Has anyone actually put real grass IN their garden?

[copernicium]

I've an area approx 15m2 that currently has slate chippings. As a result, we don't use it, as it's the back of the garden and we like to wander barefoot. It's about a third of the total garden, the other area is Indian stone. There's raised beds with sleepers all around.

It feels like a fairly simple job to move the chippings and to lay some turf...but it feels like everyone else is ripping theirs up to lay artificial grass. I can't bring myself to lay so much plastic as we are very environmentally conscious.

It's not a feeling I want to have the same as everyone. I'm just thinking if everyone js ripping theirs up, it's for a reason...will I regret laying real grass to a garden that is currently maintenance free...

@showingoffmynewkitchen I think you have accidentally posted a photo of your child.

I hate fake grass. I can only really understand it from an allergy / disability / maintenance point of view. If you can, I’d always opt for real grass. It does take some maintenance if you want it to look amazing - I’m watering ours twice a day at the moment with a hose pipe / sprinkler to stop it going brown, but I guess it depends how bothered about that you are! (I love gardening).

[quote LetterOfTheLawFella]@showingoffmynewkitchen I think you have accidentally posted a photo of your child.[/quote]
I have asked mumsnet to delete it

I used seeds for my front garden and it has ended up full of moss (live in a wet area), clover and buttercups.
Thank you for all the wildflower tips, I have a couple of spaces at the back I don’t know what to do with, so that is a great idea.

@RampantIvy that's a good point!

I won't be cutting it all the time - the raised beds mean I could get away with a good foot in height and it still looking tidy.
I'm out with the hose watering plants so wouldn't mind watering it. I do love gardening. I've put "green" everywhere I can think of, and with the slate, it still looks bare and concrete.

Get the turf. It's not expensive and I think would soften your garden by the sound of it - chips and stone and planters sounds quite hard. It's lovely to have real grass.

I have real grass. I would never ever have artificial grass. It looks rubbish

Lovely thread!!

I've been absolutely slated on the fake grass threads that crop up here for saying artificial grass is environmentally criminal.

I have found my people!!

I read a gardening on a budget Facebook page and have noticed a few people saying now that they regret artificial amd are ripping it up.

We’ve just reseeded some bits where we had beds and highlight of my day is going out to see whether any new bits have germinated as a I am a very sad individual.

@FoolsAssassin

I read a gardening on a budget Facebook page and have noticed a few people saying now that they regret artificial amd are ripping it up.

We’ve just reseeded some bits where we had beds and highlight of my day is going out to see whether any new bits have germinated as a I am a very sad individual.

I’m on that page as well. I love it!

Glad to see all the lawn love here. My one tip would be to get a rechargeable cordless mower. Makes mowing the lawn so much quicker and easier than faffing about with a long extension lead. We’ve got quite an expensive Bosch one but I also do my mums lawn and replaced her old corded mower with a much cheaper Einhell one from wickes and that works fine too.

So happy to hear so many posters saying no to plastic lawns! I’d never heard of a thrift lawn. I have a shady area at the bottom of my garden that needs to either be paved or grasses but dh thinks too shady for grass. I’ll look up some of these alternatives. I’d love wildflowers but it’s a long thin garden so the bit that needs covering is essentially a walkway down to the greenhouse. This wouldn’t matter if I had stepping stones I guess

It’s great isn’t it, I love the enthusiasm people have and the fact that a fair few are new to it having started in lockdown, bitten by the gardening bug!

Not everything to my taste but that’s the beauty of gardening, a very individual thing.

You could go for creeping thyme or similar, never needs mowing and is tough enough to walk on.

I was going to do this in my front garden but missed the boat and let the grass and wildflowers grow.

Artificial grass is just awful. Naff.

I love the pp’s wild meadow, it’s just beautiful.

@WildfirePonie oh wow! Just googled photos of this and it's amazing! I'm going to research to see if it's possible...

Yuck plastic grass.

I have a shady area at the bottom of my garden that needs to either be paved or grasses but dh thinks too shady for grass
Vinca minor would probably grow there. @GentlemanJackie

All the people complaining about how awful artificial grass is - have you any suggestions as to what else you could use in a small garden where you have children playing football constantly?
We used to have real grass but it could never grow and the garden was always just a mud bath. That’s the only reason most people I know have artificial grass. If there was a better alternative (other than mud) I would use it!!

Kids used to play football on the street outside here but now there are too many cars so the garden is the only option. When my kids are too old for the garden I will replace the artificial grass - probably with something like the wild flower meadow previous posters suggested.

Vinca minor as a lawn and up close, comes in green and variegated

Crikey I don't even mow my lawn once a fortnight 😂

I set it to the highest setting, take the back off and let the grass cuttings stay in the lawn too, it's so lovely and soft underfoot.

Hooray for real grass!

Would love to see some wildflower lawns if anyone is willing to share a picture?

"Everyone" certainly isn't ripping theirs out and replacing with plastic. It's a very low end look.

We did it in our old terrace house and didn't regret it at all. Make sure you water it loads when you put it down so it establishes well and make sure you put it down on soil and not rubble. Ours was small but great with the kids and not really that much hassle.
But after its established just now it every now and then (how much depends how you want it to look), once established you don't even need to water in drought periods as they bounce back well but it must be established first so give it some love for the first summer.
When we moved to this house it's came with just a 'little bit' of lawn which was a shock to the system