Interview with Jean Louis and Jeannette de Buck, Artgarden
What services do you offer at Artgarden?
Delivery and installation of artificial lawn and technical decking, garden landscaping, and all kinds of reforms and refurbishing inside and outside the home.
What is it you love most about your job?
We see and feel every garden and every house as if we are working in our own home. We love to keep to our budgets so that our clients only pay what was budgeted. We take pride in taking care of all the work in a way that, when we finish the job, our clients don’t have to clean up or move furniture. Everything we do is aimed at having happy clients, as this is the best way to keep us loving our job. We love gardens and we are always searching for new materials and plants to achieve better results with less upkeep and minimal demand on water. Finally we are extremely proud that our company is already 25 years old!
What has been your most unusual project to date?
Last year we were asked to create a 3,000 square metre garden that required very low maintenance with a greenhouse for vegetables and an attractive organic vegetable area – all with a modern look to fit in with the outstanding contemporary villa. The result was fantastic! We laid 1,500 square metres of artificial lawn with a little forest of olive, lemon and orange trees with an extended area of hanging rosemary and lavender. There were organic vegetables grown in raised gardens surrounded by all kinds of fruit trees, a huge Mediterranean forest to protect the soil from falling down the slope, palm trees and a large variety of Phormium plants.
What have been the main trends in gardening and landscaping in recent years? Many garden owners are tired of depending on gardeners to take care of their property when they are not in Spain, and also of having to pay huge water bills. Water in Spain, especially on the Costa del Sol, is very expensive. Water companies punish high water consumption with increasing prices. In some larger gardens, owners pay up to €3.84 per cubic metre of water. Artificial lawns, decking and the use of Mediterranean plants that are drought-resistant and adapted to the poor soils in our area reduce the water bill by as much as 20 per cent. On the other hand, modern garden design has to capture the spirit of modern architecture. Minimalistic gardens, big areas of the same plants grouped together, the use of building materials for pads and terraces that reflect the materials used in the house, modern decking and finally, artificial lawns are becoming more and more popular in recent years. Owners of small gardens are able to use their garden as an extension of their terrace, without the need for a gardener or having to do lots of work during their free time.
What are the benefits of artificial grass?
Throughout my lifetime plants have always been a great part of my life. When I was a child, I could spend hours with my grandmother kneeling in her rock garden taking out weeds or splitting plants to replant them a few metres away. Walking with my dogs in nature, observing the plants I see along the way, makes me calm and happy. You can imagine I was not particularly ecstatic the day my husband came up with the idea of selling artificial grass! In fact, it was the only time in our trajectory working together that we were really disappointed. A few weeks later, the first 1,200 metre square garden we completed convinced me 100 per cent that artifical grass was extremely important. This family had a very active and large dog who was running around in the garden all day. It was impossible to have a nice natural lawn growing in that garden. My husband convinced them to build beautiful borders with Tosco stones to separate grass areas from planting areas and to blend the look of artificial lawn with the very traditional Andalucian style of the villa. I planted beautiful tropical palm trees and colourful plants around the whole garden. Today, 10 years and three dogs later, the artificial lawn still looks green and attractive. The tropical palm trees have become huge and the water bills they have saved over 10 years are just amazing.
What are the important issues for someone to know when they are planning an artificial lawn for their garden?
After 10 years and hundreds of installed artificial lawn gardens and terraces, in my opinion it is crucial to place huge importance on the preparation of the underground area and the installation of your artificial grass. Many companies try to make money by offering artificial lawn installations, but watch out for the details. To prepare the underground area, you need to take out all the existing plants and the upper part of the soil. You have to make sure that nothing will grow under the artificial lawn. You need to bring at least six centimetres of good-quality river sand to allow the water to drain away perfectly, and it will look much better if your artificial lawn level is the same as your terrace or pool. This sand area needs to be compacted, well-levelled and covered with good quality anti-weed materials. Existing automatic water irrigation needs to be adapted and all water or light tubes have to be taken away from the artificial lawn area. This all costs money, and if your quote is cheap, you know what you can expect. Not doing proper work in the preparation of the underground area will lead to bad installation of the artificial lawn. Installation is easy if you are used to it. If you spend money on a high-quality artificial lawn, please make an effort with the installation. You can choose between many different artificial lawn samples, according to your preferences. We always recommend buying medium to high quality – that means looking for a minimum yarn height of 35 millimetres with some kind of memory effect, and minimum total yarn weight of 2.600 gr/m2. If the artificial lawn is produced in Europe, you have the guarantee that you will not install metres of poisonous materials in your garden; and if it is from Asia, you need to ask for European certifications to prove it was made correctly. If somebody tells you their artificial lawn is the best in the world, or the only one with certain qualities, you shouldn’t believe them. All artificial lawns have the same yarn and backing, and all factories have to pay the same price for this yarn and backing. In the end, when you choose a company to do your artificial lawn installation, our best recommendation is that you check out other installations they have completed and ask for recommendations from other clients.
Artgarden
Calle La Moraleja, Local 2, Estepona
jean@artgarden.es
www.artgarden.es
Facebook: Artgarden Marbella
