AIBU. Public flogging for garden taste misdemeanors

Ah, here we go again. If people have sound reasons for not liking plastic grass then it must be snobbery disguised as ecological concern and not actual concern for the environment and the plastic tat overtaking our world.

Perhaps I'm odd but I quite like windchimes. I suppose it depends on how loud they are and the proximity to other people's homes.

Not keen on garden gnomes.

Well, our neighbours must like them and they are very nice (the neighbours, that is)

You've just reminded me of another personal horticultural dislike paddyann....... Leylandii hedges that are left to grow to huge heights and widths. Absolutely nothing will grow underneath them because the suck all the moisture out of the ground. The taller they grow, the more ragged and bare and ugly they are at their base. And nothing, apart from wasps wants to build a nest in them. It annoys me greatly that I have to trim the damned leylandii hedge, that my neighbour has along the boundary line, if I don't want it to overtake my garden. would it be unreasonable of me to poison it?

And nothing, apart from wasps wants to build a nest in them
Actually, pigeons seem to like them - and magpies. But none of the nice birds.
And they drop dead brown bits of tree all over other people's gardens too, especially when the pigeons flap around in them.

copper nails, Chewbacca
shhh

Well at the risk of upsetting the OP, we have just recently installed an artificial lawn in our DD’s back garden. Having tried 3 separate times over the years to turf it with “proper grass” it just doesn’t ‘take” (due to very poor drainage) and ends up looking like a barren mess within a few weeks . To be fair we have kind of half and halved the grass with a lovely planting area which includes a lovely mature tree that attracts lots of lovely birds and wildlife . They have a hedgehog hotel too in which they have at least 2 permanent residents .

It is very good quality and was quite a large financial investment by DH and I . It looks and feels much better than my real lawn and is ideal for her baby to play on which is the main reason why we went for it in the first place.

I do think there is a huge amount of snobbery regarding artificial lawns.

What I’d like to know about artificial grass is how you clean it? There must be a certain amount of dust, dead leaves and bits and pieces which fall on it. Do you have to bring out vacuum cleaner every now and then?

I think if you offset the artificial lawns with plants/shrubs/flowers then it’s ok, sometimes you have to do what right for you and your garden.

My next door neighbour.

They moved in 3 years ago and have yet to weed the front garden. The back garden is the dog toilet, great piles on the paving, and is now waist high with weeds (wild flowers).... They actually shovelled a pathway to the garage side door. They 'trimmed' (butchered) their beautiful front garden 5' high Forest Flame shrub last month and took it back to the wood, not a leaf left on it.

The gardens were beautiful when they moved in, sad because it was our son who sold their house to them.

It sounds lovely Lemon. We have three ladybirds crawling up our garage and I love them (they’re metal) and some solar lights, but we have real grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers. No decking, just a patio. And a few tubs with various shrubs and flowers.

I think if you offset the artificial lawns with plants/shrubs/flowers then it’s ok,

Theyre still non recyclable. Use fossil fuels to be made & take over 500 years to break down.

Plants alone are only part of the story, the health of the soil itself is crucial to the health of the eco system. Its like humans with "good gut health". Artificial lawns = bad soil bacteria not healthy soil bacteria.

But like I said: there is no lawn police... yet. .

What I’d like to know about artificial grass is how you clean it?

People vacum them and A LOT of people use household cleaning chemicals on them too (which runs into neighbouring soil)

I do think there is a huge amount of snobbery regarding artificial lawns. oh dear no! My taste in gardebs could NEVER be described as "snobby"

That is not why I think artificial lawns are a travesty.

Having an artificial lawn doesnt just affect your garden. It affects neighbouring soil bacteria too.

It is by no means the only alternative lawn to "proper grass". Clover lawns look great, need less care, and "take" in darker areas.

notanan2, there's an awful lot of clover in one of my lawns and the bees are all over it.

I keep it longer (set the mower higher, about 3 inches) and have to dash out and cut it early, before the bees arrive.

There's buttercups (butterflies love them) and daisies in it too and I really like them!

I have been living in a rental property since I emigrated six years ago, so I have limitations on what I can do both inside and outside the house, as well as rules about what I can't do. The garden, which is larger than any garden I have previously owned, was established but consisted mostly of trees and shrubs. I have worked very hard on it and spent quite a lot of money on new plants. The lawns, however were not laid flat to begin with and are so wavy Davey that some parts are hugely difficult to mow properly. Also when it rains – and when it rains here, it absolutely tanks – those parts turn into lakes.

One word.....

Gnomes

I’m laughing reading some of these posts about neighbouring soil etc. Where my DD lives (as well as where I live) there is very little neighbouring soil at all. Everything is completely paved over . The artificial grass we have installed is fully permeable letting water pass through into the drainage system that DH has installed underneath it. My DD uses a hard brush to brush the leaves and other matter from the lawn (she still has a fair bit of planting and a large tree at the bottom) and We bought a specially recommended kind of organic disinfectant that is used to clean it once a month that causes no harm to the environment or indeed the baby.

I hope those who are complaining about the environment have everything in their home that is recyclable. That should obviously include soft furnishings, furniture, carpets, white goods and everything else. As I’m sure they are changed more often than this small artificial lawn will be .

No snobbery? Don’t make me laugh.

Whhoooaaa. Can we take a step backwards here. “bleach their gardens” notanan2. BLEACH THIER GARDENS???

Who on earth bleaches their garden ? I’ve never heard anything like it?

My Best Buy was a robot lawn mower. It means I keep the grass a bit longer as I set it high and I can sit in me garden chair and watch it go.
I also have a metal fox and owl and a large whirligig. No lights, wind chimes leylandii although our neighbour has awild cherry tree which I have to cut back.

My DH is a bit obsessive when it comes to cutting our lawn. So much so that I wish I could buy him a sky hook so he can be suspended over it when he trims the edges.

I have a metal fox too dragonfly he guards my back door . I also have a tall bronze/metal “thingy” that spins in the breeze. I don’t think either of these will be recyclable or organic mind you.

We passed a semi with a large front garden covered in the badly fitted stuff yesterday including a slope in the front. It looked like a carpet. Dreadful.

They have it in the nursery garden which is practical I suppose, though it is thick in sand. It is useful with a dog ,maybe, in small amounts as some of you say.

I really don't think it's snobbery to object to it.

Shall I resign immediately,before I am excommunicated for GN
I have green plastic balls masquerading as some sort of foliage.

Iam in process of laying some articial grass under my 5feet by 5feet to keep the patch free of weeds so as to look smart and tidy,giving me more time to go the pub and drink gin with my friends.

I have decking...just a small amount outside my kitchen window,and grey slate under my bedroom window,also guilty of windchimes just small ones though.

As you can see I am trying to fit in as I am leaving two spaces between paragraphs does that count in my favour,and I do have lots of tubs with real plants planned to attract wildlife..hopefully no rats...I do feed birds and have assorted ironmongery dotted about.

I only have small area as our garden is communal and I live in ground floor flat and tastefully done.

Please dont ban the gran

Something I never considered is how hot plastic grass gets .Personally I hate the stuff and would can't help thinking- as we're waking up to the insidious problem of micro plastics -as it's trodden on and degrades surely tiny particles must enter the soil and then our water systems ?But last week on a broiling hot day I got up barefooted from my chair and was shocked how hot our patio was,then stepped down onto our lawn.Instant relief.I spread a throw out and read under a tree with real grass tickling my feet.Bliss.
Then a friend who has fake grass as she runs a dog day care centre told me how shocked she was at how hot the artificial turf got -something she had never considered.