- EXCLUSIVE: Jack Bannister’s lawn in Clitheroe has been destroyed online
- Mr Bannister removed the flowering garden and replaced it with artificial grass
- He defended the move, saying the garden was overgrown when he moved in
A new homeowner has defended tearing down a family’s “beautiful” garden after critics criticized him for laying down strips of fake grass.
Jack Bannister, 34, bought the three-bedroom house in Clitheroe, Lancs, for just over £200,000 in 2021.
He then brought out all the carefully cultivated flowers, trees and plants from the previous owner, Sam Withers.
Mr Bannister replaced the manicured lawn with mismatched strips of artificial grass, sparking outrage on a gardening account on X, formerly known as Twitter, after Sam’s son Ben shared a photo of the garden in its former glory.
He posted: ‘Parents buy new build, mum builds garden, parents sell house, buyers do this…’
Critics were quick to compare the ‘depressing’ new garden to ‘a prison garden’ and called the landscape makeover a ‘disgrace’.
Jack Bannister was spotted online after demolishing his home’s previous owner’s ‘beautiful’ garden and replacing it with artificial grass (pictured)
Mr Bannister replaced the manicured lawn and flowers with strips of mismatched artificial grass
One user wrote: ‘That’s heartbreaking, so many would love a garden like the original, and the work and love the original owners put into creating it has been undone by whatever that natural disaster is.’
Another said: ‘I can’t express how beautiful your mother’s garden was. It is a true example of how to garden for nature. Absolutely shocking that new buyers opted for plastic.”
One angry gardener wrote: ‘Dear God, that is one of the most depressing things I have seen in a long time. Thousands of pounds worth of plants destroyed.’
One woman compared the new backyard to a prison, adding: “They took Eden and made hell.”
But Mr Bannister has defended his choice, saying he had to give the green space a facelift because it had turned into a ‘jungle’.
He told MailOnline: ‘People have said ‘what have you done’ and ‘what happened to the garden’.
‘My neighbor said it took her years to make and she spent hours on it.
‘But it had ended up being a bit of a jungle because she hadn’t done much work in the past few months.
‘I felt like I had no choice because it was a full-time job. She was a stunning spirit and she must have been an experienced gardener.
People lambasted Bannister’s “depressing” refresh on a gardening account on X
Mr Bannister said the previous owner’s garden (pictured) was ‘stunning’ and said she must have been an ‘expert gardener’.
Mr Bannister said he installed the artificial grass pitch (pictured) because it was ‘easier to manage’
An office now stands in Mr Bannister’s back garden, which offers beautiful views of the nearby hills, with plans for a barbecue area.
The IT consultant rents out his house for £119 a night on Airbnb and spends £15,000 on refurbishing the back garden.
Plants and trees were also ripped from the front yard, which is now bare concrete.
He said: ‘The artificial grass is a lot easier to deal with, especially as I rent it out to Airbnb customers at the weekend.
“It’s not finished yet and there’s still some work to be done, but I have an office there now.”
Neighbor Sam Smith, 47, said: ‘It’s a real shame – it was a beautiful garden that has been torn up.
‘But many people do that with artificial grass, which is a lot easier.’