Pave or Turf??

Sunsaru

So I'm just about to complete on my first house and am not sure what to do with this garden. Should I pave, turf or astro it? Just to add, it's north facing and it had very patchy grass when I first viewed it which has since been removed.

Skiddaw1

As it is north facing it's probably not ideal for grass. Personally, I'm not keen on astro. How about a combo of brick paving and ornamental gravel? You could have some raised beds around the edge (perhaps reclaimed railway sleepers or similar) and some pots. Could look lovely I think.

Thrugelmir

Astro turf. 

NinjaTune

I think paved would look a bit too much with the already paved area.

There's some good quality astro out there that looks very lifelike so I'd be tempted to do with that along with some colourful pots and plants.

AnotherJoe

Weed proof membrane, gravel or slate chippings, pots 

sgun

You've got a fair bit of algae build up there and the site doesn't appear to get much sun or light, it's quite a dank spot. You will get the same build up of algae on artificial grass and it is a nightmare to clean down in a spot like that if it gets mossy. Personally I would cover with a weed membrane and plant up with shade loving perennials then top dress with woodchip. Give it a bit of colour and some flowers for the bees and butterflies. I think artificial grass is vile. It goes into landfill at the end of it's life - we don't need more plastics where you can have natural. Paving and plants in pots would look better than artificial grass but the shady perennials is probably the lowest maintenance option.

Weathergirl_76

I think pea shingle and maybe an area of large ornamental pebbles? Plants in pots. Little seating area. My experience of bark areas is that the birds tend to throw it around. Depends what you like. 

Alternatively, depending on what you want, why don’t you look at having it designed? I used to work for a landscaping company who would design, or design and build. Lots of people used to get the garden design professionally, then did the work themselves or gave the plans to a company and got them to quote. 

SMcGill

I had a similar situation at the front of my house which is north facing with paving slabs. I lifted a few slabs and planted shade loving plants in each space, then covered the rest of the area in membrane and pea shingle on top. It was enough greenery to soften the look but needed no weeding. You could do something similar with your lower garden and create a nice shingle path to the upper area with seating?

deannagone

I bought some used paving slabs that were covered in dirt, algae etc.  Pressure washing them did help but didn't cure the problem.  As I have dogs, I do wash them down a couple of times a week in a very weak bleach solution, I now have the cleanest buff slabs in the neighbourhood with no sign of moss or algae.  I just scrub them lightly with a broom.  It takes a couple of minutes.  So not a big job to clean up the paving slabs that are already present.  

It is possible to buy shade liking grass seeds so you could try that first, if that doesn't work then try artificial turf but check if sand or gravel needs to be mixed with the soil (does it get waterlogged), that can affect turf stability.  I did put some turf down in my garden, but it all died due to a plague of leatherjackets which i hadn't previously known existed.  After living there a year, I discovered that if it rained heavily, i would get a river outside my back door (garden was sloped towards back door).  Strangely enough, once i leveled the back area and paved it that stopped happening although the property is still at the bottom of a hill. 

Murphybear

sgun said:

You've got a fair bit of algae build up there and the site doesn't appear to get much sun or light, it's quite a dank spot. You will get the same build up of algae on artificial grass and it is a nightmare to clean down in a spot like that if it gets mossy. Personally I would cover with a weed membrane and plant up with shade loving perennials then top dress with woodchip. Give it a bit of colour and some flowers for the bees and butterflies. I think artificial grass is vile. It goes into landfill at the end of it's life - we don't need more plastics where you can have natural. Paving and plants in pots would look better than artificial grass but the shady perennials is probably the lowest maintenance option.

Not answering the OP but we have a small area which we wish to do something with.  We were torn between artificial grass and pretty stones.  I sent for some artificial grass samples and wasn’t impressed, the affordable ones were horrible and the nice ones were very expensive.

your post has helped me decide, thanks very much 

davilown

Have you thought about part paving the top for an outdoor socialising space with some nice plants around the borders, then in the bottom half, remove the paving and plant some shade loving plants?
don’t forget somewhere to put a washing line as well - behind the garage out of sight might be a good idea