Not really gardening question but need artificial turf so can throw kids in garden year round

[leannac]

Any recommendations for brands that look good & are soft without breaking the bank?

Our local garden centre sells it, but it does seem very hard and scratchy for any small children who fall over on it. I'll look for the brand name next time I'm in there.

would it not work out cheaper to just buy the kids some wellies?

My friend has a garden with no lawn - just borders and patios - precisely so that she can throw her boys into the garden all year round.

If you google you'll find loads of sellers, you can get samples sent.
We decided to get artificial grass, garden makeover in process, because less mud, no maintenance etc especially with dog. When we saw the samples went right off the idea, the more expensive stuff is very realistic looking but still too shiny, and feels nothing like grass.

Now looking forward to having proper grass, tiny lawn so have bought a small push mower like they used to use in the old days, kids can't wait to use it.

i have a small puch mower - great fun, and cuts surprisingly well!

I have grass and small boys. i hate artificial turf, so am putting stepping stones in this year to the trampoline. kids have been out all through winter they call the shed 'home' but mainly on the trampoline.

i even have a small push mower. It works better than the puch one.

I saw some in B&Q today (not a particularly big branch either).

I'm not sure of the quality or how soft the texture was though as I only saw it from a distance.

There are companies who sell different varieties that look very realistic, with little brown grass bits in and everything. It's worth buying quality as the cost of installation will make you only want to do it once.

A word of warning though - to install artificial grass the ground will need to be prepared as meticulously as for real turf, perhaps more so because you will need a solid border edging to contain it.

Also it will need to be swept or hoovered for leaves, mud etc as if these are left on, real blown grass seed can manage to establish itself.

Thanks all for your help!