AIBU. Public flogging for garden taste misdemeanors

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

copper nails, Chewbacca
shhh

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

I have fake grass in my back garden...nice to see all the haters out AGAIN about it! We have drainage issues ,have spent several thousands of punds over 30 years trying to improve the drainage and grow natural grass.It doesn't happen we get mud and reeds .
Having fake grass means my GD's can play safely out side .We have real grass in the front where there are no issues and trees and flowers and shrubs even some Leylandii ..oops .Plenty of things for the whole township of birds that nest on our ground .Should I go to confession and admit the sin of using fake grass..or just ignore the snobbery disguised as ecological concern ?

Plastic meerkats - ghastly. And don't get me started on indoor water features.

Those box balls fool no one and turn blue in the sun, awful. More wasted plastic to pollute the planet.

They are horrible Chewbacca and pointless, they dont last any longer than a ready made real hanging basket

Those balls of plastic greenery that my neighbours have hanging from brackets at the side of their front door. They're supposed to resemble buxus but look hideous when old and faded.

Ah weeds! Also known as wildflowers ( we have a few of those.)

I have a lot of what other people call weeds in part of my garden, that's my wildflower area.

My solar lights are lovely too, not a bit cold.
No-one else can see ours either.
Well, if they can, they shouldn't be there!

My solar lights are lovely ? the crackle glass ball types, about ten, dotted around, they change colour ( only we can see them.)

Solar lights usually give off that awful cold LED light not a nice glow at all. Which leads me on to...

LED lights in general: awful clinical blueish hue. Not nice warm light like traditional bulbs at all!

a gnome swinging from a tree

He may be a crime against taste but hanging is a bit harsh.

My neighbours have so many solar lights around their garden its lit up like a fairground every night. I have had to put blackout linings on the bedroom curtains as it was keeping me awake.

They have also recently erected a 'tikki bar' which is like their own beach bar, also covered in lights and sparkly dangly things.

Thankfully they don't have wind chimes any more - I think they got the message after finding them tied up every time it was windy!!

They've got real grass though LOL.

Having said all this they are very good neighbours and we never complain. Each to their own.

I confess to a gnome. We found him in an overgrown border when we moved in and named him Norman (after previous owner's late husband). He is now in a more prominent position. He is very 'vintage' with hardly any colour and his head has been glued back on at some point. I hope this information makes him more tasteful and will save me from the flogging with artificial grass!