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 am hysterical at the thought of people hoovering their lawns.

Nope don't wash mine nor Hoover it in the 2yrs I've had it.

Has drainage holes. Had my dad not paid for it (was a surprise) I would of happily Tarmac the back.

A few people have said that a fake grass area is safe for children. I don't understand this. What is 'unsafe' about them playing on real grass? It won't poison them.

won't the children get carpet burns? like the footballers at the world cup last year?

Mine tries to eat it all the time.

Yes, what on earth is 'unsafe' about normal grass? .

I have no idea. My LO eats grass all the time! He coughed up a daisy yesterday. It won't hurt him.

When you have been removing plants from the same child's mouth for 7 years and getting hit because he doesn't actually like the taste but does it anyway, you might feel differently.

Unless my child tries to eat a foxglove I will not be considering replacing grass/plants or anything else with plastic landfill.

Won't you be removing plastic from child's mouth and still getting hit now?

Also, what do you do on the park?
Start a petition to Astro turf that as well

I would rather my child eat grass than plastic. Call me old fashioned.

Is it that bad for the environment compated to typical lawn? Yes a garden with a shallow pond surrounded by native plants and trees is best for wildlife. But 'real' grass is a monoculture and not particularly good for wildlife either.

Final disposal of artificial grass is potentially a problem so it's generating waste which I agree is an issue although a lot of artificial grass uses recycled bottles and tyres so not all of it is first use waste.

My mum's landlord put this in my mum's garden.

It's really good - not plasticky at all, and looks great all year round

A weed-free lawn isn't great for nature, but it's also pretty rare to have a lawn that has no weeds at all. The best thing any us can do is allow a little patch of our garden to run wild. Nettles are one of the best things we can have in our gardens, and it also gives us an opportunity to teach kids why they can touch/pick/eat some plants but not others.

He doesn't pull up the fake grass. He sees it as carpet.

most people's lawns are a mixture of all sorts of plants. so no monoculture.
grass (and other 'lawn plants') absorb enourmous amounts of pollution, just by growing vigorously.

My son isn't able to learn what is and isn't safe to touch. Our gardens his safe outdoor space where he can go without me being next to him all the time as I have to be everywhere else including the park.

haddock I think your circumstances are very different to those of most families who only install plastic grass because they are lazy

A few people have said that a fake grass area is safe for children. I don't understand this. What is 'unsafe' about them playing on real grass? It won't poison them.

Not unsafe, and if you have a massive, well drained area of lawn (ahem, like a Cornish farm garden perhaps?) then grass probably flourishes and it's perfect for kids to play on. If you have a small, clay soil, shaded, North facing, mud bog then kids turn the grass to mud in hours, and it stays like that for weeks.

which can be improved by getting the right kind of lawn seed and improving drainage...

Yes it's tacky. It looks naff and it's bad for the environment. No grass = no worms, no insects, no birds. You may as well pave over it.

Our cities are losing too much green space as it is without people carpeting their gardens for goodness sake.

I know a few people who have severely disabled children who have it and it has made their lives a lot easier.

honking in your case it sounds as though the fake grass has made your life easier a bit easier so I can certainly see why you're a fan.

newmum I know how fortunate I am to have the outdoor space we have. I'm very grateful for it. We don't have anything that could even loosely be described as lawn though, but rough grass thrives, as do foxgloves, nettles and brambles. We work with what we've got.
A few people did mention safety, but your point is quite different. Mud might be unpleasant for some, and a pain in the arse trampled into the house, but it is also not unsafe. (unless you've got livestock?) Maybe it's easy for me to say, but if all I had was a boggy garden, I'd make a bog garden, and get the kids in their wellies. I think we have to work with nature, not against it, and not cover it in plastic sheeting that will sit in landfill for thousands of years once we're bored of it.