To think fake grass is not tacky

[Dizzydodo]

At the Doctors with dd about eczema, GP says it can be triggered by pollen, grass seed etc and asks if she's been in the garden a lot with the nice weather. I say 'yes but we've got fake grass'. GP rolls his eyes, laughs and says 'fake grass?! Like Wayne Rooney? Goodness me!'

I have no idea if Wayne Rooney has fake grass or not and I'm not in the least bit offended by the GP (I think he was trying to be funny) but it got me thinking....does fake grass in my garden make me a wannabe WAG?

I've just bought a house with it. The whole back garden is covered. I hate how sterile it is but the kids love it. As soon as the football playing days are over I will get rid of it.
Seeing the blackbird fly down, look confused and fly off again really upsets me.

Poor birds and their fruitless worm hunt

Oh that is quite sad re the birds. I think, on balance, I should just stop being lazy and maintain my front and back garden properly.

Just out of interest, does anyone know how long fake grass is guaranteed to last? I assume it varies, but just a rough idea?

You haven't seen the whole of my garden to be able to call it naff.

How is it bad for environment, my garden no longer floods. I have a mixture of shingle underneath instead of what was patio slabs. My fake grass drains better. Couldn't grow grass just weeds. I'm no longer using weed killer or everything else to try get rid of them. Oh it's got rid of most of the snails and slugs so my flower bed and pots are growing flowers and fruit. They was getting chopped up by the strimmer.

I love my garden and my child spends more time outside.

Am sure there is regulations now about concreting, tarmacing front gardens.

Btw the birds are feed well from our bird feeder and worms in flower bed

The slugs and snails where getting chopped up not my flowers

But one day IgnoreMe the fake grass will need disposing of.

Haven't RTFT, so apologies if repeating, but I've just looked at the Easigrass 'Chelsea'; It has really fine detail of 'dead' grass blades to make it look realistic and really is quite impressive.

If I ever had to move to another house with a tiny paved garden, poor soil, overhanging trees, etc, I'd consider the posh stuff like that, I think.

It's not a watertight membrane is it. It lets water through. Also it requires no cutting so less energy consumption over the years and probably uses recycled materials. I'd love it.

I think the Wayne Rooney reference was about his hair but that was a transplant anyway.

"Despair a little about the human race"

Do you feel like that when you go into you house? Or use a washing machine or a plumbed in toilet? Or go to a supermarket? Or drive a car. Your logic is ridiculous.

Think mine has a 15year guarantee mum or could be longer I don't know as I was very lucky my dad brought best of the best.

Should it become worn I will just add more flower pots as my child will be of age not wanting to play in garden.

Mine won't be replaced or thrown out. Unlike something like my sofas.

"plastic grass is a terrible choice for the environment."

And decking, paving, patios etc are somehow okay because?

no, they are not ok either.

It can look great - especially in photos - because it looks completely perfect in a way that real nature never really can. Essentially it is just as naff as having fake plants - even if they are those very realistic silk ones. Decking of course is very good for attracting wildlife - especially rats which in my experience love live to live underneath. I can't think of a single great garden - large or small - that features fake grass or decking. They are labour saving short cuts for people who don't really like gardening - absolutely nothing wrong with that, but let's not be afraid of calling a spade a spade.

So why aren't there posts about how environmentally unfriendly paths are? It's because fake lawns are new and people tend to complain about something new initially as if it's the harbinger of doom. 50 years ago people were doing the same about washing machines or cars. I bet the majority of people who are citing the environmental woe of fake grass have both.

And the definitely have access to technology which has an environmental cost. You can't post on mumsnet via a mangle

AIBU to be really upset that my husband is taking DS to spend his birthday with his family? We had agreed he would return same or 1 day after DS birthday that would be the weekend but instead he booked a flight 2 days after on weekday so no possibility of organising a celebration here with me. Feeling left out and been very childish and told my son why I would be missing his birthday and that would buy him a lovely present instead.

Whichever way you look at it, my lifestyle choices don't make plastic grass any less naff

Thankfully 'naff' is the least of my worries Some find my unglamorous cycling shorts 'naff' that I wear when cycling to work in this weather, won't stop me wearing them though even if it hurts peoples eyes

Just like if I decide that artificial grass will work for us then I won't care if others find it tacky or naff.

As mentioned by pp's we are all human and none of us are likely to achieve a completely environmentally friendly lifestyle. I will definitely give it more thought though based on comments on this thread and look into alternatives.

I do find it amazing how many people suddenly get eco friendly at the suggestion of something they don't like.

I wonder how much consideration they apply to things they do like. Like their iphones.

Its hilarious. All in the pursuit of taste.

I want some put down when we buy a house, I think it's fantastic for kids to play on without them knocking chunks out of it playing football and without getting horribly muddy when it rains. I couldn't care less if it looks tacky or what anyone thinks of it, we wouldn't do the whole garden in it and there'd be plenty of places where bugs and birds to go.

Finding out that someone was

-fan of fake grass
-owner of extensive Celine Dion memorabilia collection
-enjoyed dressing up in a latex dog outfit for fun

All things that would me say 'ummmm, no thank you' to a second date.

Alan I suspect that you know that comparing a plastic lawn to a plumbed in toilet or washing machine is rather silly.

Lol at Mitzy all deal breakers.

mumonacornishfarm
I appreciate the discussion is moving on but wanted to get back to you. Your garden sounds lovely and yes I'm sure you are working with what you've got to provide something functional and environmental, but I guess what a lot of us are saying are that there are limited choices.

In our garden I've pulled up the paving slabs in the small front garden and planted insect friendly species (incl foxgloves). The back was already cottage style but we've encouraged the honeysuckle, left some small logs to decay and planted some more wildlife friendly species such as purple loosestrife which loves the boggy conditions. We have a pond (digging it is when we found the layer of clay which explains some of the garden conditions). We compost, and water sparingly from the water butt. But I do want an area where my kids can play, stand on to look at the snails, run around on, kick a ball, you know, be kids. I'm guessing that yours can do that on 'rough grass' (sorry, not quite sure what that is). With the planting we only have a little area left. Grass does not flourish, just walking on it to hang the washing out turns it to mud. I'm not bothered about dirt or precious about having to wash clothes but it's not nice peaty mud, it's gloopy slippy clay that isn't good for kids to play on. We've punched holes through the clay layer and mixed it with sand but it doesn't hold (the garden is on a slope which could be why? - don't know). So in our case artificial grass would still get wet, but not be like an ice rink so could still be used.