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 was thinking about a proper gravel garden, taking up the plastic membrane under the gravel and putting in several inches of gravel with some stepping stones for the cats paws and planting the entire garden up.

Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden - Beth Chatto Gardens

And the abuse, name calling and the “I don’t care what anyone thinks” post show exactly why this planet is fucked. Total selfishness.

I agree op. I absolutely deteste it. Awful for our planet and wildlife.

Personally I really dislike fake grass but I do have it because our garden turns into a quagmire in any amount of rain, due to clay soil and the only other option was a load of gravel instead (one neighbour has got gravel and the other neighbour has opted for fake grass as have a lot of neighbours on our Close (and before anyone automatically starts thinking snobby thoughts, it's a Close full of owned houses that is mostly full of houseproud people, including the few who rent - absolutely hate the assumption that renters don't look after their homes, that is sometimes rife on here.)

Gravel is a no-no for us for a number of reasons - we have dogs and I they hate gravel, I'm disabled and find crossing gravel very difficult and I think large expanses of gravel can look worse than fake grass etc.

We tried bark and we tried it in all sorts of colours but it didn't solve the issues and again, the dogs find it uncomfortable if that's all that's under their paws. We tried having drainage fitted - it didn't work for us or our neighbour.

Fake grass was the last option (as the natural grass we'd tried to care for, for over 10 years was always patchy and turned into a swamp in wet weather (and then there's the horror and guilt I felt when I accidentally cut a frog's front quarter off when I mowed the lawn one Spring when we had failed to do it at the end of Autumn - I still feel guilty now whenever I remember it and I've never mown a lawn since).

We chose fake grass that actually looks like grass, rather than the cheaper carpet-style and it's solved the quagmire issue for both me and my neighbour so my dogs can still go outside without me having to do a huge clean-up and it's easier for me as I can still go out with my crutches as the ground stays firm.
I'm not about to sell my house where we've been happy for over a decade and have almost paid the mortgage off, just because someone who doesn't have an inkling of our circumstances and reasons for choosing fake grass thinks we should move somewhere with a smaller garden!!

I do grow LOTS of flowers and lavender, roses and mint in my garden to help bees and other insects and I feed the local squirrels and birds and hedgehogs - I get a lot of wildlife in my garden and even refused to banish the caterpillars from my rose trees (much to my neighbours horror) and I was delighted when they formed into butterflies and I suddenly had a garden full of butterflies - and although they ate many leaves on the rose tree, the rose tree is fine and always grows back,

If you don't like fake grass don't have fake grass.

I love mine. I used to have a very waterlogged, muddy garden which my dogs loved to dig holes in. When I had it done, it was also levelled and drainage baskets fitted. I have borders with trees, bushes and plants. There is loads of birds and insects. In fact the blackbirds in particular like to sit on the grass in the summer and spread out their wings. I didn't buy the cheap stuff so it doesn't particularly look fake, doesn't get too hot in summer and doesn't smell. I sweep it and occasionally hose it down. It gets a few weeds now it's been down a few years which make it look more realistic! My garden looks tidy, my dogs can go out and in again in winter without paddling muddy footprints into the house and they can play and don't dig. I use my garden so much more in summer now because it is such a nice space to be in.

All of you banging on about the environment - I wonder how environmentally friendly you are in other areas of your life. Do you drive a gas guzzling vehicle, take long haul/multiple flights a year, eat meat/dairy? Do you buy disposable products? I don't do any of those things. We all have our priorities.

I love that plastic grass has been compared to having children.

Although yes, new humans have an environmental impact, nobody’s life is incomplete without plastic grass. You can live without it.

Having children is exactly why people don’t want plastic shit ruining the planet.

Looks fake and tasteless, also.

I was thinking exactly the same, driving cars , getting on planes and everything else that impacts the environment. Sounds like a lot of pearl clutchers here getting on their high horse. I'm sure a lot of you have driven cars and gotten in planes for decades but excuse those things as necessity somehow. And also do you all not order anything from Amazon that gets flown all the way from China 😅 just for ease and cheapness ?
Our grass is so easy and neat looking, I don't think I would have a real lawn again. Mind you the trend is really taking off now with the fake grass , so much to choose from and much better quality!

Ive got it & i love it. We have a small garden, a dog & a football mad DC who completely ruined our very expensive newly laid lawn with year round football practice.

No more mud baths, no more mud being walked through the house, no more mud covered clothes & no more lawnmower.

Much easier to pick up dog poo, doesn't smell & looks good all year round.

I hated astro before we got it but it completely works for our garden & family.

We still have flower beds & trees, just replaced the lawn with astro. It was expensive & doesn't look like a plastic carpet either

It doesn't have to be grass real or otherwise. Some of the low maintenance ideas posted on this thread are beautiful and environmentally friendly.

Or if you have a disability and can't mow grass.....
Or a dog that kills the grass so artificial grass is so much easier to clean...
Or the soil in your area is so crap that not even real grass will grow properly....
Or maybe just mind your own business and don't be so judgemental......

Agreed. Hideous and so bad for wildlife. In my experience there’s a certain sort of householder that has it and they do not give a fuck about the environment.

So the reasons you give cover maybe 5% at most of the fake grass you see.

Whether fake grass or paving over a front garden, it's not just wildlife that are affected. Less space for water to be absorbed, could in some cases contribute to flooding.

Paving over is far more, often because of people with multiple cars or an SUV that they cannot drive properly.

When we bought our house it came with fake grass. Yes it's maybe bad for the environment but with a preschooler, baby and nursery fees plus a million other things in the house, the concern about how it impacts the environment, what others think about it and replacing don't even feature on things I care about at this precise moment in time.

Case in point.

Or just chose another more environmentally friendly low maintenance option?

You are being defensive because you know that fake grass is dreadful stuff.

It's bloody awful and so bad environmentally. If you don't want a lawn there are other alternatives.

I couldn’t have agreed with you more…. until 6yo DS became football mad and I barely have any grass left anyway now, just a patch of mud. I’m starting to see the attraction.

I’ve never understood the point of it!

But there are alternatives to grass. Anyone who wanted to could look into stone paving, moss, pebbles, clover etc.

Imagine putting fake plants outside and saying: “Not everyone has the time or skills to look after real trees and flowers”. Because that’s what fake grass is

Totally agree with Scarletpixie. There are so many people ready to judge others for their choices. I also agree with the comments about how many of those drive gas guzzling cars etc.How many use a supermarket instead of local shops, buy out of season fruit and veg. that have to be flown in, buy clothing and bedding that isn’t 100% natural fibres but most likely contain polyester, buy toys and household items made of plastic and garden furniture also made of plastic and not natural wood. It was also suggested that shingle was more eco friendly than fake grass, but that would also need weed suppression fabric, (we have plenty of farmers fields nearby that are full of dandelions,buttercups etc. so I don’t need them in my garden, )underneath which is also plastic and wouldn’t solve the problem of rain water laying like a lake over the garden. How about we live and let live?

No one with an ounce of taste would ever have plastic grass. They can try and justify until the cows come home, it’s still the ultimate marker of utter naffness.

Follow the advice in that book & you can't go wrong! Even better - go visit the garden! She was way ahead of her time.

We have it. I hate it. I don’t think it’s tacky & we got it because in the winter our garden is a bog with the kids playing on it.
Eventually I will get rid of it. I hate the feel of it.

Or just frazzled parents who have run out of shits to give.

20 something year old me would be horrified by my house now, and I haven’t even go to the artificial grass stage yet.

Orrrr how about we avoid doing all of the bad things you listed?