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...

I love real lawns. I understand that artificial lawn has its pros but it's so bad for the environment ☹️ How much of it is going to be in landfill in 5-10yrs?

I reason that at least it's getting people out using their gardens, perfect underfoot for little kids and low maintenance.

I live in an affluent town and there's so much hypocrisy from the naice 'environmentally conscious' middle class households (who coincidentally drive huge black SUVs) installing large amounts of it in their gardens 🙄😮

Re. laying a lawn - check how much sun the area gets. If it's shady the lawn will struggle to take. You can get lawn seed for shade (Wilko sell their own brand) and I'm sure turf-for-shade is available.

Artificial grass is one of those things we'll look back on in 20 years and cringe and wonder what the hell we were thinking.

@Blondiney

Artificial grass is one of those things we'll look back on in 20 years and cringe and wonder what the hell we were thinking.

We will look back in 100 years when it hasn’t degraded and what has, has become tiny micro plastics eaten by wildlife

I'm looking at my lawn It has buttercups, daisies, clover and also grass. Do children still make daisy chains?

@SirVixofVixHall that's beautiful!

@BigWoollyJumpers not whacky at all, this makes me very excited!

@GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat it has full sun for a good 9 hours in the summer, and no overhanging trees etc to cause shade (if I keep them nice 🥴)

I didn't realise artificial only lasted ten years! That's a lot of plastic going to landfill in the next few years. And what a lot of effort for just a few years as well.

Thank you OP. Vases of flowers too. My seeds came from Higgledy garden, think it was about twenty pounds for enough to do a large patch.

@SirVixofVixHall

Yes to a wildflower area. We did this with a small weedy and it looked lovely. You can always mow a path through.

That looks AMAZING!!!

This is our wildflower area, we also have lawn but just mow paths through it as it's full of weeds/flowers etc anyway.

Oh thank you NotMaryWhitehouse
One big seed packet, it was very easy. Lots of varieties that you can’t see in that picture, Love Lies Bleeding, Achillea, dog daisies and marigolds. I didn’t do it this year, as it was so cold all through May, but I did it in 2019 and 2020 and it was very pretty both years.

We are taking up the plastic for real grass as soon as we can get a contractor. Last owners put it in, its vile

This is where my seeds came from. www.higgledygarden.com/shop

@EvilPea to be honest I think the levelling of the garden solved the water issues. I've only a very small garden so the artificial turf bit is small.

I've an area of "no man's land" behind me full of brambles and an old apple tree, I suspect this was part of the garden for the house which originally stood here. Any excess water will roll into there as there's a ditch which collects water and leads into a river up the road.

I've never had "fake grass" before and tbh didn't know much about it.

Husband loves it because he doesn't have to mow it. I think it makes the garden look a bit "sterile" but got to be honest and say I do not miss the massive slugs I used to have,

I

We dug a pond last year and sprinkled wildflower seeds around the border. I bought a 500g bag from meadow mania I still have most of the bag left as you really do t need much and I probably sprinkled them too close together but I quite like the junglesque look. I'm amazed everyday about how much a fairly small pond and some wildflowers have increased the biodiversity of my garden.

Ooh lovely pond HP.
Ponds make a massive difference to biodiversity, it is incredible how quickly things arrive. I need to re line mine as it has a leak. It is only tiny bit still worth having. My neighbours hate my garden as it is not at all neat, with semi wild areas, and lots of wild flowers, but we have so much wildlife . Strangely both neighbours like the hedgehogs and birds but don’t seem to realise that we have them because I leave wild areas, plenty of cover.
I am thankful that i have only once seen plastic grass, it is absolutely vile on every level.

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

We dug a pond last year and sprinkled wildflower seeds around the border. I bought a 500g bag from meadow mania I still have most of the bag left as you really do t need much and I probably sprinkled them too close together but I quite like the junglesque look. I'm amazed everyday about how much a fairly small pond and some wildflowers have increased the biodiversity of my garden.

Lovely pond. And I like your garden inspector!

Given it is not a shady area (or I assume not a bog) real grass is great. Most of the houses near us that have artificial grass have North facing gardens and I can totally see why as our North facing garden has a damp and swampy lawn you can not use in winter or a wet summer.