Fake grass

[Jultay]

Has anybody fitted this themselves or is it best to get it done professionally .... any tips would be most grateful.

[OliviaBenson]

I'll be flamed for this but my tip is not to get it. It's horrible fake looking stuff that's terrible for the environment.

Sorry.

[obviouslymarvellous]

I loathe the stuff it's horrid for the environment - just have a read up on it! Sorry 😐

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

Is that really gardening?

I hate the thing.

[GrumpyOldMare]

Not the tip you were hoping for,I expect,but don't get it. It does nothing for wildlife (which is sadly in decline right now) and in my opinion (I get that others will disagree) it looks tacky and horrible.

[chemenger]

I don’t really think the gardening section is the place for this. Fake grass looks weird and is terrible for the environment. Its not gardening.

[Ridingthegravytrain]

To answer your question get it installed professionally. The sub base needs to be prepared well to allow adequate drainage and a flat surface and prevent weeds

[LoniceraJaponica]

If you dislike mowing the lawn could you not have some hard landscaping instead?

[Timeisslippingaway]

don't do it! I've com e across a few gardens with this stuff now. It look awful!

[moggle]

Yes get it done professionally. A friend did it himself in his tiny 2x3m garden, it looks ok but it took him ages and ages to do properly and the garden is sooo tiny.
We have it in our shaded, small back garden along with a big flower bed and veg garden and still get plenty of insects. Not many birds but that’s due to the cats...
Yes it’s not environmentally friendly. Of course, we’ve covered the ground in plastic. but using water, fertiliser, weedkiller, energy to run the lawnmower if you want a “classic” lawn that looks green and nice is environmentally unfriendly too.

[MrsBertBibby]

My friend had a small area in her garden done professionally, it cost a bomb, and I wouldn't do it, but given her worm phobia, her very lively kids and small indoor space it works for her. It's usable and clean all year round, no worm casts to freak her out, and the kids love to play on it, even in January. If it were a large space I think it would look weird, but as it is it looks good. And the wildlife can run riot nearby as next door is a total hippy and backing on is a bramble jungle of neglect.

[userxx]

I'm not a fan to be honest, I love the smell of freshly cut grass. My friend has it and has two dogs, it absolutely stinks.

[Snugglepiggy]

Sorry but hate the stuff too.I'm so sad today as our new neighbours called me over very proudly to show me their newly 'landscaped 'garden.All the lovely shrubs, lawn and borders lovingly tended by the previous owner have been ripped out.Along with the solid fences with no gaps below it's all flagged,decked and artificial grass .Nearby neighbours have taken in two rescue hedgehogs and when I asked if they had thought of leaving a hole for access they looked horrified .We don't want hedgehogs here thank you was the reply.Such a sterile 'garden'.Another outdoor room more like.Another two houses nearby are having fake grass installed.I find it utterly depressing whatever the reasons for it are.

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

I don't know why people do that.

Surely the point of a garden is to be green and fresh and provide shade and shelter. Once you pave it over it's just another dusty heat trap, makes me so sad.

[MrsBertBibby]

It makes it a year round playroom for my friend's kids

We'll sit out in hers in the depths of winter, whilst mine is a no go area.

I wouldn't swap, but I have oodles of space indoors, and am not petrified of worms. What she has done works for her.

[blueskypink]

Some very sweeping and dogmatic comments on here . Gardening/respecting nature and fake grass are not entirely incompatible.

We have a lot of big trees at the bottom of our south-facing garden so the soil is always really dry. Despite our attempts year after year we could never successfully maintain a lawn there and with a bit of rain the ground would turn to mud which the dogs would run into the house. So we gave up and had some fake grass laid. Marvellous. We have a beautiful garden. Herbs, wildflowers, fruit trees, plenty of wildlife etc. The fake grass only takes up about 1/4 of it, if that, but it means the dogs have a place to roll around on. And NO it absolutely doesn't stink of dog wee. And once it's got a bit of debris on it - leaves etc from surrounding trees, you really don't notice.

But to answer the OP's question, it requires a wooden frame to hold things in place, and lots of ground preparation. So not that straightforward to do yourself.

[madeyemoodysmum]

I can see the appeal in a tiny space but otherwise I'd stick with the real stuff. Garden are hard work yes but grass helps prevent flooding of homes and is a haven for wildlife.
If we loose the bees we will all die out pretty quickly! Or best case have a pretty miserable life.

[userxx]

bluesky - how does it not smell of dog pee? I'd love to pass on the tip to my friend.

[Ridingthegravytrain]

User they probably didn’t have the sub base adequately prepared for drainage. We have 2 big dogs and ours doesn’t stink

[userxx]

That's probably it. I'll let her know. Thanks Riding.

[Snugglepiggy]

I probably am sounding a bit judgy but living at the bottom of a steep little road ourselves and our immediate neighbours have noticed a big difference in the amount of run off when it rains heavily. And the two road drains struggle to cope.The latest lot of hard landscaping and fake grass will add to the problem.Especially as the new owners pointed out the levels were set to drain water out of their garden.I don't think they considered the impact on those lower down.The poor lady next door but below them already has problems as a result.

[Digestive28]

We have it and love it. Given we originally had a concerte yard and now have artificial grass and full flower bed I think we are doing better for environment then before. It is easy to clean, given us outdoor space we wouldn’t have had otherwise and we don’t have space for lawnmower. But...get it done professionally and take time in choosing, we had loads of samples before we decided and kept comparing them to those with large gardens in our area to decide

[blueskypink]

bluesky - how does it not smell of dog pee? I'd love to pass on the tip to my friend.

Because it's permeable. If it wasn't then wee, rain etc would sit on top. A good downpour would get rid of any wee I would have thought.

[userxx]

@blueskypink there's not been a downpour round here since early may, maybe that's the problem. Clearly all fake lawns are not the same and as Digestive said, get it done professionally. In years to come I wouldn't rule it out myself.

[FraxinusExcelsior]

A real lawn will do nothing for the bee population as it doesn't flower. So that's just a blind swipe at fake lawn owners.
Also, properly installed fake lawns drain well as they are permeable and laid on sand.
Another knee jerk reaction.

I've installed fake lawns for clients who had no room for a lawn mower or had disabilities but still wanted to grow flowering plants and shrubs.

I don't like the sound of the anti hedgehog people but honestly, well laid fake grass is not the worst gardening crime.

[lovesugarfreejelly63]

Chardonnay - in answer to your query (I don't know why people do that), we are arthritic, gardening was becoming difficult, and so we had astroturf professionally laid, expensive, but six years down the line it was worth every penny. The drainage is excellent and the "lawn" has kept its colour and shape. We can sit out and enjoy the sunshine without worrying about cutting the grass. We kept a small corner for wild life, and planted bushes that will (hopefully) attract butterflies, bees, etc.