Artificial grass

Oh how liberating!! I would truly love to do this, but not sure I could justify the expense. We are going to pay for our DD's tiny back garden to have an area of artificial grass - only about 16 square metres, just enough for the little one to play. This is to replace an area that has spaced out paving slabs with gravel in the gaps - absolutely not an ideal play area for a child! The other part of the garden is decking, so that's fine.

Hope that really helps you with maintenance if you have specific health problems.

But I can't help feeling so sad, sorry. How do birds, bees, hedgehogs and wildlife survive if we all turn to decking, concrete, slabs and artificial grass- and all the front gardens gone to paving and cars too.

Again, sorry, nothing personal.

Our neighbours across the road had artificial grass laid in their back garden last year ... maybe because they have a north facing garden and maybe because they have 2 small boys playing football and real grass was wasted.
They've already had the company back to fix it after heavy rain.
Best of all, it attracts all the wee boys in the neighbourhood to play football! :-)

Worse than that though, a house we pass on our way into the town is in the process of getting an artificial hedge ... looks like a scabby Christmas tree, really awful!

I can't help wondering what happens over time? In the autumn when dead leaves get trodden in, dog mess, etc. You don't want to be vacuuming it instead of cutting it. ?Anyone had experience of this?

We had artificial grass on our front "lawn", which in reality was a lumpy, bumpy, stoney, ant-hill ridden mess.

It has been wonderful and we have had no flooding or "scabby Christmas tree" effects. In fact people passing by stop to admire it and ask if it's real. I think you get what you pay for and we got a good product and a good firm to do the job. We kept our borders - in fact extended one and have masses of plants and shrubs which seem to keep the wild-life happy.

Our soil is full of flints and would never give a good sward. It was a question of having new top soil and turf, paving or what we went with. No regrets at all. Three friends have followed suit after seeing ours.

Maranta we have five big trees in the verge immediately in front of our front garden and yes we do get leaves but we have a leaf blower/vac and use that just as we would have had to on grass.

Dog mess? We don't have a dog and have never had any mess from dogs going by on leads. We do get the odd seagull deposit but a bit of kitchen roll and dettox soon takes care of that.

As I understand it, artificial grass is on a 'breathable' mesh, so rain - and indeed a hosepipe after clearing dog mess - should just soak through into the ground. It is recommended that a weed suppressing membrane is laid first (which is also 'breathable').

Thanks for all the comments. We did a bit of research, and the old turf is dug up and cleared. Then a sub surface is laid and compacted, then sand and compacted, then a weed suppressing membrane. When the new grass is laid, sand is brushed in, and the turf is on a permeable backing. It all sounds good, and the product is endorsed by John Lewis. We do have three blowsy borders around the garden, so the birds should be happy, as long as I keep the bird bath full. We sadly no longer have a dog, and no youngsters playing football. They are all grown and long gone. The youngest grandchild is two, but lives at least two hours away, but it will be nice for him when he visits. I hope we are doing the right thing.

My daughter has had it for over 5 years in their teeny tiny back garden. She has 2 children , now 9 and 6 and 2 dogs. It always looks pristine. Its how I aspire my lawn to look like ( it'll never happen!!)

It tolerates rain, football and dogs mess remarkably well. She picks up after the dogs then hoses down and disinfects and away we go.

The upside is no mud brought in , in the winter from kids or dogs. They can play out all year round and no maintenance really.

I'd love it if I had a smaller plot !

Anyone used it on concrete? We've a really ugly patch of concrete in our back garden, wondered if artificial turf would be a good cover up? What would you think, would it work? I think you can buy an adhesive tape to fix it but I've got visions of it disappearing over the fence in the first game .

No I wouldn't risk it cornergran. Read Auntieflo's description above of how they prepare and lay the artificial grass. I can't see it looking like anything but a tatty bit of carpet or similar in a very short time if you were to lay it straight onto concrete.

I think I might be tempted to put bark chippings down to cover the concrete you don't like. Would that be an option?

How much does it actually cost ! IYDMMA !

It's not cheap. Our front lawn which is about 18 feet by 14 feet cost £1200 in 2013. It took two people about 7 hours work in total to do it.

i have had it put on top of my concrete back yard, they glued it down, its fantastic. stopped slugs a lot.and if its dry i hover it ( i know) or hose it down. wish i had it done years ago

Might be worth a try then, it's only a little patch, just big enough for a four seater table and chairs. Your suggestion is a good one gaga, bark chips wouldn't damage the table and chair legs like stones could., not sure how we would contain them, though. Still some thinking to do .

Am I the only one who finds the idea horrifying?????? False hedge? Why ?No wonder wildlife is.on the decline. Nothing ever grows or changes. ( back to being a garden snob I think. Would rather have begonias. )

No, you're not the only one LullyDully. As a retired horticulturalist I don't like it. But I do admit to having some false flowers in my bathroom as it's too dark for real ones. My pet hate is the hanging balls of 'box' you see outside some establishments. But they do say that, like having pets around, flowers and the colour green help to calm the mind and I'm all for that.

By this time next year I hope to have a sunken garden with raised flower beds and definitely artificial grass , I have to suss how wheelchair friendly it will be for OH , real grass would be a no no , decking gets slippy and paving is too harsh ........... all pie in the sky at the moment though

Our DD2 has just moved house from a house that just had a small courtyard at the back. They now have a bigger garden which has artificial grass. Her DH said (he can be a bit snobby) yuk that will have to go.
Well. . . . A few weeks on he has changed his mind as their little 2 1/2 year girl can play on it no matter the weather and it looks good. It does have borders round too so not completely sterile!

My DD1 keeps trying to save to have artificial grass put down in her small back garden. The previous owner had had it 'landscaped' with a little lawn and beds sloping up from the grass. There's no retention to the beds so the soil washes down when it rains. Also the bright spark landscapers planted giant bamboos and yuccas which sucker into the grass.

Would this lawn survive being changed to artificial - bearing in mind they have two dogs and two children and don't believe in garden maintenance - or would it be money down the drain? I fear the bamboo which refuses to die would force it's way up through the membrane and the edges of the lawn accumulate dust, leaves and so weeds.

We live right on the promenade, and after very windy weather our front lawn was always coated in sand.
For years, I brushed and swept but the grass was never in good condition, too much salty air and seagull poop perhaps!
We now have artificial turf and it's wonderful, but the good stuff doesn't come cheap.
We got the 'grass' delivered to the driveway, and DH, DS and a friend did all the work themselves. It took the three of them a whole weekend, whilst I supplied tea and biscuits!
We still have large borders, and the grass looks completely natural, and its such a joy not having to mow a 60ft x 30ft lawn anymore!
Even seagull poop's not a problem now, kitchen towel and a jug of water......if they've had lots of fun and 'splattered' much of the 'lawn' a good hosing down soon sorts the problem!

Lady near us takes out her hoover to their garden.

I can't see my beloved DD1 or my much esteemed DSiL going out to do anything other than clear the dog poo and maybe hose it occasionally. Less in winter when they leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark. I don't think kitchen towels or jugs of water, let alone disinfectant would occur to them! I fear artificial grass would get buried under uncleared dead leaves in winter and grow weeds in spring. It sounds good but I feel probably not for them.

It feels me with misgivings too, but I can see the advantages if you are too old or disabled to manage to mow the lawns or maintain a garden.

However, I love to see the blackbird pull a juicy worm out of the lawn and the sparrows pecking for ants then flying back to their nests in the hedge (which does need cutting, I admit).