Happy campers love lawn landscapes

Want to know the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to guarantee happy campers and repeat bookings to your park?

Green grass.

An instant lawn landscape is an affordable and simple way to create a powerful first and lasting impression to greet weary travellers after a long day on the road.

And one council owned caravan park in Northern Victoria, the Bridgewater Public Caravan Park, has well and truly cemented its reputation on the nomad trail for being an impressive, lush lawn, oasis.

It is a mecca for naturalists, water lovers and those seeking time away from the hustle and bustle and fast paced demands of our always on, modern digital world.

Bridgewater Public Caravan Park has long been a place to reconnect with nature, slow down and soak up the tranquillity of the meandering Loddon River.

But the park hasn’t always been green and glorious.

Almost 10 years ago – the park grounds were transformed into a stunning natural playground after the cabin accommodation, infrastructure and permanent vans were all destroyed by a devastating flood event.

Thanks to a common-sense approach and successful collaboration between council, park managers and private enterprise including Bridgewater Farmware, Coolabah Turf Instant Lawn, and Bendigo based Groundswell Civil and Landscape Services, the park landscape was redesigned and reconstructed with a core focus on enhancing the usability of the space.

Coolabah Turf owner Suzie Shearer said the Bridgewater Caravan Park project was a wonderful example of how to utilise instant turf to not only enhance an-already naturally-stunning location but to create a turnkey, sustainable landscape solution to give a town in the grips of natural disaster a quick win after such a tumultuous time recovering from flood,’’ she said.

"The park could’ve spent a lot of money on intangible infrastructure – but due to limited budgets and a few other unfortunate hurdles at the time, the project management team chose to install our Eureka Premium VG Kikuyu over the entire area (about 20 semi loads!) of turf to create a low maintenance ground cover and to return it to its former glory in a short period of time and to accommodate travellers through every season for the longer term."

Current day Bridgewater Park Manager Darren Marshall said the benefit of the Eureka Premium VG and the park’s investment in a quality irrigation system meant turf landscape areas had an incredible ability to recover and repair quickly after tent and swag impact during peak holiday periods.

"With easy access to water our turf definitely recovers well, it’s sturdy and withstands a lot of wear and tear," Darren says.

"Our use of instant turf has also decreased the amount of dust at the park, it looks scenic and the kids love playing on it."

So often when the phone rings at the park office, the first thing guests ask is: "Is this the park with all the grass?"

"People often love to lie on the grass and enjoy the river, bird life, and also nearby boating and fishing," he said.

Darren explained the grass area along the river, also managed by the Loddon Council, is a huge attraction for visitors who can enjoy all that Bridgewater offers including the local pub, bakery and its stunning, natural beauty.

The park offers easy access to the Loddon River, including a public boat ramp with disabled access, attracts water lovers from far and wide. And of course, this is a must visit destination for any avid water skier, with the river being home to the Bridgewater Waterski Club and slalom competition standard course right at the park’s back door.