Tell me about artificial grass in a garden for young children

[catsofa]

We have Japanese Knotweed so will have to keep digging up large parts of the garden for years and years to get rid of it.

My baby is 10 months old, and I wanted to make a large flat area in the middle of the garden to play on - sandpit, wheeled toys, paddling pool, swing, climbing stuff, or just space to kick a ball. But we'd have the cost of a lawnmower plus the work of cutting the grass, and I'm not sure it'll even be worthwhile trying to establish a proper lawn while having to dig the knotweed up all the time.

I'm wondering if it'd be better to just lay down some tarp or something with some artificial grass on top, so we can roll it back to dig up the knotweed and then replace it again and have an instantly usable and non-muddy garden again for playing on.

Anyone have experience of doing this? What types/brands of artificial grass are there, and which would be best? How long does the stuff last? Is it a stupid idea for some reason I've not thought of?

[TheWordOfBagheera]

I have it with small children and it's fab.

I'm not sure about the rolling up every so often to dig the knotweed though - it's generally put in place pretty permanently. But that includes digging over and flattening the earth, salting (to prevent weed growth), then covering in sand, shingle and a weed membrane - so the knotweed shouldn't be a problem.

I can't remember the company that I used off the top of my head, but it was one that came up near the top of a search. I'd recommend getting samples first so you can get a proper feel for the look and texture of the grass. I found the cheaper ones that I thought looked good online didn't look so nice in the flesh and were quite rough to the touch (not great for toddlers playing with bare knees in summer) so ended up going a little more expensive.

The different types tend to come with a lifespan information specific to that grass so it's impossible to say how long it lasts - it just depends which you buy.

[kitkat321]

We have it - it was expensive to put down and we were starting from scratch (new build). A lot of work done to level and prepare the ground but it's excellent - love he fact that my week girl can crawl about in the garden even at this time of year with no worries about mud.

[Muskateersmummy]

We moved into a house which has a small patch of it by a lovely Wendy house. It's fab!!