The grass at Union Terrace Gardens has finally been laid – six months after the park reopened.
Contractors BSW Timber have been working on the revamped site for the last two days, carefully covering the bare ground with the bright green turf.
The newly laid turf was sealed off with metal railings and pressed with wooden planks to allow the grass to settle in before it’s fully ready for the public.
Works now appear to have been completed and the centrepiece of the gardens is fully covered with grass.
However, people will not be able to use it for another six weeks.
Ove that time, the grass will be cut twice – once every three weeks – while Aberdeen City Council will regularly water it.
Earlier this month, preparatory groundworks started at UTG to improve the site for the turf being laid.
UTG ‘compacted’ due to Spectra
Despite being officially opened just before Christmas – eight months later than initially expected – the council said it delayed putting down the grass due to it being used in February for the Spectra light festival.
As well as this, they said it was held off until spring to ensure conditions “were as best as they could be”, however, the authority said that the first few months were “wet and cold”, with the ground also being “compacted” due to Spectra.
Once the turf has been laid and is ready to be used, the full revamp of the gardens – which started back in 2019 – will be complete.
Last week, it was announced that SugarBird Wines would be taking over the last remaining premises at UTG, with plans to open a new wine bar at the two-storey Burns pavilion in November.
UTG has had a number of issues since it reopened in December, including a rise in anti-social behaviour, CCTV cameras not being switched on, the public toilets being closed and the struggles to find tenants for the pavilions.
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen City Council said: “The turf work is now complete.”
