Artificial Grass, Yay Or Nay.

I certainly wouldn’t choose it for my own garden, and obv. it’s not eco friendly, but in certain circs I think it can be very practical. A friend of a dd put some down in one of those very narrow urban gardens where she wanted a softer surface than paving for her very small children to play on, and where grass wouldn’t have done well anyway - too much shade.

We put some down last year in a rental property with a tiny garden where the even tinier lawn had done well for over 6 years, but had suffered badly after that very hot summer. It was the wrong time for new turf anyway, and I doubted very much that our otherwise very good tenants working long hours would have watered it every day for 3 weeks even if it had been the right time, so we had v good quality artificial grass laid.

It looks very nice but it certainly wasn’t cheap! The prep needs to be very well done. We still have beds/borders for the birds to find worms in, though I will admit that birds and worms were the main reason I didn’t choose it in the first place, when the mini garden was originally created from a ghastly mess.

I’ve also heard of people with the sort of children who want to kick a ball around in the garden all year - circs that would turn a normal lawn into a sea of mud in winter - having it laid.

A definite nay here, for all the reasons already mentioned, but particularly for the sake of the environment.

I hope artificial grass will soon become illegal, as it is disastrous for wildlife and uses tons of unnecessary plastic .

Plastic grass is useful for nothing but telling a lie about the garden.

I just read Witzend's post.(2 above this one)She is right however the justifications for using plastic grass are insufficient to offset the damage it does.

The last discussion on real/artificial grass ended with me seriously questioning whether I should leave GN .

I had just finished a very long process of creating a small useable garden for my DD and her baby daughter . I mentioned that we had used a small piece of artificial turf ( real grass just doesn’t take) along with plenty real planting and a lovely tree etc. but was set upon by the over the top environmentalist, do-gooder, hypocrites as though I had committed the worst environmental disaster of all time .

JackieB wrote: "Our local football club tried it for a while but the players kept getting cuts and scurfs from the plastic grass. "

This info should go viral.

That looks lovely auntieflo.

Lovely garden, Auntieflo.

Gillybob
I actually DID leave MN after such a discussion when I had laid artificial grass on my waterlogged garden. I was annihilated by hundreds of people.?

It is not the best option for the environment, I know that but I really don’t think it is the worst thing I could do and I am sure Greta Thunberg wouldn’t be as rude as some of the posters on MN were 3 years ago. I am vegan and I rarely use a car so I do my bit, I think! Also I have borders and plenty of worms and birds and slugs.

Auntieflo your garden is lovely.
I think it’s worth researching. I have seen it work well in schools and other public settings. But I have also seen it not stand up to the wear and tear of a school garden.

I think Auntie makes a good point about preparation and having it well laid. I guess it’s like a carpet, it would look hideous if I laid it ...

As for drainage and flooding, the ‘grass’ we had laid is porous and the base was thoroughly prepared so that the rainwater drains easily. I doubt you can say the same for the many equally tiny outside spaces in the area, so many of which are back yards rather than gardens, hard paved or concreted.

Here’s my ‘before’ shot:

And my ‘after’.

A no from me but I can see it has its uses. I have quite a large stretch of grass but I invested in a robot mower. It is one of the best gadgets I have ever bought.

Auntieflo I'm with you,we've had it for a few years now because of drainage problems which means our back garden is a swamp.Nothing grows except reeds.We've spent several thouthsands of pound to sort the issu e had every garden"specialist" for 50 miles ,diggers ,pipe layers and still a swamp.Fake grass was the last resort .we also have trees and bushes and some grass in the front garden and fruit trees and pot plants in the back garden/I'm so sorry if my wee patch of fake grass is "naff" but needs must ,otherwise my GC couldn't have got out to play as toddlers .Too many judgemental folk on here or is it snobs?

Paddyanne, snobbery aside, I imagine it just doesn’t occur to some people with gardens where grass does well, that many people aren’t so lucky. It may be because of shade from other buildings, or from trees you either don’t want to cut down, or aren’t allowed to, or because the area is particularly wet, as in your case.

Alternatives such as hard paving/shingle/decking are generally not practical if there are playing children to think of, especially if the area is at all large. Decking can get very slippery anyway, not to mention underneath being a favourite haunt of rats.

Witzend could you please let me know what artificial grass you have used please. I’ve just moved into a bungalow with small back garden and would like to use some.

I still get REEDS growing through my artificial grass ,but they are easier to pull out .Like Gilly I got savaged for fake grass on here ...oh to have a perfect garden like all those nay sayers .Sadly its not always possible

Letter about this in today’s Telegraph....

And it’s a No from me.

Nope. Does nothing for wildlife and even the good stuff looks fake. We need more plants not less.

Faux grass is very useful, and looks nice over concrete - I lifted it the other day to shake of leaves - two seconds rather than half hour mowing.
There were worms, centipedes, and all manner of critters underneath and on top.

Several people thought it real - it was expensive, not the cheaper ones.

*off

Lovely garden photos!

Thank you for the lovely comments about the photo of the back garden.
To all the people that say NO, we think we have future proofed our garden. Lots of folk, future proof their homes, with stair lifts, rails, wider doorways, aids for easier living. Why the difference?
I know there are lots and lots of you who would not have artificial grass. Maybe you are lucky, in where you live and can get a person to cut the grass weekly/ fortnightly. Here, there are big companies, who will arrange a contract that is costly, over complicated, and not what we need. We can still manage the borders. As Paddyanne mentioned, we also get the odd weeds popping up, but they are easy to remove.
Artdecogran, if you are interested, we had a company called Easigrass, who installed ours. The actual product, had the name CHELSEA, and I think there were 4 grades to choose from. It wasn't cheap, at almost £3000.00, but the preparation and installation was first rate.
Clearing the space, stripping the turf and excavating the soil.
A weed membrane was laid, drainage aggregate applied, then all levelled and compacted. Sand applied on top and compacted. An edging was installed and after the 'grass' was laid, it was finished by brushing sand into the top.
All waste and debris was removed from site.
1year after installation, and an aftercare visit was included in the cost.
Am including a picture of the car that arrived with the man from the company, as it amused me. ?