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?

Crikey, as if there isn't enough to do, imagine having to wash/scrub the lawn every day! I'll don my pinny, get a bucket and scrub my front step whilst I'm at it.

It's not great environmentally I agree and I'd never replace a big lawn with it. But as an alternative to paving I think it's fine.

A good outcome though! It takes real mindless madness to cause an outcry.

I do think it's tacky. But I also think having a place for her to play without aggravating symptoms is important.

Plastic fibre-optic palm trees? Classy. Glad they didn't last long, insancerre

And they really were as awful as they sound in real life
I love the comment in the article about the residents of at annes feeling they would be better suited to Blackpool

We have it in our very small back garden.

New build estate, small gardens which have shockingly poor lawns and soil. Our grass was patchy and soggy. Now we have a nice "lawn" that we can use rather than avoid.

We still have trees, bushes and lots of plants in beds and pots, as well as a bird feeder. We get butterflies, bees and birds in our garden and behind our small estate is a lake, a river and woods (we're fairly rural) so I'm sure the wildlife isn't impacted by our small patch of fake grass.

I love it. It stays green (natural green, not lurid AstroTurf green) and doesn't need mowing which as I have RA is a bonus. It doesn't get muddy and we don't have to reseed or returf yearly now. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but it suits us. I'd rather have a patch of artificial lawn than deck or pave over my back garden.

I think it looks great but it's just so weird to replace actual grass with plastic to keep your garden low maintenance. Cannot be good for the environment, I know it's rob ably the same as paving everything but something about it is all kinds of wrong

Lol insancerre gotta love a bit of healthy regional rivalry

It's tacky IMO. I want to see nature outside, not plastic. I don't want to live in a Lego environment.

I LOVE fake grass!

Had it in our last house, tiny garden, huge trees in the neighbours behind so we could never get the grass growing well. The fake grass transformed our garden.

Moved to a bigger house last year and although the lawn is fine it's small and surrounded by huge "flower beds" that are actually just stones with the odd plant. Again because trees block the light from the corners so grass wouldn't grow. If we got rid of them and fake grassed the whole garden our lawn would nearly double in size. With 3 kids that would be a godsend! Too expensive for us now but top of my wish list!

I agree real grass is much nicer to walk on/smell/touch/have if possible or in a large garden but the fake stuff is great in some gardens and much prettier than just paving the whole thing which would have been the previous solution.

Of course it's tacky.

Fake grass is associated with trailer parks where I'm from. Poor/lazy people who can't be bothered taking care of their lawn.

I am 100% having fake grass when we rip up the crazy paving that's covering the WHOLE of my 2 level back garden.

The previous owners clearly love a bit of concrete

We are having some laid next spring .. small garden that is currently gravel and decking simply because grass does not survive..we have turfed twice, and even with DH's meticulous care it dies..the soil is too thin and poor. Not keen on it environmentally, however we have a pond with an abundance of frogs, and the garden is full of insect friendly flowers. some potted and some in borders and a glorious plum tree in the corner. I don't see how a dismal mud patch is superior in any way to a few square meters of (good) fake grass. Not having a weed patch is unlikely to prevent the bees(and slugs..grr) from visiting my veg trugs, and beautiful pollinating plants!

Tell you next week.

Our garden will have artificial grass down by then hopefully. Just need the deck and the rest finishing first.

We've gone for a decent one, not the cheapest version.

Let's face it - it's going to look much nicer than a patchy garden full of dandelions and moss, which is what we had prior - we tried other stuff to make the grass take better but nothing was stopping the seeds flying from the fields nearby.

And don't really care if it doesn't feel like real grass - not like I'm going to be walking over it much anyway. The grass bit is more to look at than use.

Low maintenance and weed free.

There's lots I don't like by some peoples gardens tbh but I wouldn't insult someone's choices to them.

Oh and we have real greenery down the side of the house, so it's not all fake and there's plenty for wildlife. Not to mention the vast amounts of fields over the back houses.

It is pretty naff. Logical on a small garden, but naff none the less. It would put me off buying a house. I don't thibknit reflects on the person having it, but I don't like it.

I've just been in B&q and had a look and feel of some. I don't know how good the quality was because I don't know much about artificial grass. It looked good but didn't feel the same (obviously).

It's all the rage here. No one wants to mow their own lawns. I think you hve to go for the good quality stuff though.

For children's play areas it is a god send. People are

I hate it and I think it's tacky. Nevertheless we now have it for our postage stamp sized back garden after battling a decade of swampy mess including trying two drainage solutions. The kids and the dog can actually play in the garden now which is infinitely preferable to how it was before.

I think it's a sad world we live in where we have plastic grass. What next, plastic trees and birds?

Yes.
Someone near us has a plastic hedge. The kind you see around outdoor seating areas at pubs and cafes.
Not classy. IMHO.

I'm not keen on fake grass. Just as well. Having just read the Telegraph article that a PP linked to, I have realised that to convert our lawn to the same fake grass that the article refers to would cost over £20,000!!

I will definitely be keeping my grass. Much nicer than plastic anyway.