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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to dig up the bloody lawn and replace it with AstroTurf?

26 replies

Wrigglebum · 27/09/2011 15:53

Lawn is covered in fungus again and I'm fed up of it! We have trees all around so all the leaves and roots feed the fungus and I've no idea how to kill it without some sort of chemical attack. Neither fungus nor chemicals are great with a toddler around.

I'm sure it would be a little bit better if we raked or mowed a bit more but I daren't mow with a toddler around and at the moment either he's awake or it's dark. And it rains all bloody weekend.

Rant over, but has anyone managed to clear their lawn of fungus?

OP posts:
GwendolineMaryLacey · 27/09/2011 15:54

My friend is buying a house with an astro turf lawn and we're laughing like drains at the pictures :o Um, can't you have lots of mushrooms on toast?

Original poster
Wrigglebum · 27/09/2011 16:01

No idea if they're safe or not but I can't stand bloody mushrooms and the smell of them cooking makes me heave!

OP posts:
BeyondLimitsOfTheLivingDead · 27/09/2011 16:02

Can you not put him in the buggy for 10mins while you cut it?
as my DH keeps suggesting to me when I tell him to do it?

Original poster
Wrigglebum · 27/09/2011 16:15

It's quite a big lawn so 10 mins wouldn't do it (hence we don't get round to it so much). Might just have to lock him inside with a Mr Tumble or two...
Sure we'd still get the fungus though as it even pops up where the grass is bare, ggrrr

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UsAndTwo · 27/09/2011 16:22

One of mums at school with lots of DS has astro turfed back garden - says it is the best thing she ever did!

scampadoodle · 27/09/2011 16:22

We've got fake grass & I've never regretted it. It's a small, weirdly-shaped area though. I wouldn't have done it if we had a large lawn.

We've had it a few years & now there are weeds growing through it but that's partly because I don't pick them early enough.

emsyj · 27/09/2011 16:24

Eeeek, astroturf really hurts if you fall over on it - as I discovered to my cost at a posh tennis club when I took a tumble. Yowsa.

scampadoodle · 27/09/2011 16:26

No, ours is really soft. You can get different piles, like carpet. I wouldn't put proper tennis-court Astroturf in my garden...

Dillydollydaydream · 27/09/2011 16:29

DH keeps going on about getting artificial grass. I'm not 100% sure what it'll look like. He reckons it'll look hood but I think he's just thinking of not having the mow the lawn anymore!

stepawayfromtheecclescakes · 27/09/2011 16:32

I'd love it if I could afford it Smile

FairyBlueBell · 27/09/2011 16:32

We have astro turf stuff and it's fab on a small space - DH got fed up of the boggy area in the shade with patchy moss and wisps of grass. It's also brill under the slide and trampoline Wink

emsyj · 27/09/2011 16:57

Ah, I'm obviously not an astroturf buff! Soft lovely artificial grass sounds amazing and I would get it in a heartbeat.

BaronessOrczy · 27/09/2011 17:09

My MIL has just had her lawn removed and astroturf put down.

We can't stop laughing, it looks completely freakily smooth. At least if she's ever short of a bob or two she could rent it to the local bowling club.

Original poster
Wrigglebum · 27/09/2011 17:11

Looks bloody expensive though, maybe it's just better to get the guy who cuts my neighbours' lawns to do ours, don't think he's too expensive. And people keep going on about Greenthumb and the like...

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mistlethrush · 27/09/2011 17:13

Its hopeless for wildlife of course.

I have cut the lawn (not small) with ds on my back. Don't recommend it, but if that's your only choice...

Proudnscary · 27/09/2011 17:13

Do it.

Bearskinwoolies · 27/09/2011 17:40

Dh wanted to get it done as he was fed up with mowing, but I much prefer the wildlife in our garden instead.

Happymm · 27/09/2011 17:45

Did it at our old house. Was completely fabulous in every way. Was like a lovely soft carpet outside, so didn't need mowing, dried in an instant after rain, so the DC were outside playing on it constantly. They even did jigsaws on it, it was so carpet like :)

YNK · 27/09/2011 17:49

I have astro turf in the area the dogs and cat use. It's fabulous stuff. I used a company called Verdigrass and bought it from their bargain section (used and offcuts). It's very expensive but worth every penny for high traffic areas or pets pens.

LaurieFairyCake · 27/09/2011 17:52

They are now selling it on Homebase - looks pretty realistic too.

I think it's a great idea as the modern ones let the water through properly so have less environmental impact.

However when I mentioned it to a lentil weaving mate she whined on and on about the insects and the worms Hmm

I say fuck the insects Grin

MrsRobertDuvall · 27/09/2011 17:53

Our lawn has fungus which is making my dh cry.
He loves his lawn, it has bowling green stripes on it from his careful mowing.
I couldn't give 2 hoots....the garden is 100 feet long, and I would concrete it tomorrow.

WhoahThere · 27/09/2011 17:55

Another artificial lawn here! V expensive (same as carpet!) but ours is small so not too bad. We absolutely love it, would recommend it!

nancerama · 27/09/2011 18:05

MIL has a teeny tiny square of AstroTurf in the middle of her back garden. I have to restrain myself from making a little pyramid of shiny apples in the middle of it like the fruit man at the market.

izzywhizzyletsgetbusy · 27/09/2011 18:35

My house is arranged over 3 floors and I astroturfed my large-ish 2nd floor flat roof. It's one of the best things I've ever done. Sitting out at night among the rooftops of central London with a few hundred solar-powered white fairy lights, a few candles, and an appropriate beverage, is pure bliss.

I have a friend who's astroturfed his huge living room floor and it looks magnificent - I couldn't resist buying him a garden gnome for his birthday.

Original poster
Wrigglebum · 27/09/2011 18:44

The fungus is grim but part of life in the south west I fear. I spent ages digging bits up, getting out the infected soil and reseeding and thought I'd cracked it as none for over a year and then it all sprouts up again. It's just bloody all over.

I fear AstroTurf may look odd and too perfect, our lawn wraps around the back of the house so is fairly large overall but no large section IYSWIM.

Loving the idea of AstroTurf indoors, I've always said if we have a playroom at any point in the future that's what's going in it Smile.

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