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Original poster

Artificial grass - yes or no?

490 replies

ChicagoBears · 01/05/2023 21:40

I have a substantial garden, some has porcelain tiles but it’s mostly loose stone which looks bare and is difficult to use so I was considering artificial grass.

I know there’s lots of grades of grass, I’d opt for the premium grade but wanted to garner opinion, what (if any) are the drawbacks of artificial grass? Will I love to regret it?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
Doggolover2 · 01/05/2023 22:47

Goodoccasionallypoor · 01/05/2023 22:30

Though to be fair my “grass” is equal parts grass, moss and weeds so I’m sure plenty of people would have an opinion on that

Sounds fine to me. I personally love moss, it's always cool and soft to walk on and is great for the environment.

Well I never expected this on MN but TY! To be fair I give it a cut and let it kind of do what it wants.

I’m never keen on putting any weed killer etc. down, one because the dog loves the garden and I’m scared anything I put down might cause her harm and two as much as I’m not really a cat (I will clap the neighbours cat but always have an underlying feeling of will you randomly attack me 😂) or bird person I would never want to put anything down that might cause them harm either.

mayihavesomecakeplease · 01/05/2023 22:47

I recently moved into a house with artificial grass and it’s convenient, but I would love to replace it with real grass as it makes the garden feel very sterile. Better than paving stones though for us as it’s soft for my toddler!

(Any tips for replacing it with real grass?? All the Google results are for the other direction!)

Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase · 01/05/2023 22:48

I love mine! I’ve had it in my garden for around 18 months and it still looks really good. No maintenance required. And we gave composite decking as well which also looks as good as new. Our garden small and north facing so real grass was not an option for us. I have no regrets whatsoever.

Cheesecakeandwineinasuitcase · 01/05/2023 22:50

CaptainSeven · 01/05/2023 22:33

My neighbour has to vacuum her plastic grass regularly and it takes a lot blinking longer than it would to cut grass.

It's an environmental disaster several times over!

  1. It's made of plastic
  2. It kills the earth underneath it
  3. Insects and birds can't feed from it
  4. It doesn't take any carbon from the air
  5. It contributes to flooding
  6. It doesn't grow to replace itself
  7. It may contribute to over heating in your space
  8. It's hard to recycle to mostly ends up in landfill

I think it should be banned for most domestic gardens (there will always be someone who has a legitimate need I suspect)

I like the idea of taxing people with plastic grass more. Think of all the plastic grass that would be ripped up!

That’s odd because I’ve had mine for nearly 2 years and I’ve only had to vacuum mine once.

JennyForeigner · 01/05/2023 22:54

Hell is covered with plastic grass. Horrible stuff.

Hugasauras · 01/05/2023 22:55

Nooooooooo! A couple of houses around here have it and it looks awful, especially right now with all the growing grass with lovely spring flowers and daisies etc. poking through and then these awful slabs of green plastic.

Goldbar · 01/05/2023 22:55

mayihavesomecakeplease · 01/05/2023 22:47

I recently moved into a house with artificial grass and it’s convenient, but I would love to replace it with real grass as it makes the garden feel very sterile. Better than paving stones though for us as it’s soft for my toddler!

(Any tips for replacing it with real grass?? All the Google results are for the other direction!)

I've never done this but I think it's fairly straightforward if you're handy... you pull up the stakes or whatever is securing it and then you should be able to roll it away. Then you can prepare the soil for laying turf. Or get someone to do it for you!

You can also reuse artificial grass rather than sending to landfill. We actually have some in our garden atm but not on the lawn - it covers our patio to prevent the DC hurting themselves on the hard stones when they fall. Will be useful when DC2 begins toddling in a few months.

Trainstrike · 01/05/2023 22:55

When we moved in to our house, the garden was just gravel and our neighbours informed us everyone who'd lived there before had tried and failed to grow grass. We needed a flat surface for the children to actually be able to play so put fake grass down instead of the gravel.

It works perfectly for us, it gets a bit hot in the summer but not unmanageably so. It's entirely low maintenance as we don't have pets - just requires an occasional pick up of bits of moss that have fallen from the roof.

Ideally we would have grass but it's not possible unfortunately. We have planters and pots dotted around so it's not lifeless. I think it looks better than all gravel or patio. I've never claimed it looks like real grass but that wasn't the purpose of it for us.

ChufftyBadge · 01/05/2023 22:56

CaptainSeven · 01/05/2023 22:33

My neighbour has to vacuum her plastic grass regularly and it takes a lot blinking longer than it would to cut grass.

It's an environmental disaster several times over!

  1. It's made of plastic
  2. It kills the earth underneath it
  3. Insects and birds can't feed from it
  4. It doesn't take any carbon from the air
  5. It contributes to flooding
  6. It doesn't grow to replace itself
  7. It may contribute to over heating in your space
  8. It's hard to recycle to mostly ends up in landfill

I think it should be banned for most domestic gardens (there will always be someone who has a legitimate need I suspect)

I like the idea of taxing people with plastic grass more. Think of all the plastic grass that would be ripped up!

Yep all of this

Inca22 · 01/05/2023 22:57

I actually didn't buy a house because it had it in the garden. It had rained the night before and when we stepped on it - it just felt awful.

Blinky21 · 01/05/2023 23:01

So bad for the environment, I think it's disgusting

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 01/05/2023 23:03

I wouldn't. How large of an area is it?

Labraradabrador · 01/05/2023 23:04

Absolutely disgusting when you think about all the crap (inc literal crap) that ends up on your lawn - in a natural lawn it dissipates naturally, but in a plastic lawn it just sits there.

a poorly kept, mossy, dandelion filled garden is much nicer than a plastic one. We excluded an otherwise nice house because of astroturf - it would definitely bring down home value for me.

Goodoccasionallypoor · 01/05/2023 23:07

@Doggolover2

I may be alone in loving a mossy lawn but when it was really hot last summer, the mossy patch of lawn under our tree was the nicest place to sit!

ClairDeLaLune · 01/05/2023 23:13

No. Hideous, tacky and bad for the planet.

Thatladdo · 01/05/2023 23:16

A plastic garden.. really?!

How substantial is a "substantial garden"?
Turf would be the best bet

SD1978 · 01/05/2023 23:19

You'll be hard pushed getting support for artificial grass on here. However the burned feet argument is BS. I live in australia, with temps of over 40 and have never, ever burned my feet on artificial grass.

AlyssumandHelianthus · 01/05/2023 23:23

Why not try wood chips or a gravel garden with raised beds if grass won't grow. I've also seen thyme lawns (if you get lots of sun) or moss lawns which look really nice.
There are way more creative ways to do ground cover that will look great and won't be so awful for the environment or so hot and smelly in the summer.

Original poster
ChicagoBears · 01/05/2023 23:25

Thanks for all the feedback all, I have to admit my ignorance and didn’t really appreciate the environmental cost.

DH and I are keen gardeners and we have a large expanse of plants and trees, a slabbed area but then lots of loose stone which isn’t great for our DC. We’d like to install a trampoline and have a surface suitable for a bouncy castle (DCs have summer birthdays) so grass seemed like a good option for us but maybe I need to look at real turf (it’s just the maintenance of cutting the damn thing).

really do appreciate the feedback and I’ve read enough to make the decision against the fake stuff.

OP posts:
Kdubs1981 · 01/05/2023 23:25

Robot lawn mower?

Swansandcustard · 01/05/2023 23:26

Luckily there’s natural grass you can grow, it smells lovely, looks lovely and wildlife love it.

Hugasauras · 01/05/2023 23:30

We have a robot mower! He's brilliant and the grass is always neat. We just have to strim the edges every so often, which doesn't take long at all.

LavenderOlive21 · 01/05/2023 23:36

No, it’s awful.

LuluBlakey1 · 01/05/2023 23:40

It is destructive of the environment in every way possible. The production of it and the chemicals it uses, the machinery used to produce it is specially made and an environmentally unfriendly process (chemicals used, plastics created, fumes given off, water polluted), the transport of it is high CO2 producing. The stuff itself means there is even less greenery in the world- all the creatures that rely on it don't have enough and are dying off, earthworms, insects, moths, butterflies, spiders, birds, bees, bats. Grass is vital to the world's continued existence- all grass. Fake grass will lie around forever- think of the millions of acres of the stuff and the linings that will end up in landfill never biodegrading.

It's vile, horrible stuff. If you cate a jot for nature and the future of the Earth, don't do it. Have a garden, look after it and love it.It'll repay you always.

Charlize43 · 01/05/2023 23:55

It's vile stuff. Terrible for wildlife and I've heard it's been linked to Cancer.

I would also support a ban on it.