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?

For us it isnt about being lazy. We are keen allotmenteers and have quite a sizeable allotment. As we both work something has to give. Saving time on lawn mowing meant more time for the allotment.

Please can I have my MN environmentally friendly badge back?

We removed the astro turf from our back garden when we moved in. Horrible stuff, it doesn't look a bit natural. The worst I've seen is where people have laid it out in different coloured strips for a 'natural' rollered stripe effect.

Well if any of you nature loving grass growers live near me I'm selling a strimmer only been used once for bargain price

Also the lazy argument is not a valid point for fake grass as lots of people pay gardeners

You'd swear that mowing a lawn was up there with tending to orchids on the faff scale.

If I could show you my before pictures Mitzy it was like the orchards but with weeds.

Plus side is if I ever move I'm rolling my grass up like a huge carpet and taking it with me.

Ours looks like a carpet, which it is, an outdoor carpet.

But what if your next house has a different sized garden?

I would cut it down in size or make a bigger flower bed if garden was bigger.

Have to hire seperate van otherwise all those bugs and worms living underneath would end up in my indoor furniture.

newmum your garden sounds infinitely nicer than ours! Ours is very rough, weedy (a good thing in my book) and 'scrubby' if that makes any sense. We have lots of varieties of grass growing, and being close to the coast we do get a lot of those very tough, resiliant grasses that aren't terribly nice to sit/walk on, but very difficult to control. We also have plantains in great clumps, and the usual daisies, buttercups, dandelions, etc so there isn't a 'lawn' as such, but an area of patchy grass nonetheless.
I completely understand what you are others are saying about having your choices limited by size of garden, direction of sunlight, finances, disability etc etc. But as I said earlier, it is still a choice. I imagine it would be a pain to have an excessively muddy/boggy garden, and I understand why anyone wants an attractive lawn, or one that is not a quagmire year round for children to play, pets, etc. (Lots of our land is like the Somme for months and months each year.) But, it is still a choice. It's not the same as, say, using a washing machine or (presumably) using a mangle like someone else here eluded to. It's a choice between mud/bog/bare earth and having plastic grass/concrete/decking or whatever. Nobody needs plastic grass in the same way as they need a flushing toilet or a washing machine. And you have the perfect right to choose the plastic grass. But I do think we each need to make our choices in a considered way, and take ownership and responsibility for those choices. We know that laying plastic over a sizeable stretch of earth (even if that plastic is recycled), and eventually having to dispose of that material is just not great for the environment. There's no getting away from that. People will still continue to make the choice and justify it in whatever way they see fit, but just as they have this right to choose then others have the right to disapprove and criticise.

RedTooth and I am tickled by the suggestion that a plastic lawn is in any way comparable to having internet access via a device, or sanitary white goods in our homes. It's ridiculous to attempt to combat an environmental argument that you don't like with a suggestion that we should be living in caves and wearing loin cloths if we do indeed care about the environment.

We need to allow water to drain away through proper grass.

Why?

this is why

How does the type of grass make any difference? Ours drains straight through to the sand underneath.

I thought this was a joke.... Plastic grass, just no

honking I imagine that some fake lawns are more permeable than others? I don't know, this is a hunch so please feel free to inform me, but I find it hard to imagine that a plastic/rubber sheet even with tiny holes punched in it is as permeable as real grass. And what happens if the holes in the grass become blocked over time? I guess the fake grass company advises about maintenance. Various people in this thread have mentioned brushing or even hoovering their lawns, so maybe this addresses the issue of potential blockage.

My cousin spent over £5k on his fake lawn.

It is naff and he knows it. But it's practical for his family and everyone just makes a joke of it.

He does say he'll dig it up and put down a proper lawn once he's retired.

Well it's just pissed it down frying and my fake grass has had no problem with draining unlike the footpath on my road

I don't understand about this drainage argument.

Ooh I bet it's lovely now IgnoreMe with that delicious plastic-grass-in-the-rain smell

the argument (one of many) is that real plants hold on to a lot of moisture and give it off slowly, through evaporation from the leaves and down through the soil.

It is Mum especially as my asthma been bad with the pollen I've been waking up wheezing every morning. It's great when they cut the big public field next to me as my child likes to run wild but my chest starts tightening up walking through it after its just been cut or when air is heavy but great for playing frisbee or football

Blue I have flower bed and pots also moisture sheets for hanging flower baskets things

My fake grass is here to stay regardless.

I'm just utterly surprised so many people have the bloody stuff. It's blown my mind a little bit and not in a good way.

Am I on a roll for tacky garden by having a trampoline as well.

Do you all have sheds in your natural grass growing gardens or garages you know with concrete floors?

Nerris - couldn't have put it better myself. I find it so odd.

Are trampolines tacky??? Best money I ever spent for keeping DC entertained!

our shed is on the concreted bit of the garden where the drains run. and ut has a sedum roof.