To get artificial grass?

[ILoveEurovision]

We have a small garden. There's an approx 9ft/3m square patch which currently has sharp and pointy gravel that I hate. We have a 7 month old who is crawling. We have big planter flowerbeds around the edge with lots of fruit trees, bushes, flowers (I don't know what type they are but we have something the bees are absolutely mad for) and a pergola with bird feeders which are mainly visited by goldfinches.

I want to replace the gravel with something DS can sit and crawl on. AIBU to get fake grass to replace the gravel? I always was against it as it just seems so sad for the environment as I know birds eat worms etc. It's only a small patch but if everyone does it then I guess it adds up. DH seems so keen and is dead against real grass - he thinks our neighbour's grass looks shabby, neither of us are green-fingered or have heaps of time for gardening, we'd have to get a lawn mower and find somewhere to store it. DH thinks if we don't get the fake grass we should get decking or paving which are not much better for the environment I guess.

Should I stick to my guns and try and encourage him to get real grass? Or WIBU to go for the fake stuff?

Please no, terrible for the environment. It will take 10 mins tops to mow it and a cheap mower is fine for a small area. Grass is softer too

It can get very hot in the sun, far too hot for a baby to crawl on.

My neighbour has to hoover hers to keep it free of debris.

Also it is terrible for the environment but you know this.

Have a look at a camomile or thyme lawn instead.

I get really bad electric shocks from it.

In laws and brother has it and regardless of what I wear on my feet, it seems to "charge" me

Real lawns take masses of water and chemicals to maintain anyway.

Not true, I don't use any chemicals on mine, sometimes put the sprinkler on it but the secret is micro clover and grass seed mix. And raking to remove thatch and moss if you want it to stay green. Rake it over, cut it and then spread the seed on top of what is already there. Water it in and you will have a green, soft lawn.

Plastic grass is unpleasant to walk on, sit on and look at.

I did look into chamomile lawns briefly but from what I've read they're not good if you want to actually walk on them much. Is that right?

DH has said he'd maybe consider a clover lawn after I showed him some photos. Does anyone have one?

We've just laid artificial turf. We did it ourselves. Massively labouring but by the sounds of the costs saved us £1000s. Our area was 4 x6 m, Not big, we have also left soil borders on both fence lines for planting and a mud kitchen. We went eith a higher quality turf(but not top of range) with a 10 year guarantee. Not sure what this covers tho. We dug out the ground ourselves, laid the framework, packed with Mot and sharp sand and whacked it down, added weed membrane and rolled the grass out, then nailed it down to the frame. Done! It's not as perfect as it may be if a so called professional did it, however any imperfections will likely only be noticed by us. Hopefully it stays looking nice. We followed the guidance as best we could. If anything the only real difficulty is levelling. So it may be a bit wonky. Who cares, we saved so much money, our lawn cost under £1000. We are very pleased, It's transformed our outside space.

I'd go for artificial at least for the few years your baby is small.

The rest of your garden is eco friendly.

Give it a good hose down every month or so to prevent mosses etc

Clover lawns look lovely actually. Practical also and low maintenance.

Best thing we ever did. We have a small garden and a huge vegetable patch. But sorry, no way was I going to have real. Kids love it.

The last thing I'd put in my garden to let my baby crawl on is artificial grass - read the link above!

Someone posted the link to The Conversation but here is more info.

Crumb rubber infill

"Crumb rubber from tires may contain for example various metals such as cadmium, chromium, zinc, aluminium and lead; oils containing various chemicals including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzo (a and e) pyrenes, benzo (a) anthracene as well as phthalates. Several of these are known or suspect carcinogens, neurotoxins and potential endocrine disruptors."

<a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5615587/" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5615587/

"We showed the tiny particles from the turf can become suspended in air above the field and inhaled by children playing on the field. What has become apparent is that microscopic carbon black particles break off from the crumb rubber and are small enough to be inhalable.

Additionally, the blades of grass can also break down into microscopic particles over years of exposure to sunlight and weather, forming a respirable dust."

<a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=theconversation.com/why-artificial-turf-may-truly-be-bad-for-kids-72044" target="_blank">http://theconversation.com/why-artificial-turf-may-truly-be-bad-for-kids-72044

Microplastics leach

Microplastics from artificial turf can end up in the ocean:
"- Particles are released to paved areas surrounding the field... and are subsequently released to the sewerage system via grates.

• Release of infill particles to the indoor environment, as the particles get stuck in sportsbags, shoes and clothing where they can be released to sewerage system via discharges from washing machines.
• Release to drainage via drainage water... to the sewerage system or end up in nearby streams due to heavy rainfall."

Carbon footprint

"Synthetic turf is a petro-chemical product which requires the use of virgin materials, high levels of processing and production, transportation and disposal at end of life. When considering the entire life cycle, these material impacts of synthetic turf significantly increase the total emission of this product and far outweigh the emissions that occur from maintaining natural grass."

Carbon sink

"Natural grass helps remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and stores it as organic carbon in soil, making them important “carbon sinks.” A typical lawn (2,500 sq. ft./232 m2) converts enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to provide adequate oxygen for a family of four."

"Often artificial turf replaces a natural grass surface, so another contribution synthetic turf makes to global warming is the removal of a natural grass surface that reduces carbon dioxide, by converting it into oxygen"

End of life disposal

"Synthetic turf is not designed to break down quickly (that is one of its advantages) which means that when the surface has passed its useful life it has the potential to stay in landfill for long periods of time."

Soil regeneration and dust stabilisation

"...before installing synthetic turf it is recommended that all soil be heavily compacted. This damages soil structure, soil microbes and soil life. It can also significantly damage any tree roots in the vicinity."

Heat dissipation

"The replacement of natural grass with synthetic turf... can contribute to rising temperatures in urban settings, known as the urban heat island effect. Urban heat islands are created when natural grass and trees are replaced by impervious surfaces which absorb heat."

<a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=www.kimointernational.org/feature/microplastic-pollution-from-artificial-grass-a-field-guide/" target="_blank">http://www.kimointernational.org/feature/microplastic-pollution-from-artificial-grass-a-field-guide/

https://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/support-and-advice/facility-management/developing-facilities/natural-grass-vs-synthetic-turf-study-report/broader-environmental-considerations

Not all of them get super hot. It's all down to the quality of material. I've walked on some bare foot that scorched my skin but the good quality stuff is lovely and soft.

Oh yeah. I forgot the camomile isn't for hight traffic areas.
I have clover/grass. It's think, fluffy, clover feeds the grass and it needs basically no watering as it proved during last year's draught. Just let it flower at least once properly so it reseeds it self. If you don't want to do that because it attracts bees andbumblebees so rish to the child, you can just buy extra seeds in spring.

The neighbours got it a few years back to see them through their old age. The rest of the garden is beautifully planted with plenty of interest for wildlife, and just needs a few maintenence visits each year.

Tiny or very shaded spots aren't well suited for maintaining healthy lawns. Lawns aren't necessarily brilliant for the environment if they are heavily manicured with regular watering and chemical treatments. Well planted flowerbeds are much more important for creating microhabitats.

People suggesting chamomile lawns....have any of you actually tried to grow one of those bastards??

People suggesting chamomile lawns....have any of you actually tried to grow one of those bastards??

Haha. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has. I'd prefer a more ecological solution but DH's main concern is that next door's grass just turns to a muddy mess every winter. He wants something low maintenance that always looks good. I don't think I know enough about gardening!

In case anyone's interested, I'm think I've managed to convince DH to go with real grass. It was partly the environmental arguments and partly that turf is so cheap we can reassess in a few years if we find it too tricky to care for and either go with gravel, paving or artificial grass.

So any tips on lawn care would be greatly appreciated - especially how to do it without using fertilisers and other products that contain animal products.

Best thing we ever did. We got a mid range one and its really very natural looking. The cats and dogs love it! You'll need a garden hoover/blower to keep it looking nice.

Plastic lawns are the spawn of the devil. On another note I’m not having flashbacks to the tv series “The Camomile Lawn”

*now

So glad you're going to get real grass Op - artificial grass really is the work of the devil and I can't believe that with all the shit going on with the planet that it hasn't been banned by now.

Anyway, we have a real lawn - don't do anything other than mow it and rake it to get up the moss. We don't get weeds growing (or if we do, I don't notice them so the lawnmower must just chop them too).

Enjoy your garden!

We have top quality artificial grass on top of a paved area (put there by previous owner, but he left us the receipts etc and it really is the most expensive he could have got).

We have to vacuum up the leaves etc that land on it, pull up weeds regularly (it has the membrane underneath it, doesn’t seem to help), it gets so hot in summer that we have to wear shoes or our feet get burned, and it gets grubby - like if I rub my hands over it they come away dirty looking.

We plan to replace it with decking once the children are a little older, it’s not nice stuff.

You don’t need warwe or chemicals for lawns, you do need to mow them however. Plastic ‘grass’ should be banned.