Anyone has artificial lawn installed?

[ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual]

We've got a v small garden where grass won't grow due to shade. Lawn area 25sqm.

Just been quoted £3000 for artificial grass, installed professionally, material taken away etc. We're a bit taken aback - is this expensive or were we being unrealistic?

Trying to get other quotes but not many people willing to come out.

We’ve got artificial grass in the back. Our garden is beautiful. It was expensive but it’s been worth it.
It’s the second time we’ve had it installed, we had it in our last property also.
It doesn’t stink and we don’t Hoover it

My dd is allergic so it’s been a way for her to freely enjoy our garden.

Given all the publicity about micro plastics destroying the seas I can’t believe that fake grass is even legal. Horrible stuff.

A sandpit, a mud kitchen, a climbing farm with wood chippings under - there’s so many other play options that don’t destroy the planet.

Seriously? My entire garden should be a sandpit, or made of bark? Or just a mud kitchen?

I completely take your point about plastics and I have no defence for it. But realistically no I don't want my entire garden to be made of sand.

Easigrass wouldn't budge in the end and research suggests they're taking the piss price wise. Can't get anyone else out to quote. So we're giving grass seed yet another go. Our second of the season...

I was just going to say don't think a post on fake grass should even be in the "gardening" section! But glad to see you are rethinking this. Good luck with the re-seeding, hope it works.

I have artificial grass. Love it. No issues with smell, wetness, mud or heat. I just hoover the leaves up from the tree that is in the garden.

Has been down 9 years so far

I agree with doggy it will kill all wildlife under it. God forbid a WEED would poke through it!!!!! The world is drowning in effing plastic.

Sorry just come back to this thread. We didn't put the stuff in - it was there when we bought it. It's 10 years old and has lasted brililantly.

Try Lazy Lawn if Easigrass too expensive - dunno if they're cheaper but friends loved them.

Why not ban trees while you're at it ? "For health reasons". And those nasty leaves

It should definitely be banned, for aesthetic and environmental reasons. Awful stuff.

In your shoes I would pave, have lots of pots and then get some play equipment - a water table, toy kitchen, outdoor chalks. You could put in a swing with foam mats underneath. Doesn't have to be grass to play.

Of course it HAS to be cheap, the manufacturers in China HAVE to make a profit, not the workers of course. I wonder what their health is like?

I have both artificial and real lawns.

We had the artificial one due to an area being just a boggy muddy mess which our dog also helped destroy. Best thing we did as it's now a lovely area for him to run and play on.

Make sure you get the ground work base later done correctly. We also choose a longer length grass so it's nice and soft to walk on.

25 square metres sounds enormous to me, my lawn is 2m by 2m and needs reseeding every year. Most of the time it's a "moss" rather than a lawn, but it's a patch of green and that makes me happy. It was paved before but so much nicer an environment now.

Op, good luck with the grass seed. Make sure it's one for shady areas, rake it in so it's under where possible and water it. I hope it works for you. Plastic grass will put a lot more people off than it will entice.

Sometimes it takes awhile with grass seed. I put some seed down in a section I cleared out, about six weeks ago, it's a big section, and shaded,and I didn't do a great job of raking it in, I didn't buy the right seed, or water it, as it's too far for the hose pipe to reach and too big to carry a watering can and it's now all sprouting up through the ground. So much for the few days thing though, but it's germinated and growing well now. It was also just a couple of huge bags of the cheapy stuff from amazon.

I thought until thr last week I was going to have to re seed it, but it's worked, and was very cheap.

A real lawn is always going to be a million times better thanhaving a plastic pretend one.

I'd pave it, kids can play in many ways on paving just fine. Take them to the park for play that actually needs grass. Don't add to the plastic problem.

For a DOG to play on are you joking? Nature provides smells textures etc. dogs are not toys they should be allowed to sniff, dig, scratch and pee, how do you clear the pee and poo ? Plastic is far less hygenic than earth which it could be just dug into.

We have artificial grass down on part of our garden. It's been down 3 years and looks perfectly fine. The sun has faded it a little in places, which is good, and it has settled a little more since going down, also good. The join is now not really visible either.

There is definitely no smell. Not sure why there would be tbh. Nothing there to smell. It doesn't get muddy or soggy. The dew and any rain dries very quickly, as with real grass. Its coped perfectly well with snow over the past 3 years too. We treat it with weed killer as required, and brush it with sand to clean if need be.

Agree with a previous poster - make sure anyone getting artificial grass gets it laid properly. The ground below needs to be treated and made suitable beforehand, and then the various layers done before the grass is laid properly on top.

Also, don't buy cheap - get a decent one. It won't be cheap to buy and have laid properly. It shouldn't be. But pay more and it will look better and last better. There are various grades to choose from, and different 'looks' out there too.

ppeatfruit if that's directed at me did you not read that we have both real and artificial lawns.

The artificial one is for an area where the grass was not surviving and is used for play. He is allowed to go on the real lawn as well. It's not an either or.

Please please please don’t do this. Your kids would rather have a messy lawn and no negative environmental impacts for their futures.

Ah replacing a natural environment with plastic... how very human of you 🙄

You bought a house with a garden that can't sustain grass, so yes it should be wood chips or the like, or your children's children will have a whole planet without grass.

Ignore it if you want... I'll blame you anyway

Get it turfed again and water it as directed. The reason grass seed or turf fails is lack of water. It needs copious watering daily for the first few weeks.

Do you know what. I started this thread asking for experiences of people who have done this. I've had lots of criticism levelled at me and that's fine. There's a plastic problem, I'll be contributing. It's less than ideal.

But some people are just being fucking rude now.

Seriously? My entire garden should be a sandpit, or made of bark? Or just a mud kitchen?

Gosh, defensive much?!
You said you wanted a small lawn, a soft area for the kids to play as grass wouldn’t grow.

As I don’t agree with plastic I helpfully (I thought) suggested a pretty courtyard garden with a small bark area instead of a lawn for the kids to play on as it’s soft and eco friendly and I think quite attractive.

Or alternatively a shade loving ground cover plant like ajuga.

I don’t think people have been particularly rude on the whole but I think it is hard to discuss a subject like this without offending people because the world is literally drowning in plastic, countless animals dying because of it, seas in crisis, bees and other insects continue to decline and if they decline too much we are all fucked so it is the kind of subject that invites strong opinions whether you want it to or not.

Hi OP, I have artificial grass it's the best thing I bought for my garden half is patio and the other half is artificial grass for the dog. I can't remember where I bought it from online but I got it for £15 sqm. and got it delivered to my house. I put the grass in myself it was quite easy to do, you cut it to the size of the garden and then you get pegs that you can use for tents to hold it down, put something underneath it like tarpaulin which prevent weeds from growing through. It's easy to clean, it won't smell if you hose it down, I tend to hose mine down every couple of weeks in the summer but every month in the colder months, I'll sometimes put zoflora on it depending on how often the dog has used it. You can hoover it but I think my neighbours would think I was a bit nuts if I done that.

@ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual - ignore them. Do what is best for you.

Incase you missed it upthread

I LOVE MY FAKE PLASTIC GRASS

it's hard to discuss a subject like this without offending people because the world is literally drowning in plastic

Exactly

Of course you MUST use weedkiller on a poor little bit of nature that shows it's face on the plastic grass. just to really finish the world off.