Artificial grass what's the deal?

[BG2015]

Last year we had our garden done. Really pleased with it. Decided to have the lawn re-turfed as artificial grass was so expensive.

However, although our garden/patio is south westerly the bottom half is sheltered by a massive willow tree so gets little sun. We also had a visiting mole x2 which created havoc and turned it into a mud bath.

We've decided to go with artificial grass, I'm not a great fan but it's the only way to go with our garden now.

So what's the deal with the grades etc as I know nothing about it. We've got someone coming to give us a quote next week so would like to have some idea first.

Do you have children or pets? It can get very hot underfoot.

It's really bad for the environment - flooding, insects etc

Please don't. It's so bad for the environment and frankly, whatever quality you go for, looks awful.

No pets or children.

Thanks for your advice anyway!

If you don't have to have lawn for some reason why not make a flower bed with some small hardy perennials, it would be no work to look after and could give a bit of interest and colour.

It doesn't hardly get any sun, it's boggy. Leaves and branches fall off onto the lawn which have to be raked up, not to mention the moles digging and making a mess.

We both work full time. We aren't gardeners.

It looks awful and I don't want flowers in that particular area.

Like I say thanks for your advice but it's definitely going to be artificial turf we go for.

Sorry

I have both pets & children and never had a problem with heat.
Got mine for a variety of reasons... SW garden, football mad DC and dog wee patches. My only advice is go for the most expensive you can afford. I've had it 4 years and it still looks as good as it did when it was first laid. Get it fitted professionally with proper drainage (we have no problems with flooding).
As a cost guide, I paid around £3k for about 40m2.

It's awful for the environment and looks horribly artificial.

If you can reconsider your local wildlife and the future generations will be grateful.

The artificial grass available now can be very good. Go for a long length, at least 35mm and if you have no pets then maybe even up to 42mm. Look at ones that aren’t solid green, good ones will have browner strands to get a more realistic look. It will never look as good as nice grass, but a high quality one will look better than dead grass. Agree that it is not good for the environment, but if that’s what will work best for you and the space then there you go.

Get the more expensive stuff op! Go have a feel at b and q if you can and you will see the difference between the grades. The cheaper stuff feels like it's hard and spiky to touch where as the more expensive stuff feels soft and you could sit on it no problem etc

[shocked] at the prices!!! What an incredible waste of money - IMHO

even

Just pave it? Shade loving plants or flowers in pots? Artificial grass is horrible.

@BG2015

It doesn't hardly get any sun, it's boggy. Leaves and branches fall off onto the lawn which have to be raked up, not to mention the moles digging and making a mess.

We both work full time. We aren't gardeners.

It looks awful and I don't want flowers in that particular area.

Like I say thanks for your advice but it's definitely going to be artificial turf we go for.

Sorry

Leaves don't magically avoid a plastic carpet in your garden .

Its awful for the environment and looks horrible.
Do you have to have a lawn?
Gravel, raised beds, lots of low maintenance plants, a nice seating area.
Be creative with garden design, it doesn't have to have a rectangle of lawn with borders round the edges.

We have a slightly smaller garden, dog and child that loves paddling pools in summer. Has no sun in winter and full sun in summer. We got 32mm as at the time it was the longest that was recommended for dogs. Got a few quotes as one place wanted £2500 and the other people we went with charged £350. They gave us samples which made it a lot easier to decide. It's warm in the summer (south coast) but doesn't burn unlike stone floor. If you have a dog you need to be on top of rinsing it after pees.

We got fake grass a few years ago because our garden was constantly boggy at one end while constantly dry at the other. We tried for years to improve it but nothing worked.

We did spend a lot of money on it, because we wanted a proper job done and are really pleased with it. The installers put in layers of hardcore, sand etc so it drains properly and we got a better quality ‘grass’ so it didn’t look like astroturf.

It’s not hot underfoot, dogs and children can and have played on it happily in summer, it doesn’t crush and it doesn’t get soggy. I think we paid about £1800.

Please don't put plastic grass in your gardens.

I have copied and pasted this from a post someone put in my local forum and I hope the author doesn't mind but it puts it really succinctly:

1. Artificial turf uses huge volumes of plastic If you stop to think about all of the materials in your home and garden, you’d be hard pressed to find anything that uses so much plastic. Single use plastic straws have been banned and replaced by paper in the UK and are a good comparison to the plastic lawn although it feels different because the fake lawn is multiple use. I ran a quick calculation that you can do yourself whereby if a person used say, one disposable plastic straw a day for a year, over the course of 15 years that would be 21,900 straws for a family of 4 at 12kg of plastic. Looking at one product, fake grass weighs around 1.42kg/metre. Our little urban garden is around 35 square metres so if we were to cover half in plastic grass, that would be 24.85kg of plastic, still there after 15 years and over four times the amount of plastic that would exist if the two of us used a plastic straw every single day for that time.

Op wants artificial. Just because you think it looks awful doesn't mean it is, if it was not many people would opt for it! Go For for it op, looks great all year round, we are also looking to get Astra turf. No more muddy boots! I have kids so the mud is a real problem.

It’s so awful for the environment please don’t do it. In a world choked with plastic please don’t add to it.

We have it, about £3000 but we are in London and went for one of the top ranges. I know it’s terrible for the environment (so I’ve also got an allotment). Our garden is quite small and was boggy in winter and dry earth in summer-we did try and had grass relaid twice but alas it wasn’t to be.

What about the falling leaves? I have a similar problem with a fruit tree which drops hundreds of sticky fruit. I find natural best otherwise I would have to pick up each fallen fruit/twig/flower/leaf. Seems counterproductive and back breaking.

Out of interest, why is artificial turf offset by you having an allotment?

You can get green slate chippings. Would be cheaper, easier to build and maintain, and visually green effect of lawn without pretending to be one.

Gravel can be better for wildlife anyway. Even non-plastic manicured lawns aren't exactly wildlife havens.

Beautiful patio.

@diagold4u

Op wants artificial. Just because you think it looks awful doesn't mean it is, if it was not many people would opt for it! Go For for it op, looks great all year round, we are also looking to get Astra turf. No more muddy boots! I have kids so the mud is a real problem.

Heaven forbid kids playing in mud.

It's no wonder the world is fucked.