Finishing the ground around work that was already done

01 / What was there

Redo their backyard lawn.

What the customer asked for

This yard had had work done in it, and then been left the way sites get left: compacted tracks, bare soil in the corners, patchy grass surviving in the middle, and a good curved walkway running through ground that made it look unfinished.

There is a specific job that comes at the end of every other job, and it is the one people skip. Everything on the property can be right and it will still read as a construction site until the ground is closed up.

02 / How it was done

1. 01

   Break up what the work compacted

   Ground that has been driven and walked over does not take root, whatever you lay on it. It gets opened up before anything green goes down.

2. 02

   Grade away from the hard surfaces

   Water runs off the walkway and the patio, not across them, which is what keeps joints clean and stops the edges going green.

3. 03

   Sod up to the curve

   The walkway curves, so the turf gets cut to follow it. This is slower than cutting straight and it is the difference between a finished yard and a fast one.

4. 04

   Close the perimeter

   Bed lines along the property edge cut and mulched, so the lawn ends somewhere deliberate on every side.

03 / What changed

• Unbroken lawn from the house to the back of the property.
• The walkway reads as a path through a garden rather than a path through a site.
• Every edge of the lawn now meets something: stone, bed or fence line.