Carlton Woods

Here the turf is not a lawn at all — it is a pattern. Narrow strips are set into a pale stone deck in a diagonal lattice that runs around the pool and the raised spa, softening a large expanse of hard paving without giving up any of its usable surface.

An inlay job is measured out before anything is cut. Every strip has to meet the stone on both long edges with no gap and no overlap, which means the deck layout and the turf layout are set out together. Each run sits on its own compacted base so the strips stay level with the stone rather than sinking below it.