5 Fun Ways to Funk Up your Lawn

There are some great ways to move a lawn from functional to fun in your garden design. You might like the idea of a lawn because it’s cooling; because it’s green or because you grew up with one. How about; because it’s an amazing feature?

It can be much more than a green space in front of a garden bed, you can really be quite creative with how it presents. Here are some tricks to Funk Up the lawn areas in your garden:

1. A lawn lift
2. The lawn drop
3. The lawn stepper
4. Lawn is art (This is very cool!)
5. The lawn amphitheatre

1. A lawn lift

This is something we’ve seen a bit of lately. It can be done in very creative ways but essentially the key here is to elevate a section of the lawn space by introducing a tier or platform.

You will need to find an easy way to raise a section and have an attractive look to the step up created. You will need to bring in some sand/conditioner fill so get that done before installing your edge if possible. It will certainly make things easier if the level is raised first.

As for the edge a steel edge is well suited. The steel face as a step up looks striking and brings some funk value. The discreet line doesn’t distract from the lawn when looking from above either. Now you will have a nice step up to sit on on a warm, sunny day which makes this is a great move! It’s also easy to trim upto which is a bonus for maintenance later.

2. The lawn drop

This move involves creating a lawn space in an existing garden bed. The benefit of this move is the lawn can feel really surrounded by shrubs and is kind of hidden away sanctuary. Ideally the plants around the lawn bring in lots of small birds to twitter with you about how cool your lawn looks.

To do this you need to look at your existing garden beds and see if a section would be well suited. Think seclusion and serenity. Some plants will need removing and you’ll need to introduce a discreet lawn barrier edge to define the lawn shape and make it easy to care for in future.

You may choose a traditional lawn or try a groundcover option such as dichondra or chamomile in this space. You could even go with artificial turf! Whichever you choose, this unexpected green space will be a funky introduction to your garden.

3. The lawn stepper

You have in all likelihood seen this being done by someone else. It can encourage walking through the garden and also protect heavy use areas of the lawn in the cool, slower growing months. With the right choice of stepper, it can also command attention and funk up your lawn considerably!

Some rather large stone steppers can be found these days. Big steppers offer easier maintenance but also look more dramatic. Having such presence means you do need to consider what else will share the view with the steppers, they will need to match up with whatever else is in your garden. They will go great with lawn though; whatever the colour.

You can of course reverse this concept, check this one out!

4. Lawn is art

This is a next level move and may be beyond the home gardener who doesn’t have lots of time to invest. It is certainly worthy of a mention as a great way to Funk Up your garden with lawn though. As seen here in The Lost Gardens of Heligan in the UK the possibilities can be taken to the extreme.

If this one is a bit advanced perhaps try with a green table top creation. When you’ve mastered that, move onto loftier builds!

5. The lawn amphitheatre

If you have a gradual sloping lawn and some space to play with consider this. How about a terraced lawn as a way of adding some funk and grandeur?

To do this you will want some grunt with you in the form of earthmoving equipment- but a little digger should be fine! There are a few key pointers:

• Give consideration to the width of the terraces for easy care when it comes to mowing.
• Don’t be confined to uniform spacing; work with the shape of the garden to determine what looks best.
• Plan how you intend to reticulate the garden to ensure thriving summers!

So there you have it. Our point is that a lawn doesn’t need to be regular and plain. If you put some thought into it you can quite easily Funk it up!

I’m sure you might have some other suggestions that I invite you to share with us!

Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.
– Rudyard Kipling