel and barrow
- Built the treated timber perimeter to the existing patio line
- Laid 4 inches of MOT type-1 as the structural subbase, hand-fed
- Compacted in layers with a whacker plate
- Bedded with 1 inch of grano sand -- finer screed than sharp sand and key to odour drainage
- Rolled out the 45mm Cape Verde super-premium turf
- Joined the rolls with proper jointing tape + adhesive
- Pinned the perimeter, kiln-dried sand top-dressed and brushed in
Two days, three crew, every ton of material moved by hand. Jason and Mandy got a 45mm super-premium lawn that handles the dog without holding the smell.
The whole project, in four shots.
Real photos from the actual Salford job.
Patchy boggy lawn, ready to come out. Hand-dig route through the side passage.
4 inches of MOT compacted, grano sand screeded fine.
Grass rolls staged on the patio, ready to unroll.
45mm Cape Verde down, joined and brushed -- weekend done.What Jason & Mandy Bradley said.
Liam came out and quoted and provided samples the day after we rang to ask questions. The team installed 2 weeks later, over a full weekend. It's stunning!
Every detail of the Salford build.
The full set of photos taken throughout the project.
For the discerning homeowner.
What we actually built into this install.
Hand-dug installs -- the access reality and what it adds to the build
Salford's a city full of mid-terrace and rear-access-restricted gardens -- it's the rule, not the exception. When the only route to the garden is through the house or down a narrow side passage, everything moves by hand. For Jason and Mandy that meant 4+ tons of earth wheeled out and the same tonnage of MOT wheeled back in, one barrow at a time. We price hand-dug jobs accurately because we've done so many of them -- it adds maybe half a day to the labour and zero compromise to the build quality.
Grano sand for dog-friendly drainage
Grano sand (granolithic sand) is a finer, cleaner aggregate than sharp sand. We use it specifically on dog-using households because it gives the turf a finer-screeded bed that drains rinse water faster -- which is what you do when you wash the lawn down after the dog's been on it. Sharp sand works fine on a standard garden, but for the dog-odour-control brief, grano is the right call.
45mm Cape Verde -- the super-premium spec
45mm Cape Verde is one of the highest-spec residential turfs we fit. The longer pile feels soft underfoot, the curly-yarn rebound stays upright under pet traffic, and the colour blend (a four-tone mix) reads as natural in any light -- it's the closest to real turf you'll get from artificial grass. At this pile height you absolutely need a properly screeded grano-sand bed -- which is why the spec choices are connected, not independent.
Lead time -- two weeks from sample to install
Jason and Mandy went from "first call" to "finished install" in three weeks. Sample visit the day after the phone call. Install two weeks after the sign-off. We don't quote what we can't honour -- if our diary's full we'll say so -- but when we can fit a job in fast, we do.
Three founders, plus extended crew when the job calls for it.
Liam, Ryan and Paul on every job. Where the work needs more hands, we bring in trusted regulars.
Liam
Surveyed and quoted. Supervised the build on site.
Ryan
Time-served bricklayer and artificial grass install lead.
Paul
Cut the timber surrounds and handled the finish detail.
Salford
Salford is well covered by our North West service area. We install artificial grass right across Greater Manchester -- usually within 30 minutes drive of our Westhoughton base.
Questions homeowners ask about artificial grass installs like this.
How long does an artificial grass install take?
This Salford job took 2 days. Most North West artificial grass installs run 2-4 days depending on garden size and ground conditions. Drainage rescues (like Lisa's Westhoughton job) can add a day for French drain installation.
Is 'fake grass' the same as artificial grass?
Yes -- fake grass, artificial grass, astro turf, synthetic lawn: all names for the same product family. Whatever you call it, the quality difference isn't the name -- it's the pile density, the backing, and above all the sub-base it's installed on. A premium turf laid over a poorly compacted base will fail years before a mid-range turf on a proper one.
Will the joins between rolls be visible?
Not if they're done right. We use proper jointing tape + adhesive and match the pile direction across the seam. From a metre away the joins are invisible.
What's the lifespan of a properly-installed artificial grass lawn?
8-12 years on a properly compacted MOT subbase. The variables are pile quality, subbase compaction, and whether the perimeter is properly bordered. Lawns where installers cheap out on subbase often need replacing within 3-4 years -- which is why we never cut that corner.
Do I need to do any maintenance on artificial grass?
Very little. Brush the pile occasionally to keep it standing upright, top up the kiln-dried sand every 2-3 years, and rinse it off after the dog. That's it. Compared to a real lawn (mowing, feeding, edging, reseeding), the time saving is huge.
Do I need planning permission for artificial grass?
Almost never for a rear garden. Front-garden non-permeable surfacing over 5m² CAN trigger planning, but rear gardens fall under permitted development.
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