To ask about your artificial lawn

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Do you love it? Pros and cons? Considering doing ours. Lawn is extremely wet and mossy. Would like it nice for DC to play on. Would be interested to hear from anyone who has one. thanks

It was either that or slab it over. Our lawn is so narrow it’s difficult to mow so there was no point in it being there. It’s not as though it’s going to be taken up and thrown away regularly though.

My DH actually works in a countryside/ agricultural / horticultural job so for this small patch of artificial grass there is an area thousands of times bigger with cows grazing, wildflowers growing, wildlife galore that he works on daily so I guess this makes us feel better.

OliviaBenson dont worry you won't be able to see it a mile off as only us and 2 neighbours will see it. Plus I'm not doing it for aesthetics, it's so my garden isn't a giant puddle and my DC will be able to play on it.
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Vitalogy* unrelated to the grass but I would never have bird feeders or birdbaths in my garden as neighbours have cats and I feel it's a bit unfair to potentially lure the birds in to their death

We have it. Our house had a concrete yard with gravel when we moved in. Not kid friendly at all and no plants. We laid fake grass which is wonderful for playing on and put in lots of planters and a bit of decking.
It's now more wildlife friendly (to the extent an urban yard can be) and more family friendly.
I'm happy with our decision for our house. I don't think I'd take up real grass for it though.

Artificial grass has been really good in our small town garden and we love it. We’ve had it for 4 years now and it means we can walk on it all year round as it drains well and doesn’t get muddy like it used to (I should really update my username!). We have an oval area surrounded by flowerbeds full of shrubs and other plants which attract birds and insects. Previously the real grass couldn’t cope with the dogs and kids running about on it and turned entirely into mud one winter. I got a gardener round to quote for returfing and he told me I would be wasting my time as It wouldn’t survive the foot traffic. I hadn’t considered artificial grass until he suggested it. If I had a large garden I would have real grass but in order to have a large garden I would have to move much further out of town and would have to drive a lot more. At the moment we can all walk to work and school so I guess the environmental aspect isn’t entirely black and white (like most things!).

Looks absolutely terrible. And awful for the environment.

Last house we had it professionally laid. Extremely boggy garden too. Cost £2k. Looked lovely.
This house DH and a mate laid it. It's all in the prep of the land he says. This astro is cheaper and doesn't look as good but doesn't need to-it's a section of the garden we've given up for football 😁
Both times we had/have lots of wild area and this house has 2 other gardens (smallish) and a pond. I do think you need a balance. A neighbour has it in their front garden-this I'm not keen on.
Laughing at the 'good taste comment 😁😁

@PollyMycroft you can always rely on AIBU for a giggle

After astroturf was laid, we built a "bug hotel" in corner of garden. Also filled the flower beds with plants that attract butterflies and bees etc. When you are elderly, arthritic, and find it increasingly difficult to mow the lawn, and too independent to ask for help, astroturf is a godsend. So I shall carry on hoovering mine!

The justification on here is unreal - it's ok because I feed the birds/have a bug hotel/work in the countryside.

It should be taxed highly.

It's a lazy/selfish choice.

I love the look of it!

I'm concerned about the dog doing her business on it.
Do you have to go straight out & disinfect the grass after wee's & poop scooping?

DumbledoresArmy as mine was primarily for the dog I asked about that. A lot of the smell can come from it being laid on sand so if you do get it make sure you ask how they will do the base as my installer said although they use sand to 'finish' it over the top of the grass the actual base is lime stone so the pee drains away.

After a poo I have been using a watering can just to rinse the area a little but I think a quick water (assuming it doesn't rain anyway) is all it needs every week or so.

It's hardly single use plastic is it.
For my big patch of artificial (which means the kids and I spend a lot more time outdoors) we also have many plant pots and big sleepers where we grow flowers and vegetables.

OliviaBenson happy to be lazy and selfish.

Not everyone will agree with how other people choose to live and the things they buy.

DumbledoresArmy forgot to say I also use the watering can on real grass to wash any poo residue away so no real change for me.

It's a lazy/selfish choice.

Yes it is. We chose it for our own convenience. I'm sure @OliviaBenson doesn't do anything that's lazy or selfish in regards to the environment? Never driven when you could walk or use bus, never gone on holiday on a plane, never used a carrier bag, never bought clothes new when could have bought second hand etc etc?

From a distance it always looks fine but when you walk on it or near it it's very very clear it's fake. Personally I wouldn't have it snd I think if you were going to sell it will put a huge amount of potential buyers off.

I get real lawns can be a pain, but I'd think carefully before I got a plastic one.

I just think there's something totally and utterly soul destroying about artificial grass. But each to their own. And I hope you're happy with it op.

Actually I'm very environmentally conscious. I walk pretty much everywhere, recycle, compost, use reusable bags and I don't have kids (as some examples). I'm not perfect but I try my best.

There is no need whatsoever for anyone to have this stuff.

We are fucking up the world, but who cares eh?!

Agree with all those who say it's an environmental disaster, and depressing to read how many people are so in favour of it. Did you consider the environmental impact at all, OP, before people on this thread mentioned it? Or is it all about how easy it is to hoover, etc?

One of the easiest environmentally friendly decisions you can make is NOT to replace your real grass with plastic. It doesn't require huge effort like trying to go car free or trying not to buy things in plastic packaging. Literally all you need to do is nothing, leave your garden as it is, and your making a positive decision for wildlife.

*you're making

Fair enough @OliviaBenson. You're a better person than most. Our small patch of lawn was the best decision for us, we didn't pull up any wildlife for it and we have no plans to move house so doubt it'll end up on landfill (or recycled) for a long time.

We're too lazy to hoover it and just sweep it occasionally and have never owned a lawn mower so the electricity we're saving there will help claw back a bit of our carbon footprint (and the fact we're too lazy to hoover the house often!)

I dont think anyone is talking about ripping up a good lawn to replace it with artificial turf. Most people are looking at an unusable mud patch which stops them getting out into their garden.

Meadow is hugely vibrant and diverse. But a suburban lawn isnt that. Mowing, weed & feed, foot traffic all limit the diversity of the traditional lawn.

@fourquenelles Where do you get stuff that is specifically designed for pets? And how does it differ from the other stuff?

The justification on here is unreal - it's ok because I feed the birds/have a bug hotel/work in the countryside. confused

It should be taxed highly.

It's a lazy/selfish choice.

Couldn't agree more. What the fuck is the world coming to when we are replacing outdoor plants with replica plastic ones?

It's damaging to the eco system (bees actually quite like the daisies, buttercups etc that pop up in my less than pristine grass lawn) and a really irresponsible use of plastics. To the pp who said they're now recyclable, please don't overlook the huge production process that is required to produce these in the first place.

As much as I understand the environmental concern, I think for me it's the tackyness. When you walk on it, sit on it, walk near it, you know it's plastic grass. So many people dislike it.

I get why people do it, but for me, if I viewed a house with it, I'd factor in the cost of ripping it up and laying a proper lawn. I'd also be concerned it was telling me a lawn wasn't feasible due to the conditions.

If a friend got it, I'd tell her it looked lovely and real and go out of my way to make her feel good about it. I would not say that's so tacky, because it would serve no purpose other than to hurt.

My friends neighbour put it down, she said from the windows looking down at it it it looks great. When you're in there close to it it just looks tacky.