Pros and Cons of Artifical Grass!

[ButIWantedToBeYourValentine]

I have a 40sq metre area of grass in the back garden. Over the years, it's been savaged by the dog and kids and is looking more like a bald area of mud

I have had a refund from a non-holiday, and decided to redo the area, but not sure whether to go for artificial grass this time or just re-turf with nice new fresh grass- to be fair, the last turf lasted about 7 years before it started looking shit!

Is artifical grass worth the extra money? Had a few comments about how hot it gets in the summer and how it fades and looks rubbish after a while...

www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/aug/02/turf-it-out-is-it-time-to-say-goodbye-to-artificial-grass

And if your dog goes on it I am reliably informed that it eventually stinks, even if you hose it off immediately.

@Disressingtimes thanks I have also heard this too, even with the "pet friendly" grass. And I won't be able to monitor everytime he has a piss to be there to hose it down

I am leaning towards normal grass. The only pro I have heard so far about the artificial grass is not having to mow it!

I think if grass can grow well in your garden, stick with real grass. We’re north facing, with a small garden, and I tried and tried with real grass but it just died. We had artifical grass put in in September and absolutely love it. It’s fenced off so the dogs can’t wee on it but they’ve got used to that. It looks like real grass, genuinely, and as the alternative was gravelling it I’m glad we went for it. I have to say though it was extortionately expensive compared to normal grass as we wanted good quality stuff fitted properly.

@Handsoffstrikesagain no, not started another thread. I genuinely wanted to hear what people thought about it, from personal points of view.

@SkeletonSkins thanks. I wouldn't be able to fence it off - tried fencing it off a few years ago but the dog is my son's best friend and they play together all the time so I don't want to do that.

This is ours, pros are it looks perfect constantly, no mud, nicer to be on/play on than the awful patchy mood we had before (and lord knows I tried), no upkeep.

Cons - extortionately expensive to fit, bad for the environment (although the alternative was going to be gravel or something, and I try to put lots of wildlife friendly plants in)

The dog’s have occasionally toileted on it and it’s been fine, no smell, but we don’t let them use it for that routinely. For what it’s worth, it’s so so so much easier to pick up poo so it would only really be wee, perhaps you could make sure your dog was ‘empty’ before playing on it? Not sure really. The guy who fitted it assured me that they fitted it for the dogs trust and any smell is washed away but I’m just very precious about my expensive investment 😂

My back garden has artificial grass and I dislike it. I can’t wait to be able to afford to turf it. It’s hard to keep clean with a dog (I have one). If I had young kids I wouldn’t let them play on it, it’s pissy and grotty.

@SkeletonSkins it does look lovely!

@GreenClock

My back garden has artificial grass and I dislike it. I can’t wait to be able to afford to turf it. It’s hard to keep clean with a dog (I have one). If I had young kids I wouldn’t let them play on it, it’s pissy and grotty.

Thanks. I was worried about this too

Awful for the environment and for animals.

But random cats do stop shitting on the garden (mostly)