Artificial garden lawns - what a weird world

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Another installed on our street. I just don’t understand it. Why would anyone do this?

There is a petition to ban their sale for installation in residential dwellings if you want to sign it:

It’s only got 5,900 signatures so far, which seems a pretty low number, given how much of a no brainer this is, imo. Maybe that’s just me.

petition deleted by MNHQ as we don't allow them, we're afraid.

Yep, no nature at all in this garden.

My parents got one alongside paving slabs and decking because 1) my dad was in a heavy electric wheelchair due to a progressive illness and it was the only type of lawn he could go on without churning it up and bringing mud into the house constantly, and 2) my mum was his full-time carer and so was too busy (or I guess "lazy" according to many posters) to cut the grass as well as hoisting him 18 times a day and helping him eat without choking. Bark is not wheelchair friendly, not is moss or gravel - I guess he selfishly didn't want to be housebound.

So it makes me quite angry when I see stuff about how lazy, horrible and entitled people are who own artificial grass and how it should be banned. My dad would have loved to keep a real lawn and had one for his whole life, and mowing the lawn was one of the last things he held out trying to do while he could still walk. The artificial grass gave them a little bit of pleasure, something soft and colourful in a garden that would otherwise have had to be concrete. But sure, they are lazy, selfish and hate the planet.

Yes and if I could do a full ecology survey report from one blurry picture, id be raking it it even more 🙄

@orchiddottyback Haha thank you. I was about to suggest there is not food within those trees and shrubs for a hedgehog unless it can fly.

And the trees and shrubs are growing in....what?
Ffs.

Blurry? Do you need your specs dear?

Look, if I had a lovely big or even a small South facing garden I would have real grass. If I didn't have little kids I might have slabs or gravel. But I have a 5 metre long North facing patch with high trees around. I am lucky to have this little patch and I love it.

It's easy to cast this sort of judgement when you are in a privileged position where you have the possibility of a grass lawn for your kids.

What about all the people in terraces with concrete back yards and brick walls? Are they in your bad books for not being able to have lawns?

I only read to the bottom of page 2 and couldn’t believe the angst.

Me and DH Astro-turfed our back garden 6 years ago and we still love it.

Prior to that we’d paid out twice to have new grass laid but it always just looked so crap and dead - nothing grew except weeds and we had bald patches everywhere. It looked awful.

After two failed attempts at having new lawns laid we decided to just go with the Astro-Turf as we wanted a garden that was actually usable and didn’t look horrendous.

We have no regrets at all and if other people think fake grass looks shit then they don’t have to have it do they.

@DrRuthGalloway No but reckon you need to brush up on your ecology knowledge, before you claim you know what your talking about.

So you know the difference between Cocks-foot and Dog`s tail, a Tardigrade and a Pseudoscorpion, a Hawkbit and Dandelion, a Creeping Buttercup and a Meadow Buttercup. No off the top of your head I doubt it. So you fully understand that wildlife is not just about mammals but macro invertebrates that you have chosen to remove from the habitat matrix of your garden. No I didn't think so.

So you will forgive me if your assessment of your garden does not mean much to me.

What about all the people in terraces with concrete back yards and brick walls? Are they in your bad books for not being able to have lawns?

There goes your lack of knowledge again, brown field sites, concrete back yards and brick walls often have more biodiversity than a standard green field where it has a mono culture of grass that offers very little diversity. They are ecological niches that support different types of flora and fauna.

I do know the difference between luxury beliefs and not. I know the difference between it being perfectly ok for 1 eco warrior to extend their kitchen 4 metres across their garden or across the side return despite the impact on local wildlife, and me having a 4 by 4 square of astroturf so my garden is usable. I know the difference between my little patch at the back and my veg garden at the front where we grow organic potatoes, onions, tomatoes and herbs. I know that I leave a gap in my fences for the visiting hedgehogs and I know the one we had last year has become two this year. I know I don't use slug pellets, weed killers, lawn miss killers etc all of which are potentially also damaging to the food chain. I know I have beds all around the "lawn" where there is plenty of space for creepy crawlies and loads of plants and shrubs grow, and pits on the "lawn" with even more flowers in.

So forgive me if I also ignore your assessment of my garden, which, I might point out, you haven't ever seen. Good night.

Why not just have moss or there are plenty of lawns seeds that grow in shade now. Why be worried about mowing or muddy patches or it not being ‘perfect’ or treading mud in to the house or dogs churning garden up. I don’t get it. Just smacks of us trying to be so sanitised and homogenised. I hate it. I really hope it’s just a stupid fad that dies out and not an ongoing trend. People seem to want the easiest option without thinking of the consequences at all. So sad.

I don’t get it. Just smacks of us trying to be so sanitised and homogenised. I hate it

You don't have to get it or like it. Just accept that other people in different circumstances to you sometimes make decisions that you wouldn't. Just like not everyone is going to get or like the choices you make, all of the time.

@TheKeatingFive that would basically make most of MN defunct, I don’t know if you haven’t realised yet but it’s a public forum so people are actually allowed to post their views on whether they like something or think it’s a pile of old shite.

Why do you lot keep bringing up kitchen extensions? I don't have a kitchen extension, no one else on this thread has said that they have a kitchen extension. Why do you keep throwing up this strawman?

DdraigGoch

In DrRuthGalloway's defense though. They have proved that their garden is (apart from the tiny bit of fake grass) very natural.

We've ripped ours out and put in bee/insect/bird friendly plants. It was here when we moved in, absolutely disgusting stuff. It's one thing that I am very judgemental about. To me it's for people with low IQ's who don't care about anything out of their own little bubble.
My dad was also in a wheelchair, no chance on earth that he would have fake grass put in. I was there when someone dared suggest it and he responded very passionately. He was a huge nature fan and fed and encouraged as much wildlife in his garden as possible. Had a woodland burial.

I find it difficult to see the photos supplied so far of the fake grass, in any real context, as there's only been a corner or a tiny portion of the fake grass itself posted. Nothing in full. Im guessing that's because it doesn't ever look good or natural and even the best quality is easily spotted as fake.

so people are actually allowed to post their views on whether they like something or think it’s a pile of old shite.

Well of course they are, but this is all becoming very circular. No one needs you to 'get' anything. We all know you don't like them, wouldn't have one yourself and that's fine. 🤷‍♀️

We removed some when we moved to our current house. Awful stuff and disposing of it was a problem. It had to go to landfill, unfortunately.

Well of course they are, but this is all becoming very circular. No one needs you to 'get' anything. We all know you don't like them, wouldn't have one yourself and that's fine. 🤷‍♀️

It's not fine. There's the environmental aspect these people are contributing to with their choices - that affects us all. It's not just that they're an eyesore and look fake in our neighbourhoods. I could just eye roll and ignore that.

There's the environmental aspect these people are contributing to with their choices - that affects us all.

Everyone is contributing to environmental issues via their choices. I'm not sure what the rationale would be for banning fake grass before the much more harmful things people do everyday that don't attract such ire. Foreign travel, meat eating, excessive car use, living in unnecessarily large homes, having lots of children, etc, etc.

I know this has already been covered at length already, but you appear to have joined the discussion.

I've been following the thread since the start and am a recent name changer.

I generally don't think people will be complaining about the environmental effect of these plastic lawns while not being environmentally friendly in other ways. That would be hypocritical.

I generally don't think people will be complaining about the environmental effect of these plastic lawns while not being environmentally friendly in other ways. That would be hypocritical.

So they're all childless vegans without cars who never travel and live off the grid? I doubt it. In fact some have been quite explicit that they aren't.

I've got one 'cos I can't grow a lawn where it is. I tried reseeding and putting rolls of turf down. Neither worked as the land was used as a tip for a new development behind our house and was a mud heap within weeks. Four times I tried putting a 'real' lawn down.
Absolutely love our 'astro', so go ahead, hang me!😘