Artificial Grass

Juney My only experience of artificial grass comes from my GS's infant school.

Last year the school decided to remove the soggy muddy turf and install artificial grass. The area involved was 30 ft. by 22 ft.

It took a skilled team of installers (who do nothing else) two weeks to finish it.

It involves removing old turf and compacting the earth to an unbelievable hardness. Aggregate was added and drainage pipes laid underground as soakaways.

The artificial grass was then laid and stretched ... yes stretched... and the edges sealed. Looks glorious and never needs maintaining now.

But makes me think .... a couple of gardeners and willing family members ? Perhaps you might consider a patio ?

We had artificial grass installed on our front patch - it would be a stretch to call it a lawn as it was a really lumpy, bumpy, ant-hill ridden, stoney imitation of one.

The two installers did a fantastic job removing the surface, levelling it, compacting it, installing a weed suppressing membrane, then a thin layer of aggregate followed by a layer of sand which was carefully levelled. The "lawn" was then laid and careflly cut to size and metal rim fitted all round the sides and the grass was nailed down. Sand was brushed into the top to help keep it in place until it settled.

The finished result was excellent and we have been delighted with it, and still are, 5 years on. There are different shades to choose from and we went for a darkish one which looks more realistic, so much so that lots of passers-by stop and ask if it is real. Four friends and acquaintances have actually followed suit having seen ours.

Like everything, I do think it needs to be done really carefully to look good and I am glad we had professionals to do it. Good luck - hope you like it as much as we do.

I've no experience but I go along with employing a gardener fortnightly much cheaper.

There are two neighbouring front gardens in my village with artificial grass. The surface looks fantastic but the thing that spoils them both is a join down the middle. If it is possible to avoid joining in a prominent position it would be well worth considering. I hope you achieve the result you are looking for.
I am with Tanith, and will go down the route of paying someone to look after my grass when I can no longer manage it.

My eldest daughter has done their entire ( very tiny) garden in astro turf. My SiL did it all ( he's handy ) .

It looks lovely , it works for them , they have 2 dogs - ( easily cleared up and hosed down !) 2 children ( they can play out all year no mud !) and they hoover it in autumn !! But you could sweep it. If I had such a small space I'd def go that route.

Good luck.

Hi Juney64, last year we were in the same position and went down the artificial turf route. We had professionals for the preparation and installation. It was HARD work, as it was so hot, but it has been worth it. The only thing I would advise is that when the sun has been so fierce, the 'grass' gets hot. I found out when walking on it in bare feet, but we don't get that sort of heat often, and it's a small price to pay for a trouble free lawn. One bonus, with no lawn mower and scarifier, our shed is roomier as well.

Thanks everyone - your comments are very encouraging. I agree with you Tanith but we find that the grass is very ugly after two weeks and it really gets my DH 'down'. Plus, due to neglect, we've had to have it re-turfed three times in five years so getting a professional in to do the work feels like a false economy.

The area is 4.5 x 9.5 m so it's sizeable enough to be a problem. Half of the garden is gravel. I had 3 quotes which ranged from £1,800
to £2,400, so we've decided to do it differently.

I've ordered the artificial grass, membrane, joining tape, pins and glue which together cost £666 < yikes, hope that isn't a bad omen!

I've ordered limestone as opposed to sharp sand as the sand and gravel expert told me that if I have a pet (which I do - a dog), sharp sand won't drain the urine away and it would eventually stink. So, he recommended 6mm limestone. That's on order and cost £80 for two tons.

I've had two gardeners round to quote for labour only and have accepted one. He is going to lift and remove existing (ugly) turf, compact the ground, lay the limestone then compact that. He's then going to lay the wooden batons all round the edges. For that work he's going to charge £350 and that includ s removing all debris. The edging wood is another £40.

That only leaves laying the membrane and the artificial grass and two of my three sons are going to come for the weekend after next to lay these.

In total, doing it this way, the cost is still quite high but is far less than the original quotations.

So, if my calculations are correct, the total will be £1,136. That's a lot of money but is a vast improvement on the original quotations and the garden will hopefully be maintenance free. I'm hoping that this will make my DH more relaxed.

Auntieflo I'll watch out for hot grass lol. Thanks for the tip ?

NannaandGrampy I'm longing to hoover my grass lol.

Shysal there will be a join so I'll ask them to make sure that it's given special attention. It's great to have this awareness in advance so thanks.

Gagagran I hope ours turns out as successful as yours is - after five years. That's really encouraging. We too have gone for a darker colour (several samples arrived).

GrannySue — I've attached a photo of the grass being replaced. This photo was taken a year or two ago and the grass now bears no resemblance to the photo. I think you'll maybe see why we want grass as opposed to a patio although we did think of that at one point. ANYTHING to make it maintenance free for my DH.

If you'd like, I'll upload a photo when it's done. Either that or I'll come back for a good old moan 'cause it's going wrong ?

I think artificial grass is prone to bad smells if you have pets. When we sold our last house one couple who were very interested told me they were glad we had a real lawn because they had AG and by their own admission it smelled awful due to their two dogs and they would never have it again . My advice would be to research this aspect as thoroughly as you can before committing yourself.

I already have Niobe and have mentioned it above.

I'm also quite lucky in that the dog I have is a retired guide dig for the Blind and he already has a designated place to relieve himself which doesn't involve grass. You make a great point though. I'd never have known were it not for the advice of the aggregate salesman.

Make that 'dig' not 'dig' ?

Dig? It's late. Try dog.

Be careful of this type of grass if you have dogs or young children, many people recently during the hot spell of weather we have had , have had to hose down the "grass" as it became very hot to walk on.

Thanks jacksmum. Fortunately, by 12:30 / 1:00 pm, around half of the grassed area is shaded.