to fake grass or not to fake grass.

[gingeme]

I have a 50ft garden which at the moment is half VERY uneven lawn and half very old crazy paving. I'm sick of it tbh and would like it all taken up with a lawn and raised beds down each side and some fruit trees at the end. I am a child minder and have 3 Ds of my own. Can anyone tell me if it's worth fake grassing or turfing ? Thankyou

I'm currently trying to talk dh into letting me fake grass our lawn! It's so bloody hard to maintain it, one corner never gets light so is always mostly moss and both of us suffer grass allergies so mowing it is a snotty itchy nightmare!!

He says it will look ridiculous, but I've not given up on him yet!

It looks good, but don't consider it if you have a dog as your whole lawn will stink of piss! I had a picnic on my friend's fake grass last summer - had to wash my trousers when I got home, although he didn't seem to notice the smell.

Lol love your mn name I've been reading up on it and unless you get a real expert to lay its a nightmare !! And if it gets hot it can cause burns or static shocks !! But if its layed well it last for years !! But a bit of good turf could have just as good results (plus a damn site cheaper)

velvet we have a dog and cats !

A friend of mine replaced her lawn with fake stuff. It was top of the range, professionally fitted. It looks completely fake and is weird and unpleasant to sit on.

Hmmm rhubarb......

Yes it will cost you good money to have it laid properly,& it will always look fake tacky,I would get it rotavated & levelled ,then turf or seeded,new patio or decking,nice oak sleepers for the raised beds & it should look good.

We looked into it but got quoted 15k for the top brand stuff and that was without the labour. DH said could buy a bloody good ride on for half that and have lots of fun cutting the grass!

I don't like it. We have it in our front garden as the previous owner has a business laying it. Thank god he never did the back, we have lovely lush real grass back there.
I plan to change the front soon.

Fake lawn and dog/cat sounds disgusting!

How about getting Greenthumb of similar in to treat it teice a year? ( works for us), and plant things that thrive in shade on the mossy shady patch?

I put minimal effort into my lawn, never water it ( it goes dry in summer but grass does not die), fake lawn just sounds awful.

Even concreting over sounds better!

We pay £20 a fortnight for someone to cut out lawn for us, and it's bigger than yours.

I'd spend a few hundred getting the lawn as good as you can, then hand maintenance over to a gardener. It's the best thing we ever did.

Thankyou everybody. DH and I have decided on good real turf and a good mower. I guess I was just looking for something low maintenance but by the sound of it it's going to be more maintenance in the long run !! I've got two gardeners coming on Monday to give me quotes and two more on Wednesday. Thankyou everybody for your views