How to get rid of artificial grass

[jobnockey]

Hi all,
In process of buying a house at the moment which has a lovely sized and garden which I can't wait to get my hands on. HOWEVER, one area of it is covered with plastic grass. I passionately hate artificial grass and want to remove it immediately but feel like I need a plan before I start ripping it up on moving in day

Does anyone know what is going to be underneath it? Will I be able to seed the area, or should I try and splash out on turf? Should I wait until a specific time of the year to do this? It's a decent sized area , perhaps 4x5m.

Finally, what should I do with it? I feel conflicted about selling it (although the money would be useful) as I don't want to perpetuate the stuff, but on the other hand if someone is going to use it anyway, at least it saves it being produced and bought new again... Reusing is probably better than recycling right? Does it actually recycle, does anyone know? Would it have to go to a specialist place for recycling?

If anyone has dealt with a similar situation who can offer any words of wisdom that would be great.

Eh?

It was a selling point because I am disabled and can't cut the lawn and I have dogs and kids who can now use the garden all year round. And yes mud is a pain in the dick because as a disabled person I struggled to bend to wipe the dog properly and continually mop the floors.

Not that I need to justify myself.

Well, no. I don't.

Like everyone else, I'm far from perfect, environmentally speaking. But, imo, there is no excuse whatsoever for ripping up grass and earth - even a crappy, ugly lawn - and replacing it with plastic. It makes my heart sink every time I see it, no matter how necessary its owners believe it to be.

While I’m sorry about your disability, it doesn’t change the fact that astroturf is shit for the environment.

Sorry, that was in response to @AllThingsServeTheBeam

Also the hypocrisy thing - it’s hypocritical to recycle knowing your fake grass is causing generations of damage, going by your logic that you have to be environmentally perfect before you can point out how shit something is.

Well I think there is. My qualify of life comes before an 8ft section of grass.

No I am just pointing out that there are things considered perfectly acceptable that are way more damaging than astro turf in someone's garden.

And surely it's wasteful to rip up the grass and slat it on landfill for the rest of time?

Not if someone else (maybe a nursery?) can use it on top of existing concrete, and the OP can let the land recover.

And other things being more damaging is exactly the point - fake grass is one of the worst things you can do, environmentally. So if you’re already doing that, why bother recycling?

Although it will eventually end up in landfill, of course, which is why it should never have been made in the first place.

@Pumperthepumper fuck me. You're right. I've just emptied my recycling bin into the general waste and I've sent my dp to Morrisons to stock up on red meat and dairy (which btw is THE worst thing environmentally)

What an idiot

I’m not the one pretending it’s hypocritical to point out how shit and damaging fake grass is.

We just got a robot mower, which is a great solution if it's the hassle of cutting the lawn that is a driving factor for anyone considering artificial grass. Took a couple of hours to set up but now he just comes out every day and bimbles around and grass is always perfect!

We have v fast-growing grass, which is good in terms of how healthy it is but it does make summer a pain if you're having to cut it manually. Even once a week isn't enough for it at the height of summer - our old gardener said he'd never seen grass that grows as fast as ours, in reverent tones like it was Day of the Triffids or something

Hope there's nothing sinister lurking underneath, OP!

I guess it depends on how it was laid. Properly laid, it will have a proper subbase, much like a patio subbase.

If it was whacked down, it could just be some sand underneath it.

Ask the vendors how it was installed.

Freecycle it?

Neither am I? Where did I say it wasn't shit that it was plastic.

When you were checking people’s eco credentials when they pointed out how shit is was.

Well said @Tessasanderson

I think plastic grass has a life span of about twenty years, then it goes to landfill where sadly it will take about 450 years to decompose.

so say you pay to have someone manufacture it for you now, they will still be finding great swathes of it in 2422. And the history books will address the fact that for a short period people ripped up their lawns and covered it with aggregate to kill all life forms and then laid a sheet of plastic pretend grass down over it.

when you think about it, really think about it, it’s shocking this still happens in this day and age. It’s a plastic pretend lawn. People are actually doing that. When so many other natural alternatives are available, from a clover lawn, which requires basically no maintenance, through to bark chippings. It’s quite shocking if you think about it.

I don't see any dissonance in having both astro turf and being concerned about insects, plants and the environment Well, there's none so blind as those who will not see... This is a completely mad comment.

Plastic grass looks shit and is completely shit for the environment.

You could ask the vendor and potentially ask them to dispose of it.

I think the fuckers who put this shit in shoudl at least have to pay for it to be taken out again! A bit like those bloody stone fireplaces - it is a similar monstrosity really.

It’s not just the environmental concerns which worry me about it.
In the future plastic grass will be looked back on in the same horror as asbestos when more people come to realise how horrific for your health microplastics are.

My quality of life comes before an 8ft section of grass for fuck's sake.

@carefullycourageous problem? Read my other posts as well or are we just an ableist arse?

I totally agree, and I’d add: it’s really, really expensive. If you were putting the same money into a natural solution you’d get something brilliant.

@Pumperthepumper I was just giving other examples of shit things people do. Like eat animals.

I think so yes, but It won’t take as long, people are already recognising it and many ripping it out as no one ones to be seen with it in their garden now.