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.

@Sparrowfeeder

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!

Nah it was more to-do with my disability actually. Couldn't cut the lawn or wipe my dog properly after going out for a wee.

Sorry to say we absolutely love ours too. I tried SO hard to get our grass to work, I reseeded it so many times, spent so long research how to boost our lawn but being a north facing garden, I was just a horrible muddy mess which I got no joy out of.

It doesn’t get too hot in summer - I think maybe in the past old styles did but we’ve had no issues with this. We got it fitted properly and it was ££ but totally worth it for us, it makes our tiny garden so much more useable and enjoyable. No regrets at all.

But there's nothing like grass on barefeet in the morning plus its so healthy!

Yeah, when it grows! If you’ve got a garden like mine, you didn’t get grass underfoot, you got patches of squelchy mood mixed in with grass seed 😂

@SkeletonSkins

Yeah, when it grows! If you’ve got a garden like mine, you didn’t get grass underfoot, you got patches of squelchy mood mixed in with grass seed 😂

Same! It was horrible. Love our garden now

@Franklyfrost

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.

What an odd comment "dead inside"?

@BG2015, its your back garden, do as you please, most people won't judge. Sorry, don't know anything about false grass except to say I bought a roll from Tesco a couple of years ago for our front garden; its a weird triangle shape.

I fitted it on, cut to allow for my three bushes and two trees, and it looks great. Weeds do still grow through the drainage holes in the material, but I either leave them or pull them out. Saves me hours and hours weeding. Best of luck.

It will be very tidy but everyone who sees it will know you’re dead inside.

What now??

As others have said you get what you pay for - we've had ours for over a year now and it looks fabulous. It can get warm in summer but it's not really an issue - especially in the north of England in a garden that's in the shade most of the day!

What will you do with the "grass" when it is too tatty, after 8 years? Have you space to look after it, and its successors?

@MrsBertBibby

What will you do with the "grass" when it is too tatty, after 8 years? Have you space to look after it, and its successors?

Mine has been down that long and still looks brand new

@MrsBertBibby mine has also been down 8 years and still looks new. Nothing "tatty" about it. What do you think happens to it? Do you think it disintegrates?

I am glad that this thread is making people feel very superior with their beautiful natural lawns, some of us just aren't lucky enough to be able to have grass. Mine was a water logged, mud patched area my children couldn't play in without getting filthy dirty as they pretty much lived out there. Now if they want they can roll around on it, no grass stains, no mud.

It will be very tidy but everyone who sees it will know you’re dead inside. What an extreme reaction, tell me have you screamed in the Sistine Chapel?

Artificial lawns = dead inside = you have no concern for the environment, you find no joy in everyday nature, your only aesthetic principle is tidiness.

On the plus side I’d give an artificial lawn owner the benefit of the doubt and assume not all the decisions they make in life are selfish and unimaginative.

@BettyBeStillNow

Oh Sistine chapel. She was my soul mate. Although for me it’s the Rothko room at the tate modern.

On the plus side I’d give an artificial lawn owner the benefit of the doubt and assume not all the decisions they make in life are selfish and unimaginative.

How big of you 🙄

Do you always judge people on so little information?

I would love a real lawn but my teeny tiny garden gets no sunlight and a permanent back injury makes gardening painful and difficult.... but yeah, I'm dead inside, selfish and unimaginative. I'll take that over judgemental any day of the week.

couldnt you patio or deck it, and have some nice pots rather than cover it in plastic grass.

Works great for a small area, but not nice to sit on however soft it is.

I LOVE nature and the outside, I work hard to plant lots of lovely plants that are good for the bees and insects. But the thing is, I enjoy nature soooo much more now that I’m not constantly battling with a lawn that just won’t grow. Trust me, I’m not bothered about tidiness, but it was Wel beyond that, it was more mud that grass, it was boggy and horrible, and it made me avoid the garden. I tried so so so hard to fix it, and spent endless money on it, but my garden just can’t grow a lawn. Sometimes you have to live with what you’ve got. If it helps, I’ll forgo a third child for the sake of the environmental impact of my artificial lawn

Leaves and branches fall off onto the lawn which have to be raked up,

This will still happen.

It’s a lot easier to brush them up off a fake lawn, I just use a rubber brush and it’s really easy.

@MrsBertBibby

What will you do with the "grass" when it is too tatty, after 8 years? Have you space to look after it, and its successors?

Genuine question, what do you do with your old unwanted plastic stuff? Bury it in your cellar? Or are you so perfect you don't have any .

@Franklyfrost

Artificial lawns = dead inside = you have no concern for the environment, you find no joy in everyday nature, your only aesthetic principle is tidiness.

On the plus side I’d give an artificial lawn owner the benefit of the doubt and assume not all the decisions they make in life are selfish and unimaginative.

Thank you so much for your condescending comment, us false grass owners are grateful, your judgement means so much to us.

Off you go now to polish your virtuous (recyclable) halo .

@SkeletonSkins

It’s a lot easier to brush them up off a fake lawn, I just use a rubber brush and it’s really easy.

You say that as if it's difficult to take leaves 😂

*rake

@activitythree

Leaves and branches fall off onto the lawn which have to be raked up,

This will still happen.

Yeah, but it is so easy to brush off without damaging the grass. Also, you might have a DH who tried hoovering it (once). Genuinely surprised when it clogged up .

I have both a real and an artificial lawn. The artificial one is so much easier to take care of and has turned a previously muddy area into a usable one.

OP you need to make sure the base is good and professionally done and the grass is like buying a carpet. The nicer ones are ££££. For me is was money well spent.

Wow!! Just wow!

I have no more words.....