A natural lawn works well especially in large areas it is the most cost effective surface but does require a lot of maintenance. The most important point to understand if you have clay soil the lawn wont do well and in the winter it will be very soft ground turning to mud when you walk on it. In many new builds this is an issue as most of the gardens have a clay base. If you have a clay base and want a properly drained area you need to take out the top 0.5m which will be very expensive in most cases. It is better to choose another surface.

Installing a lawn is pretty straight forward the following is required:

• Remove the existing surface and cover with approximately 50mm of sharp sand.
  

• Then cover the sand with 40 mm of top soil (to much top soil with make the lawn muddy in the rain) and rake it out.
  

Once the area is ready turf the specified area with quality lawn turf and water. A new lawn should be watered on dry days and try not to walk on it to much as you will pull the seems. Once the turf has taken you would water and feed as normal. It takes a few months for the seems to disappear.