Artificial grass, who has it and can give me their thoughts?

[Mrstumbletap]

We are getting out garden re done (I have another thread in gardening so sorry for hogging) but we are thinking about artificial grass.

Have a space of about 85square metres.

Can it look good if you get the stuff that's £28psm+?

What are the downsides? We don't have pets but have a toddler and think it would be nice for it to always look mowed.

We did ours about 3 years ago and it's fab. Much smaller garden though (30m2) and not much room for a mower. Our neighbors have bamboo that sheds leaves over the fence so I hoover it every other week in the summer. Brill for kids, just don't spill food on it, and no BBQs

I know two people who have it and love it. But I don't know how much they paid.

Is there not a link to childhood leukaemias/lymphomas?

In artificial grass?????

I have it. Mine was about £50 per sqm but that was including fitting. I love it. It dries ridiculously quickly, once the rain has stopped it's dry within an hour. It's never muddy. It's doesn't go brown and dead and yucky when you leave a paddling pool/trampoline on it all summer. No mowing. No hay fever. No insects. It's warm to sit on even in spring/autumn. I hoover (with a leaf blower/sucker) and then hose it down it every month cos I have pets, could get away with less often if I didn't. I love it, will never have real grass again!

Just looked up the link to lymphoma, that is scary.

My neighbours have this and they get a lot of moss growing in it and probably spend more time maintaining it than they would real grass.

I am afraid I find it weird unless there are reasons like allergies. I want bees and insects in my garden and the feel of nature not plastic.