Artificial Grass, Yay Or Nay.

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.

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

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.

Yes!!! We have it in our, small back garden. It has been down for approx 4 years now.
It was done because we could no longer cope with the maintenance, and it seemed more reasonable than the on going cost of having someone in to cut and edge it. That is, if you could find anybody willing to do it.
We have decent borders, with shrubs and trees and get lots of birds foraging there and feeding on the berries on the tree.
Drainage is not a problem, as it was properly prepared and laid.
Sorry to all dissenters, but this GNer is very happy with our choice.

I agree with Maw. Artificial grass has uses in specific places, like roof terraces, places where decent grass won't grow or if the owner of the space has genuine problems with maintenance (e.g. due to health).

In gardens it looks awful, is seriously bad for the environment and shows that the owner is too lazy to mow the lawn.

custom made with weeds and daisies

It gets worse!

I am anti but we had a thread a few months ago and people liked it. Suppose it depends on your needs and position......still hate it.

Adds to flooding. Terrible for the environment and wildlife.

Vile stuff for the lazy. It looks nasty, is nasty for soil health and wildlife, smothers worms. Is often used to cover problem ground that does not drain. Artificial grass would be a deal breaker for me, I would never buy a house with it, wondering what else they have covered up and bad for the environment

Two of my neighbours have it and it looks awful.
I wonder about the possibility of flooding in this terrible weather.
A definite no from me!

If it suits the owners needs, then why not.

It's a no from me too - in domestic gardens. But, I agree it has its uses in sport, playgrounds and roof terraces.

No I agree, not in domestic gardens. Although I understand you can have it custom made, with a selection of weeds and daisies.

One of the best smells of summer, newly cut grass.

No not in ordinary gardens please.

It's horrible.

Our local football club tried it for a while but the players kept getting cuts and scurfs from the plastic grass. They then moved anyway and there is now a supermarket on that plot.

For the new pitch they reverted to natural grass. I can't see any advantage in artificial grass.

No no no
Dreadful stuff as Maw says ‘it may’ have its uses in some circumstances but for everyday gardens and on the whole it should be banned dreadful for the wildlife, insects and birds and unlike brandfordlass I personally think it looks awful
Who wants a carpet in their garden with no birds or worms or anything natural around
Whoever invented that needs a sharp reminder of what is needed in gardens, and it’s not a carpet of plastic

“Rule out” oops!

I’m not disagreeing Bradfordlass with the uses of artificial grass you quote. AstroTurf or All Weather surfaces make sense for sports pitches. Likewise roof terraces- the latter would be unlikely to have traditional lawns and in little children’s ‘ playgrounds you can have a cushioned surface fir safety.
But OP was, I assumed talking about domestic gardens and the anti-plastic argument combined with the appeals for encouraging wildlife in our gardens IMO rule OU artificial lawn.

Nope

As usual, I'm a dissenting voice

It's used quite a lot here, not least for All-weather sports fields which, of course don't get muddy, drain wonderfully and allow people to play all their field games regardless of the weather.

In kindergartens and schools it's used for hygiene and so babies don't hurt themselves if they fall.

It's also use on roof gardens and some townhouse strips where maintenance would be an extra expense.
It saves mowing for those who find that hard for any reason.

The modern stuff looks really good, sold in various different grass styles, fine to broad leaf, and you wouldn't know it was artificial unless you got very close.

So I would tell your friend to go look at it and not be swayed by old-fashioned visions of what it used to look like.

I'm another one who is going to say no.

No - as Maw says, it makes the soil inaccessible to wildlife. Also, it is introducing more plastic into the environment.

It should be banned.

I do mean that.

Nay, nay and thrice nay.

Disastrous for wildlife, hedgehogs, birds, - no worms in artificial grass.
More plastic to add to our waterways as and when it degrades (if it ever does)
Who needs an emerald green carpet in their garden?
(Naff)