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.

Don’t. Just don’t. You’d have a half concrete half plastic garden. It will be very tidy but everyone who sees it will know you’re dead inside.

I’d plant a load of evergreen ferns which are easy to get (2:50 a pot at Tesco’s right now), they love shade and if a few moles are about you won’t notice as they grow out and cover the ground like umbrellas.

everyone who sees it will know you’re dead inside.

Don’t be so ridiculous.

Please don't, you've got a lot of reasons why not on here.

When the world finally floods (and most people don't seem to care enough to make the changes that are needed to stop global warming) all of the plastics floating on and in the ocean won't stop muddy boots.

Eucalyptus shrubs will soak up the dampness. Moles are good they aerate the soil and you can use their earth hillocks as good pot fillers.

@NeilBuchananisBanksy

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

^ This, please don't do it.

Think about all the efforts people are making to reduce plastic use.... why would you choose to plastic over your garden, leaving no food or shelter for bugs/birds etc?

How about using the space for a small veg bed? Get the kids involved in growing some of their own food - it could be really interesting for them. If you plant things that grow a bit highish, they will get some sun even if that plot isn't always in the sun.

Artificial grass is utterly soulless, and symbolises everything that has gone wrong with the world to me. And people may not say it to your face, but if any of your friends have a shred of environmental conscience they will judge you when they see it. (I know that's not a nice thing to hear, but it is the truth.)

@Candleabra

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.

Or this - lovely idea! There are so many low maintenance things that you could do with that space that don't involve a shed load of plastic and removing every trace of wildlife benefit from your garden.

You know on springwatch etc. when they bemoan the reduced numbers of small birds, bees etc..... why do you think it is happening?

I don't understand the vitriol on this post. OP asked for advice on a particular subject, either advise or move on to another thread.
OP judging by the responses you're an evil nature destroyer if you get artificial grass, and you should be grateful to have a garden swamp to look at, wanting to be able to use it is just unreasonable!

I've no advice but following this as we're considering doing the same.

We live in a new build estate. Lots of people around us have artificial grass. Everyone who has changed their lawn to it has done so because their turfed garden is unusable due to poor drainage in the area rendering the ground a swamp much of the time (not possible to remedy, most have tried, including us). Everyone who has it thinks it's great and can now enjoy their gardens instead of being stuck inside looking at a mud bath.
The suggestions of slabbing or stone chipping are not practical options for us with dogs and kids using the garden. Besides it would look very 'grey', and can hardly be considered as a 'nature friendly' option.

So morally I guess artificial grass is not a good choice, but practically it's the only choice in some areas if you want to be able to use your garden. Those who are on their moral high horse should trot off to other threads I think

Poor drainage or shaded gardens doesn't top environmental concerns though and I think it is perfectly acceptable for people to point that out. Our planet is dying, we are at a crisis point and every individual needs to do as much as they can to help. No one can do everything, some things are harder to give up/stop using. However plastic grass is not an essential, you're life isn't dramatically worse off for not having it.

Why is slabbing not nature friendly? It's perfectly possible for small herbs and plants to be sown between slabs, and they smell lovely when you walk over them. Lichens and mosses are 'nature' just as much as a flowerbed.

Wildlife will find a niche anywhere it can - around the edges of stones, within loose gravel, under piles of twigs.... but it can't do that at all in plastic grass.

We've got artificial grass in a small north facing garden. It's very low maintenance and I'm glad we got it.

We bought a fairly expensive Easigrass which had a high "thread" count and density however I have to say after 3 years it has ripped in two different locations due to cats and foxes in our garden so I am not impressed with the durability of this brand.

ThrownToTheWolves

The thread title is "artificial grass - what's the deal" and some of us have responded with what the deal is - environmentally disastrous and we'd prefer people didn't choose it because all these individual choices affect the world around us.

It's got nothing to do with morals. They are bald facts. Just because you don't want to hear something doesn't mean people aren't allowed to voice their concerns. Too many people sticking fingers in their ears and going la la la.

I have artificial grass in the back garden and we fucking love it.

To all the horror faced MNetters on here, I also have 2 front gardens plus a large side garden, all natural, none of it lawn, but planted up, plenty for the birds, bees, frogs, insects etc. My back garden has mature borders, I cannot keep up with the sheer amount of bird food that the visiting birds get through in a day, never mind the water bath they empty every day drinking and washing.

I have ants, bugs, spiders and worms etc all in the borders. It does not flood ever, in fact it dries much quicker than the grass previously did. I have two sons who previously wrecked my garden playing in it but the main reason we got it is because DH suffers from severe hay fever and couldn't be outside in the garden with our sons, couldn't sit out, enjoy the sun, a bbq etc so we laid it years ago.

@BG2015 we went to a place that has massive samples laid outside and we took off our shoes and walked on them, you can feel the difference with your feet more than your hands. It helps you feel the depth of the pile and ours has brown bits in it to look more real but I just wanted it to feel good and look okay.

It is a joy, no mowing, no strimming, no watering, ever. We just sweep the leaves off into the borders which are mulched, weed kill as a surface treatment. I think we started to look at it when it was featured at The Chelsea Flower Show.

It’s so bad for the environment. You’re essentially covering your piece of the planet in plastic.

What about moss or shade-specific varieties of grass?

Ok, so perhaps the OP should have titled her post differently to get appropriate responses.
I don't disagree that artificial grass is not an environmentally friendly garden solution. But if your garden is a swamp what are the practical nature, environment, child and pet friendly alternatives to turf that allow for the garden to actually be used and enjoyed, not just looked at?

We already have some a slabbed patio area, chipped areas with heather plants, planters, lots of bamboo, some small trees and raised veg beds. We just can't use the area that is currently lawn as it's a swamp, which is what OPs problem is too.

Horrible and now that narc Mrs hinch has it, so much for people trying to be best for the environment, but its ok hun, your face mask is biodegradable....ATV

Evil nature destroyer here. We have it in our postage stamp garden to replace the “lawn” (aka weed and ants nest collection) that we had before. We use the garden 10x more now.

OP I got samples and chose based on those. As a pp said you really need to feel them with hands and bare feet. We’ve got Quickgrass (Woburn). We used an independent installer who recommended that company or (I think) Grassify - he definitely didn’t like Easigrass or NoMow said it was cheap stuff with a big margin applied.

I can't imagine anything worse. There are lots of better options though.

We have it and with children it is a good option, we have loads of insects in the garden. It was professionally fitted and we have no drainage issues, in fact outlr garden is a bit on the dry side, we have lots of beds and the area is tiny, we got it to suppress ground elder and it has worked.

I love my artificial grass. Was laid appropriately 11yrs ago now.

I love mine. Gets warm in the sun but not any hotter than the slabs do. Its honestly changed my life as our garden was unusable for half a year.

I’m not a fan of artificial grass, to me it looks awful as well as being bad for the environment. I do understand why some people may need to use it, especially if your garden is in the shade or boggy but I think it should be a last resort. My lawn is home to butterflies, moths, ants, spiders and beetles which the birds feed on, also bees that live under the lawn.

Sure, our ecosystem is royally f*cked with microplastics pollution and and the mass die off of insects and wildlife. Your drinking water, food, salt and internal organs contain microplastics as do babies in the womb. Why not speed this up and add to the problem! It is so important that your lawn looks perfect after all!

@minipie I forgot about the ants! We could never have a picnic on the lawn due to the ants always finding our blanket, now I can lie out there on a blanket on the artificial lawn, bliss. The ants remain in the borders.

It gets lovely and warm and the birds sunbathe out there. I originally thought one was injured at first with its wing spread out. No, just soaking up the sun, they never did that before.

Our garden was trashed by having a kitchen extension which meant all the sand, cement, blocks and bricks were deposited in the back garden whilst the work was done. Killed any lawn we had anyway, we saw that as the opportunity to lay the artificial lawn.

Best thing we ever did.