We've just had a plastic lawn put in. AMA

[Imdunfer]

As title.

If you're going to raise climate issues please make sure you have your facts right before you post. There is a lot of incorrect PR and social media comment about plastic turf going around at the moment.

You say it gets bad PR. I assume this means you don't believe the environmental impacts posted on this thread are true, in which case, what do you believe the environmental impact is and why?

God we get this mad logic on this forum so often.

I did not say it benefitted the environment. I said not all the PR is true.

I've read hilarious stuff very recently in national papers about how rain runs straight off it and down the drain. It doesn't.

It's no more dread and sterile underneath than an area underneath a plant pot or a paving slab is, either.

"Expanse" isn't a word I would use about my tiny back garden 🤣

More false logic and false assumptions.

Is this your first garden? Did you grow up in a non-garden culture? I have friends in Paris who have never owned a garden, having lived apartment life all their lives. They grow palm like things on their balcony, but say frankly that they wouldn't know where to begin with a garden.
I personally can't imagine owning even patch of sloping north facing dampness without immediately planning what would grow there. You could have had beds of lily of the valley and ferns and beautiful scented dark red roses on the north wall and mind-your-own-business greening the edges and a Japanese maple for autumn. I know this because I have a dank, north facing, heavily shaded, sloping patch of garden, and this is what I grow there.

Sure, provided it’s just one lawn it won’t matter a jot.
…is what they all said. ☹️

I wouldn't sit out in hot weather anyway, I have a genetic syndrome that makes doing that very uncomfortable. I don't actually care if it's warmer than grass would be but a big reason for doing it is that it is mostly in shade in any case.

Beat me to it!

• Do you not like bees and plants op?
• Do you genuinely think it looks nice?
• Aren’t you worried about it getting hot?
• Why didn’t you just go for paving/gravel if you wanted low maintenance? Looks much nicer!
• Do you have a dog and are you aware your plastic grass is likely to smell like poo?

That's a completely different point to the one I was responding to.

Yes, and on AskMeAnything threads, one is free to ask the OP such questions as: "Have you taken leave of your senses?" or words to that effect.

AMA threads are attention-seeking on the whole, and with that, the OPs necessarily have to accept the negative attention as well as the positive.

Well frankly among the thousands of hectares of prime green farmland that have been built round this town in the last 10 years, it won't.

I love them.
It does look nice.
No.
I didn't want paving or gravel, I don't agree it looks nicer.
I don't have dogs and I don't believe it would be difficult to stop it smelling like poo if I did.

Can I please point out that I am not complaining about any of the posts being made?

Probably but my goodness this has been thoroughly entertaining!

No.

How long have you had the lawn OP?

Our local football team play on articial turf and do sliding tackles and are never burned by it.

It drains better than the grass did. Yes there is a membrane and a thin layer of aggregate.

No it's not scratchy I walk on it happily in bare feet.

Do birds poo all over it and make it disgusting each morning? Our friends had this done and told us about this problem!

High-grade artificial pitches are completely different in their material and manufacture to domestic fake lawns.

Is it really a carpet?

Thank you. It was actually another poster I was responding to.

How do you 'build' green farmland?

Moved into a house with one last year- will remove it as soon as we can. Hate it-can’t walk barefoot on it in summer as burns your feet and a real lawn is lovely to walk on. People need to lower their expectation of a lawn- some weeds are fine on it, nector for for bees. Stop our obsession with perfection- and stop buying plastic shit- I include lawns, fake nails and plastic flamingos amongst other things in this . Hasn’t the heatwave taught people anything. You do you Op but I personally think it’s hideous but sadly they are not against the law so you can have one

We had it in a rented house for six months once - be so careful kids don’t get burned with it, it heats up so much

How long have you had it, does it still look the same as when you had it installed?

I confess my scepticism as I am a keen gardener. And I don't understand how weeds don't grow in it. It wont take much to pull them up if you get them early, but weed seeds fall from birds droppings / blow in on the air and grow in drives, pavement, patios, cracks in buildings, even the gutters etc. So I am not sure I understand how they will not grow over time.

I also know soil microorganisms underpin entire biospheres of British wildlife. So whilst I do appreciate and respect your reasons and views, I would caution others considering installing artificial lawn (or any other plastic pollution - outside rugs etc) just to review the academic research on microplastics in soil organisms and their impacts on wider ecosystems.

Installing artificial grass creates a barrier which prevents species and nutrients from entering the soil, including water. This can be a problem for areas which are already susceptible to flooding as fake grass is not effective at absorbing water and doesn’t allow it to drain the way that a natural lawn does.[5] Water will instead run off and cause flooding elsewhere.

Absolute rubbish about water runoff from a properly installed lawn.

One study in Australia found that daytime temperatures of fake grass reached an average of 20oC more than the temperature of natural grass (49.9oC compared to 29.9oC).[8]* *

And the climate in Australia is so close to the climate in the UK!

It also claims without presenting any evidence at all that it is damaging to pets.