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.

I can't say for sure as I've never had it myself but I have also heard that artificial lawns can get very hot in summer, (almost as hot as an asphalt pavement), so actually not a great option for children or pets either - unless it's in the shade or you plan on hosing it down before use.

I'm getting some. My garden is fully concrete, doesn't feel like a garden. CBA digging it all up just to sprinkle down some grass seeds. I'll have pots full of bee and butterfly friendly flowers and highly doubt any birds will give a shit about it being there if it means they don't get pounced on by a big fat Moggy. Not that any birds come in the garden much to moggies dismay

Paving doesn't degrade and let out microplastic pollution.

It's not substantially worse than people paving the lot anyway. This is a multi-faceted question but is worse to take up a patio and put shitty plastic down than just leave concrete/stone in situ.

You can get spf ones

Paving doesn't degrade and let out microplastic pollution

Presumably ones micro plastic pollution should be looked at in the context of ones overall plastic usage, which will vary hugely outside of this one thing.

Disagree that they all look shit. My neighbours had it put down but chose an expensive one with different colour strands / lengths / directions and it looks no different to our real grass unless you are inspecting it, and who does that? They have insect gardens / bee houses etc hanging up and real plants and trees all around the edge. All of the people going on about the environmental destruction had better make sure they are entirely beyond reproach with their own lifestyles as some of the comments here are bloody ridiculous. That said, it does get hot in summer and they also have a dog so that must be pretty grotty to clean.

I've just looked up a range of articles about the worst things you can do for the environment and it hasn't gotten a mention once.

It’s also really expensive and gets too hot in the summer. Put down my real lawn last month! Love it.

As I said, I award you the highest medal for whataboutery.

Plastic grass is shit. It looks shit and is shit for the environment.

I am 100% with you OP and sad that voters are only 2/3 YANBU. I feel bad enough about the plastic I use in food packaging and clothes.

Sorry for the huge post! Not quite sure what happened 😂

I had it in my old house

it made the garden usable all year round
it stopped my garden flooding
it didn’t smell
it didn’t get hot in summer
it didn’t get ants.

it looked ok and certainly a hell of a lot better than the previous mud mud bath we had spent thousands on trying and failing to cultivate

Gosh there seems to be so much vitriol towards plastic lawns.

I never see the same vitriol directed towards all sorts of other non environmentally friendly items and practices discussed on here. Long lists of plastic toys and gadgets for Christmas, long haul holidays, building projects, packaging heavy beauty and food subscriptions etc etc.

I think it always looks bad, and is really unhygienic. The microplastics worry me as well. I would never want to buy a house that had plastic grass, even if it had been removed because I like growing vegetables and the soil will be ruined.

My lawn is incredibly weedy but I love all the different bugs and creatures in it. I even saw a slow worm go past the other day. We're letting half the garden turn into meadow to encourage the wildlife.

Our old garden had a big shady area that wouldn't grow grass, I just put some hostas in and bark chipped it and it looked lovely, just topped up the chips occasionally.

There's usually a post or two on FB from someone bemoaning the foul stench from their plastic grass where their dog has weed - the best solution, apparently, is to drench it in Jeyes fluid and brush with a stiff broom. Yuck.

As I said, I award you the highest medal for whataboutery.

Award me want you want 🤣 my point stands.

There are many, many, many things more environmentally damaging and problematic than this. I'm sure we could all call some of your choices shit too.

I haven't done a survey but I'm pretty certain that those installing astroturf aren't regular users of refill shops.

I hate fake grass the sterile look of it, it looks cheap and it does nothing ecologically. At least patio's provide a safe habitat for insects and allow rainwater to infiltrate.

I never see the same vitriol directed towards all sorts of other non environmentally friendly items and practices discussed on here. Long lists of plastic toys and gadgets for Christmas, long haul holidays, building projects, packaging heavy beauty and food subscriptions etc etc.

Because these are naice middle class things to do, remember.

Plastic grass is for the plebs (or worse, wannabes).

@RichardOsmansXraySpecs they don't pay the mortgage ....

But seriously. We border a school playing field which also houses a forest school. Pretty sure the wildlife will be happier there than in our garden anyway.

I live in a narrow Victorian terraced house with no side access, therefore the garden is narrow and pretty small. It is also west facing and next doors fence casts a shadow over it at least half of it all day. The small square of lawn died and turned to moss, the dog then saw this as a challenge to dig as much as she could so yes we got artificial, it looks great compared to how it was and we spray a special enzyme on it which removes any smell from dog weeing on it. Drainage is also no issue. Love it.

I am thinking of getting it. I have a teeny tiny garden and have tried to get the grass to grow in for 2 years. I just get lots of patches as it is very shady. It just doesn't support a lawn. I have some pot plants around the back of the garden with bee friendly plants to make up for it. It is a choice between artificial or decking but might have to be artificial grass so the dog can go out for a tiddle. Either way a lawn hasn't worked despite my best efforts.

A few people have them round here. What always surprises me is how fake they look. This isn't a poor neighbourhood; people can afford to buy the higher end of stuff, it's common for people to get expensive extensions and other things. Yet every artificial lawn I've seen around here looks horribly fake and obviously not real from a distance away. Do they all look like that? Does anyone have pictures of ones that look like actual real grass?

I haven't done a survey but I'm pretty certain that those installing astroturf aren't regular users of refill shops

who knows? As they often aren't rich enough for big sprawling properties, they may not be massive consumers generally however.