The first thought that comes to mind upon arriving at the Powell family's northeast Edmonton home is that the people who live here know how to garden. Fraser Powell and Stacy Bell-Powell's front yard is modest but impeccably designed with Elijah Blue ornamental grasses, Stella de Oro day lilies, and burning-bush shrubs among lush, green grass.
Let the couple take you through the house into the backyard, however, and you've got a whole other story.
There are scattered tufts of green blades here and there, but for the most part the Powells' back lawn is not so much a lawn, but dead, brown grass and compacted earth. Along the fence, a struggling patch of near-dying turf sports a peculiar lime-yellow hue.
Fraser describes the scene as "post-apocalyptic."
"It's not a yard," adds Stacy, as she watches 80-kilogram Great Dane Smyth and six-year-old lab Tux dig up more dirt in a ferocious play-fight. It's quite obvious who is responsible for the backyard massacre here.
"I think it's the female dog pee that's really bad for the lawn," Fraser says.
They've tried to train the dogs to relieve themselves in one corner of the yard, but the rule has been difficult to police, especially in winter.
"Every spring, we're hopeful, you know? The snow's going to melt; it's all going to be great. You'd think with all the nourishment from all the poop and pee, it'd be the ultimate composter, but no, it doesn't work like that," Fraser says with a laugh.
Seven weeks later, the dogs are still there, but something magical has happened. The Powells' backyard is impossibly green, lush with perfect, golf-course-ready grass.
Except calling it grass may be a tiny bit of a stretch. Over two days, local specialists Evergreen Turf installed 700 square feet of synthetic turf to replace the Powells' dead lawn. Evergreen turf's prices start at $8 per square foot and turf is guaranteed with a 10-year warranty.
After resodding their yard three times in the last six years -- including each of the last two -- the Powells had finally given up.
"The years that we haven't resodded it, we've tried repairing it, which has meant reseeding, fertilizing and then watering," Fraser says.
It was a lot of work, only to have the lawn deteriorate all over again.
Alas, a teeny bit of deception got the Powells' backyard looking just as stunning as the one that greets visitors out front.
"I love it," says Fraser, stepping out onto the new grass. "I thought it looked freakishly perfect for a while, but as soon as you get a few leaves on there, it starts to look like we're just really, really good at keeping our grass."
The artificial turf looks and feels real, but can take much more abuse and requires little maintenance.
"You don't have to mow it, you don't water it. For the dogs, when it rains, it drains. When they go to the bathroom, not a problem, it won't stain it. They can't rip it," Stacy says.
The lawn's strength has been tested, too -- Smyth and Tux still roll wildly around their playspace, but the two canines no longer track telltale clumps of dead grass into the house.
In fact, the family has been told the new lawn is pretty much invincible against everything but the sun's extreme ultraviolet rays. Even Edmonton's frigid winters won't be able to do any damage.
"I've been telling everybody that in December I'm going to shovel it all off and I'm going to come out here in my bare feet and frolic on my green grass," Fraser says. "There will be snow everywhere, it'll be great!"
It will be obvious then the lawn isn't genuine. During the summer, however, it simply looks manicured. Oddly dewy, perhaps, even late in the afternoon, but that's about it.
"The one way you can tell it's fake is the shininess," Stacy says. "That would be the hint. Or you can lie and say, 'I just watered it.' "
-- Canwest News Service
