Artificial Grass and Garden Ideas to Enhance Your Garden

Whether your garden requires too much maintenance, you feel it’s too small, or you just don’t know what to do with it, we at Tile Merchant know what it’s like to feel stuck in a rut with your garden. After all, that’s exactly the issue we’re here to help you fix.

In Ireland, outdoor decoration and garden renovation is becoming more and more popular, and though our country is home to some pretty wild, unpredictable weather conditions, we strongly believe that Irish homeowners should not be deprived of enjoyable, welcoming outdoor spaces which can be used year-round. Today, we at Tile Merchant stock a wide range of appliances, features and materials with which you can make your outdoors the new indoors.

Shock pad for Artificial Grass

One of the most common complaints when it comes to garden maintenance is how often it’s necessary to mow and weed the lawn. With artificial grass, you can enjoy the feel of natural grass without any of the hassle. Affordable and durable, artificial grass can elevate your outdoor area, transforming it where there is currently no grass, and generally helping to reduce the workload of garden maintenance.

We recommend considering laying your artificial grass down on top of a foam shock pad. Shock pads, once covered by the grass, are kept out of sight, but still they perform several crucial functions.So why should you use a foam underlay?

Artificial grass shock pads create a soft, cushioned foundation below the surface of the grass, meaning that the risk of injury from falls and trips is drastically reduced – ideal for families with young children. Furthermore, the cushioning simply enhances the comfort you feel when out on the grass, especially useful if you’ve laid the grass over a concrete base (or some other hard surface).

Using a shock pad underlay is also a savvy idea if creating a roof garden or patio, as not only does the underlay offer fantastic insulation, but it provides drainage, too. The foam used in our artificial grass shock pads is permeable, allowing water to freely drain through it – perfect if building artificial grass on top of non-permeable surfaces.

Another benefit of a foam underlay is that using it ensures your artificial grass surface will be smooth and flat, since the underlay presents a uniform foundation. If laying artificial grass directly onto concrete or some other uneven surface, it can billow and ripple in places, which not only looks untidy, but can be dangerous.

Foam shock pads can be laid on just about any surface, including concrete, prepared hard core/sand sub-base, decking or tarmac.

Our Alpha Shock pads are made from environmentally-friendly sources, and emit zero toxins or gasses. They are also resistant to harmful bacteria and microorganisms, ensuring the safety of you, your garden, and your family.

How To Install Foam Shock Pad Underlay

Foam shock pad artificial grass can be laid on top of pre-existing foundations such as concrete, wood decking, or tarmac, or elsewhere provided an appropriate sub-base has first been laid. (A sub-base is a layer of MOT Type 1 aggregate or granite/limestone chippings, necessary to create a solid, drainable foundation on otherwise soft ground.)

If laying your shock mat for artificial grass on concrete or tarmac, you can secure the perimeter of the foam underlay to the concrete using adhesive. If laying on wood decking, you should use nails, and if onto a sub-base, then you can use adhesive or galvanised U-pins to secure the underlay to the perimeter. Gaps between sheets of shockpad can be secured using duct tape, and in all situations galvanised U-pins can be used to connect artificial grass, weed membrane, and shock pad underlay.

How to Care for Artificial Grass and Shock Pads

Shock pads are built to last without maintenance for anywhere up to twenty years, so it will be a long time before you have to concern yourself with repairing or replacing the underlay. As for artificial grass, it too is designed to require minimal care. One of the few things which artificial grass does need, however, is a semi-regular brush.

Since fallen leaves, dirt, and debris will become lodged in the grass, clogging it up and flattening it over time, it’s necessary to give the grass a brush from time to time.

At Tile Merchant, we stock a strong, durable, yet lightweight metal-handled brush for artificial grass. With PP (polypropylene) teeth designed to clean, but never damage your lawn, and an adjustable handle to maximise ease of use and efficiency, our artificial grass brush is affordable, too, making it Ireland’s number one choice of cleaning product for artificial lawns.

Did we mention it works indoors, too? If you’re frustrated by your hoover’s inability to extract hair from your carpet, give this grass brush a whirl and we promise you’ll be impressed.

Keep your artificial lawn looking as attractive and fresh as the day you installed it with the artificial grass brush from Tile Merchant.

Hanging Egg Chairs with Cushions and Rain Covers

Move over hammocks, egg chairs are the new kids on the block! Increasingly popular in Ireland as we fly through 2021 are these innovative indoor/outdoor seats. Hanging from a sturdy black frame is an egg-shaped chair, lined welcomingly with anthracite grey cushions. The hanging chair is designed to rock and swing ever-so-gently whilst you use it, enveloping you like a cocoon to make you feel warm, snug, and protected.

Outdoor hanging egg chairs are simply the perfect places to relax, recline, and read a new book, listen to your favourite podcast, or nap.

Easy to assemble, disassemble, and protect from the rain (with the included rain cover), our egg chair at Tile Merchant goes as perfectly in a conservatory as it does out in the garden. What’s more, the delicate grey of its cushions was chosen specifically to match the attractive grey of one of our garden pergolas, so why not pair the two for the ultimate garden renovation?

Pergolas with Roof

Speaking of pergolas… If you’ve never heard of their transformative properties, then we highly recommend you take the time to read the blog post we wrote about our personal journey toward stocking pergolas.

Pergolas can improve and elevate the appearance and functionality of literally any outdoor space. Protecting you from the very worst of Irish weather, a pergola ensures that you can access and enjoy all your garden has to offer, all year round.

Create a deluxe home cinema space, a BBQ area, or party dance floor in your garden with one of our thoughtfully-sourced pergolas, available here

Outdoor Patio Heater

Irish weather being Irish weather, you’d do well to consider including a gas patio heater in your grand garden renovation plans. Sturdy, weatherproof (thanks to the included waterproof PVC cover), and fuelled by propane, butane, or LPG gas, installing one of our patio heaters is undoubtedly the best way to heat a patio – ensuring you, your family, and friends can enjoy the outdoors no matter the temperature.

At Tile Merchant, we stock two fantastic-looking patio heaters. A tall, classic umbrella-esque model, and a sleek, stylish pyramid/obelisk model. You can see them here.

Conclusion

There are many ways to renovate your garden, and many materials you can use.

If you’re time-conscious, though, and you’d like to use your garden year round (no matter the weather), then we think you can do no better than to install artificial grass with a shockpad underlay, clean it with our PP brush, sit yourself in a hanging egg chair under your new pergola, and keep warm by the light of a charming patio heater.

Now, how does that sound?

Tile Merchant Blog