To astro turf my garden?

[hibbledobble]

I put beautiful turf down and it's sadly looks like the pennines now: bumpy and lots of dead patches.

Astro turf would mean minimal maintenance and would look good, not good for environment though and pricey.

Wibu to astro turf it? If not, how does one maintain a lawn?

Ha! Am laughing at the idea of our lawn being a monoculture.

We're running out of green spaces because of constant building, new roads, retail parks etc etc not because someone covers their own tiny patch of land with something practical.

Yes but all these little insults to the environment add up.

Best thing we ever did, no more waiting for grass to dry before Ds can play on it and no mowing

Laughing at my garden being an insult to the environment! I'm happy with it, it save DH work and it looks better than the weedfest it was before.

So if I put down a patch of artificial grass it seems I'm a bigger villain than my neighbour who has dug up his grass and has put in a garage, driveway, shed and conservatory. I'm not getting the hate

We're running out of green spaces because of constant building, new roads, retail parks etc etc not because someone covers their own tiny patch of land with something practical

I agree about the constant building, but when it's lots of people covering many tiny patches of land it does have an impact.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/04/growth-in-artificial-lawns-poses-threat-to-british-wildlife-conservationists-warn

We're getting AstroTurf put in later this month. We have no lawn at the moment, just horrible gravel so hoping that's environmentally acceptable. I'm sure all the people screaming environment lead an exemplary life (and wouldn't put in a conservatory, pave a drive or patio or extension over precious lawns).

Nor am I hippy. It seems we're responsible for global warming, the decimation of the bee and hedgehog populations and any other environmental issues!

But their house being built in the first place destroyed the wildlife! And everything that goes with it -pavements, roads, infrastructure etc. A bit of astroturfing is like bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

The people saying no haven't got it I see.

Ours has been down for 2 years now. Not one weed or dip. Second the lady saying how great it is to walk on / play on / lie on.

Best money I've ever spent

Sorry, that should say, opposing a bit of AstroTurf is like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. I think. Had a few beers tonight 😱

Re cleaning. I've yet to find any sort of shut on it. We live in the north so lots of rain.

I Hoover it if it's looking messy (carefully checking neighbours aren't it!) mainly old leaves in autumn

I don't know why astro turf isn't banned for residential properties. Awful for the environment. This is a depressing thread. I can't get over the ignorance. Why are you destroying your own living environments as well as wildlife habitats?! It doesn't take a genius to google how to care for a lawn or replace with large borders and one or more stone pathways meandering through or lots of other design ideas.

Can't afford it but I'd love an artificial lawn.

"Lawns are an important part of the ecosystem"

Nonsense. They aren't: they are just as artificial (more so in many ways) as any other sort of garden feature. The whole of gardening is fighting nature - nature loves weeds and chaos.
I ripped up my lawn 11 years ago to have more space for shrubs and flowers. Looks fab though is quite high maintenance.
Astroturf: well, if you like it. The person saying it should be 'banned' is being ridiculous and a bit fascist.

I don't think it can be that much worse for environment than constant petrol burning or electric mowers going and burning up fossil fuels!

We've done no maintenance on ours other than the occasional brush down with garden brush! Ds2 did a poo on it once I removed and then rinsed it with a bit of dettol spray. All fine.

Ours looks incredible. It's been down for 3 years now. Realistic, feels lovely. Has an extra level of shock absorbent foam underneath it for DCs sports.

It's really come on since the 'green felt carpet' days of AstroTurf.

Looks natural. Isn't natural.. but that's not really my priority.

Go for it!

Yeah monkey, why don't we stop bothering with recycling too while we're st it

Ps if you do want to stay natural OP, it's worth checking on what's underneath. If it's stone or rubble or there's not enough good rich earth it will look bare/patchy. If you can lift it and then turn the soil/rotivate/add better soil then put it back in position, you could add some feed n seed and see if it grows a bit better. Are you in sun? Shade? Our tiny courtyard garden get very little light, hence our choice of artificial grass. Ours now has a few weeds round the edge which make it look pretty natural actually! We went for the most expensive kind, it made sense given the cost of laying it.

dailydance, if I couldn't have had artificial grass I would have paved the back garden as it looked bloody awful and I don't want something I have to mow and strim. Which would be worse for the environment?

I have a very narrow garden (half the width of a normal garden) so if I'd made a wide border the lawn would be gone anyway! The same if I had pathways meandering through my lawn. Not everyone can have what you think is ideal, and not everyone wants to send time looking after a garden. I want to spend time enjoying mine, not maintaining it.

There's a difference between not recycling and having an artificial lawn! I recycle what I can but my lawn isn't going to be replaced regularly. A ridiculous comparison!

do you want to replace your son with a robot so that there is less mess and more perfection

No I'm sure he's perfect anyway. she's asking advice on renovating her garden. Would she get all this shit if she was considering paving?

Weirdo

I don't know what "half the width of a normal garden" is. What's a "normal" sized garden? Ok, I get it; you'd rather damage your environment than care for it. Each to their own.