Artificial grass - yes or no?

[ChicagoBears]

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?

Meant to say, when I say perfect condition I mean the amount of it and colour, we don't keep it manicured all year round as wildlife likes it a little longer. Only if we're hosting do we cut it short.

No-it’s horrible, terrible for environment and looks so tacky. And it gets very hot in summer. You shouldn’t even be posting in the gardening channel!

It looks shit. Plus you can barely walk on it in the sun it gets so hot. Horrible stuff. Rather have no grass at all than artificial.

It is utterly shit. You may as well hang a banner in front of your house saying ‘we have no taste’.

Please no! Massive turn off. If you would like an honest opinion, it gives impressions of environmentally unfriendly, OCD / control freakishness, and a bit of nouveau riche type home owners.

A neighbour had it at the front of their property for awhile, but hosed it and vacuumed it. It was more like carpet 🙈 seemed to be a lot of upkeep.

There is a mixture of tarmac, tiles and resin here.

It screams “we have no taste” AND “we are stupid. And selfish”. Easigrass and their advertising algorithm have really got their audience wrong on this thread 😂

It's awful tbh. It absolutely reeks unless you clean it with grass shampoo-which is utterly ridiculous when you think about it-and yet kite damage to the environment

Seriously, how does it cause flooding problems?

You wouldn't have a concrete base especially put down to have an artificial lawn put on top, would you?

If you were putting it on an existing concrete base, well, any flooding problem was already there.

My artificial lawn was put on sand and earth for the reasons I have given previously so rain just goes straight through it - it was a kind of necessity which I don't regret one bit.

No it’s awful. Please reconsider.

Fwiw my neighbour has just done their entire lawn, about 1000 sq ft. Looks horrendous and I’ll look forward to it looking even more awful in a year or two. Luckily my garden is nature friendly and the birds and hedgehogs have somewhere to look for food.

It screams “we have no taste”

Oh, and this times 1000.

I have an arrangement with a local shop and they sell all my surplus produce for me. Rhubarb is very popular!

Personally I think it should be banned.

No, not something I would choose, I can see the convenience though.

No

I'm about to lay artificial grass. I do have reasons to do it. I think it can look good if its done properly ok not the best thing for the environment. But neither is driving and all the other stuff people do. You can also get a backing that's non latex.

I feel guilty having mine in the back garden but when we got a rear extension for my son with cerebral palsy, we chose artificial grass...and we do love it, he seems to be able to walk on it much easier, but I obviously get the issues.

We have a large natural front garden and despite not having a driveway we would never change it. We now have borders all around in the back garden with tonnes of plants, bird feeders etc, which is more than was there previously. I've also planted a small cherry blossom tree in the border.

I don't think it looks bad (it's only small so maybe that helps), we have a dog and it really really doesn't smell, not even during the heatwave last year! Maybe the drainage was good, I don't know. I was surprised. We certainly don't hoover it,and even when it's hot in the sun I can walk barefoot and my very hairy dog becomes obsessed with lying on it (I do move her).

@ClaireandTed

What do you do about the blossom that falls in it?

I love mine. No it doesn’t look like real grass. I don’t really care.

it gets warm in the hottest of summers, yes, but it’s perfectly fine to walk on. The dog loves it. The patio gets MUCH hotter, to the point that I’m hippity-hopping and “Ooh ooh ooh”-ing to get over the patio to the grass.

it doesn’t smell at all and I have a dog. Poo is a breeze to pick up. If it’s a runny poo it gets hosed off. Wee drains through when it rains - there are little drainage holes all over the lawn. If it doesn’t rain for a while that gets hosed off too.

Floors and carpets keep so much cleaner because the dog never brings any mud in on her paws.

It’s been down five years and I’ve never hoovered it or raked it (although you’re meant to rake it). It looks exactly the same as it did the day it was laid.

I’ve never seen a poor starving blackbird pecking at it. Plenty next door though, where there’s grass.

As for the worms etc - I expect they’re still under there in the same way as they’d still be in the ground under concrete slabs.

We have a big tree on the pavement outside that drops leaves on it and we just sweep them up about twice a year. Nothing much else falls on it 🤔 Wouldn't we still be doing that even with real grass?

Ah just realised you might be taking about the blossom tree - it's a dwarf one which we planted two years ago, only blossoming for the first time this year. Will get to two metres. I doubt much blossom will fall and then it will just blow away into the borders I expect.

The house we bought has it and I can’t let DS out there barefoot in the summer as it is burning hot. Need to get rid of it asap.

I've just been thinking about the front 'gardens' on our street of about 40 houses. I am pretty sure we are the only one with a garden. Everyone else has paved. Our lovely next door neighbours used to have a beautiful one but they moved last year and the new neighbours are currently digging it up to pave over even though they already have a driveway.

😂 are you equally sneering about other “tasteless” choices people might make? Decor, clothes, the TV they watch or the music they listen to?

Luckily I don’t really care what other people think. I get the issues with fake grass, but the opinion of a snobby random wouldn’t ever affect my decisions 😂

@ClaireandTed

You mentioned a blossom tree next to it so I assumed you have blossom falling on it at the moment. My friend had this and vacuums the blossom up (as advised by the people who laid it).