Fake grass is the height of tackiness

[Ihatetomatoes]

Horid stuff, and bad for wildlife.

If you don't have any spare time or are lazy, perhaps a property with a smaller garden.

I love my fake grass it’s better than a load of weeds or plain old patio, so easy to look after.

Plastic grass is the epitome of poor taste

It all ends up in landfill (to not decompose) after 5 years anyway.. to be replaced by more plastic that won’t decompose after that; give yourself a pat on the back.

It also looks utterly shit.

Ban it I say.

It will be dry as well as shady, but you can grow lots of other things. Such as Vinca minor as groundcover, with hellebores, euphorbia, autumn cyclamen, narcissi & snowdrops through it.

There are also numerous studies on it being potentially carcinogenic. Mercury & lead on top of microplastics. Why take the risk?

If you don't want to mow a lawn, replace it with gravel or ground covers.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/10/phillies-ball-players-cancer-artifical-turf

It looks tacky as heck and tells me the owners don't care about the environment, are probably lazy and have bad taste. If you don't want grass to care for, there are other options. You can get some very nice pavers that at least look classy. I wouldn't want a concrete jungle either, but you can at least put pots and planters around to overcome that, then it looks nice. Plastic grass will always look plastic and tacky.

I have a 4mx4m area that is decked with fake grass on top of it, it's for my little boy who is unable to sit unaided and unable to walk. He can however, roll. It is the one area of the garden that's safe for him to use all by himself, he doesn't need me to push him in his chair or carry him. I can put him in his puddlesuit and allow him to explore his area like any other child of his age. He has poor head control so the fake grass is a safer area for him than a patio where he'd likely cause himself serious injury if he suddenly dropped his head. He's registered blind so having a safe, fenced, decked area gives him great pleasure. I don't particularly like fake grass but I love my little boy more than I hate AstroTurf.

It's already banned from Chelsea & all RHS shows - I hope it's eliminated entirely. 18 million m2 of the stuff across the UK - & it can't even be recycled.

https://www.gardensillustrated.com/chelsea/fake-grass-ban-chelsea

@Seawolves Sounds like you've made a lovely spot for you little boy too enjoy.
I hate plastic lawns with something of a passion 99% of the time but it sounds great for you!

You’ve clearly not seen high quality ones. When we put ours we were brought a big box of samples of different types and quality. Yes there were some horrible and also some that looked so lush and real.

Sorry but they're all naff

I don’t like it but many things are tackier

Awful stuff, hard agree

They are, and they never have the same vibe as the real deal.

We had it because it was easier than the bog we had when we had a giant tree that kept the garden in shade. I hated it. Once the tree went (no choice as it was lifting and leaning) we reverted to real grass. Much better.

The artificial stuff got too hot to walk on in the summer and the cat also hated it.

I actually think it's cruel to have artificial grass and flowers outside.

No, it always looks crap and it doesn’t matter how much you spend.

You’re just not able to see how bad it actually is.

My shaded, muddy 5x5m garden with dandelions, forget me nots and various other wild flowers.
And wildlife too.

Beautiful.
I love a clover garden too, v good for coverage!

People now manage to feel superior over what kind of “grass” they do or do not have? Bloody hell!
Fake grass isn’t for me (I have dogs) but I’m not an arsehole and I can see it has its place.
If I EVER feel “superior” about my bloody lawn I hope one of my good friends slaps some sense into me. This is nonsense.

There's plenty of wildlife in my 'tacky' garden.

The bungalow I'm hoping to move to has a small lawn in a courtyard garden, I'm planning on having the grass taken up & artificial grass put down as I'm disabled & otherwise would need to pay a gardener to cut it to keep the garden looking neat & tidy. Lots of artificial grasses are being made from recycled materials to reduce the environmental impact.

I hate the stuff - it’s plastic, it’s ugly, NONE of it is realistic whatever anyone says - but is it any worse than flagstones when it comes to wildlife? So many people are paving over their front gardens these days either due to the having several cars in one family (mum, dad, teen/adult kids) or due to houses being split into flats. Our new neighbour is currently paving over her entire back garden. Probably because she’s an older woman who lives alone and is concerned about maintenance. Can’t wait for the run-off from that when Storm Fuckyou arrives.

Horrible stuff, ripped up ours (was there when we moved in) and planted meadow grass and flowers

I love ours. Will definitely keep replacing it with newer artificial grass. Looks great and so easy , don't have to do a thing with it. I couldn't give a rats arse what people class as tacky or not, really don't give it a seconds thought. Garden is always neat now.

Should be banned imho.

Have you any idea about the impact that over use of plastics are having on our environment?

Or the impact on bio diversity or drainage that plastic lawns cause? Maybe you don’t think about those things.

Live, laugh, love as a pp rightly observed.

Calling things other people do the height of tackiness, is in fact the height of tackiness.