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.

Gorgeous. My dream.
https://www.canonteignfalls.co.uk/explore/the-victorian-fern-garden/

The only place we have some is ontop of a broken concrete slab as it would cost 6k to remove let alone replace and we need to replace due to what’s under it.

I don’t like it as an actual garden piece. We still have lots of bushes trees crops and enough grass to spend over two hours cutting it. Wildlife aplenty here.

Cool, it’s still staying though :)

We have a tiny garden with a tiny patch of faux grass and it's the best option for such a small space, in a terraced house with no shed space. We've had it around 12 years and it is fantastically hard wearing, good for the dog and still looks great (a natural looking version). We have loads of wildlife around because there are trees and vines and shrubs everywhere else. Before we put it in, there were paving stones there.

😍

Fair point. It's rare I have a client with a plastic lawn, but it does come. Even if a client wasn't concerned about organic gardening I wouldn't use chemicals for them. They'd need another gardener.

Paving stones don’t leach microplastics into the environment; plastic grass does. Personally, I disagree that plastic grass looks nice: it just looks toxic to me.

I never doubted that 😂 but for the sake of others reading the thread, I think it’s worth pointing out that all of your excuses have proven to be bollocks, and that in the end it comes down to you not caring about the impact on the environment.

I’ll tell that to my severely autistic son who has it in his garden- hey son your artificial grass is tacky and bad for the environment, I’m sure he’ll be devastated. 🤣

For what it’s worth it’s very low maintenance, stays consistently the same no matter the time of year, never stays wet for long and there is nothing in it that he will want to eat. But yeah tacky. Tacky is a garden piled high with rubbish and badly maintained/ regardless if it’s not your property then it is absolutely none of your business.

I'm in Australia and have artificial lawn that at a glance looks realistic. It hasn't impacted wildlife at all. The birds love sitting in it especially in winter to keep warm. It doesn't impact the rest of my plants or fruit trees and doesn't throw off heat in summer and we have 35+ degree days. Most importantly I save water every summer not needing to water it, especially important if we are facing water restrictions.

The welfare of the planet is everyone's business.

I have an autistic child. I wouldn't put down fake grass for them. I'd find other solutions, if needed.

You don't have to water it anyway. I've lived in Australia. I just let it go brown for a couple of months a year. It comes back.

Well good for you. Until you pay my bills though your opinion about my house is irrelevant. I take it you don’t ever use cars/ go on holiday/ recycle absolutely everything too?

I do recycle everything and make differences where I can. Unfortunately the world isn't set up that I can be car free, but there's something to be said for a car-less society where people live more simply and locally. Putting down fake turf is one thing everyone can choose not to do without consequence though.

To be fair, nothing in Australia will impact its wildlife as it’s … Australia

But the plastic you send to landfill will impact the planet whether you care or not

Seriously, I wouldn’t worry about it. I wonder how many people here complaining about the environment drive or use air travel 🤔

Do you have any idea about how other people live? When you’ve got 0 money and a shitty, dark back garden and you can’t afford to have it landscaped, or give it the headspace to do it yourself, because you work full time for money that stretches less and less each month? And you’ve got 2 kids that need to get outside and run around? You put in some fake grass and crack on. In those circumstances, I’m fairly certain that “bio diversity” isn’t your primary concern. Nor is the fact that some randoms on Mn will somehow feel superior about not having it.

You’re forgetting disabled & elderly people who need to have a low/zero maintenance garden! Finding housing when you’re disabled is a massive battle as it is, so ignoring properties without a garden is cutting an already very short list, much much shorter! I don’t have fake grass but I cannot mow my lawn myself and rely on my local gardener having a free slot every few weeks over the summer and they’re not cheap! So I can totally understand why a disabled or elderly person with no other capable adults in the home, may choose it over paving slabs (far more expensive to have installed). Obviously most people would choose the environment if they had the choice but some things must take priority unfortunately.

Right so you do have a car then 🤣 how many flights did you take last year by the way? I couldn’t care less but people like you always pick and choose what they like to preach about when it comes to other people. Focus on yourself.

I would hazard a guess that most people's environmental concerns on here are a mere fig leaf to mask their basic snobbery. I would also imagine any kind of scrutiny of their lifestyle choices would put to shame their supposed environmental credentials.

100%!!!

I don't fly. Of course I have a car, but I'd be quite happy if society became one where it wasn't needed. I do what I can, where I can. Not having a car can have a negative impact and can be a necessity. Fake grass is never a necessity.

😴💤🥱

I’m a single parent on minimum wage dear.

I have a 5x5m muddy, mossy, shaded garden that I’ve mown 3 times this year taking 5 mins each time.

But I still haven’t got plastic grass. Couldn’t afford it for starters.

Ours was exactly the same. Within a year of moving in, our garden was like a mud bath and was completely soaked on one side (they put drainage in which done nothing and tried to say that amount of water is normal, the grass would grow that side twice as quick as the rest) so we put fake grass down. Was the only way of making sure our 2 year old could use the garden all year round. All our neighbours are either having to reseed/returf every year because of leatherjackets.