Artificial grass help

[AmiShitsaline]

I’ll start off by saying my garden has a lovely grassed area and lots of well established trees and plants.

There is one corner of the garden where the grass won’t grow and I am wanting to create a little cosy corner. One option for the ground is artificial grass, I thought it would be pretty cheap with it being such a small area and it only needing the most basic grass, however when reading up about installation it needs various other layers of things. It’s going to make it more laborious and costly.

any advice please on bare minimum needed for laying artificial grass that will only be used for a chill out area (maybe with beanbags on). Or another solution I haven’t thought off please? Thanks in advance.

If the grass won’t grow because it’s shady (?) then why not create a fernery? Buy big showy ferns which thrive in a “woodland ” dappled shade setting. Plant Hostas too but protect from slugs. I love my shady border full of ferns and Cranesbill.

Fake grass is awful stuff. More plastic for landfill when you need to be rid of it. Very very hot for pets’ paws in summer. Not great for wildlife.
Just saying … no criticism intended.

That's a lovely idea from @PashaMinaMio -- definitely go with something that you can actually grow there rather than spend a lot of money laying something environmentally disastrous.

It is completely shaded under a huge willow tree so definitely won’t get hot, I am open to other suggestions but want to avoid any more plants as we have a lot to maintain as it is.

I understand that a nice bit of Axminster looks good under a willow.

Shade loving ground cover plants like dead nettles and sweet woodruff and ferns need no maintenance and are so so much nicer in every way than artificial grass, which will probably be banned soon anyway.

Not cheap though!

If you put artificial grass in a shady area it will get full of moss and generally be awful.

If you just want a bit of a chill out area would bark chippings be a lot easier?

Oh I do hope so! Are there moves afoot, is there a petition, or are you just speculating? I would ban it in a heartbeat.

Fake grass under a tree will get covered with leaves which will be a bugger to get up. If you don't rake them out all the time they'll mulch down and moss and weeds will grow in your grass which will be a bugger to get up.

I'd use bark chippings and plant ferns and shade loving plants into it. You could lay the chippings on a weed surpressing membrane and cut holes in it to put your plants in.

I considered bark but thought it wouldn’t be very pleasant to sit on, perhaps I could do some kind of bark/outdoor rug combo

I know what you mean about tree bark, I wouldn't want to sit in an area floored with it but how about shingle? It's pleasant enough to sit a chair on, looks good and you won't be troubled with weeds if nothing grows under the willow.

Very difficult to effectively remove fallen leaves from shingle.

I more or less stopped mowing the bit of struggling lawn in the shadiest corner of my garden (perpetual shadow from a high wall) and it's amazing what has grown there now I leave it alone. Just mow twice, about Easter and September. Weeds, but pretty ones like forget-me-not and cranesbill and a lot of campanula. You could also plant some spring bulbs which will flower before the tree canopy gets going (asssuming it's a deciduous tree). Better to work with nature than try and smother it with plastic.

I suppose it depends on how fussy you are. I rake the top of my shingle to get rid of larger bits - but it still gets covered in dirt when I weed it (I don't use membrane) but still manages to look fine after a shower or two.
I love the way it looks - I find it very easy to manage.

We have artificial grass, one square 3m x 3m from a company Grass247. It doesn’t need anything put underneath, we could peg it down but we haven’t. We went for a mid range grass, it was £200, it looks lovely and feels nice under foot.

Shamelessly leaping on to the thread to say GENIUS ideas! I have a dead patch in my garden and now I'm going to head to the garden centre to buy ferns...

I think the idea of a laid moss lawn is beautiful and I imagine very soft to walk on.

There are some great ideas online.