What can you tell me about artificial grass?

[IDugUpADiamond]

I've had enough of my muddy garden and grass that never grows.

We put in our back garden last autumn after years of mud and the DC not being able to play in the back garden because of the mud. Last summer we only managed to mow the lawn twice and for a while had an accidental pond with frog spawn in it!

DH and DC love the artificial grass. There's no more swamp, the DC can play on it, we've been able to get a trampoline etc. I hate the look of it though- I think it looks like we have a giant carpet for our back garden (and you can even Hoover it!). It is practical and did make sense so I can live with it.

A house near us has just had this put down. It looks so obviously fake, it is far too even and the shade of green is too bright.

Awful.

Sorry, I prefer gardens to be natural.

I don't like it either. If grass can't grow is paving an option with nice beds and planters to soften it?

Don't do it! Definitely not attractive. Grass is so easy to grow.

Grass is not always easy to grow! We had drainage put in around 7 years ago and it made no difference. We still had a back garden that was a swamp. All the houses here are in the same position but most have paved over their gardens.

I hate the look and once the DC have grown fully intend to go down some sort of paving route. OP I think it partly depends on whether you have children who could really use a garden to run about or whether you could pave over much of it instead of having fake carpet for a lawn.

Bit naff. Looks like a green grocers display.

It confuses the wildlife. Poor birds trying to find worms.

Had it done and love it!! You've got to fork out for the good stuff though if you want it to look realistic. It cost twice what we thought it would but is lovely!!

Oh man, the general consensus seems to be a resounding don't do it!! MillyMolly, grass is not easy to grow at all and there are patches in my garden where grass will never grow as they don't get any light. Paving the whole thing seems so drastic though...
SJBean, would you kindly link to the product you call 'the good stuff' please?

Some friends of ours had it put down and it looks fantastic, but it cost a fortune. Have seen others which look dreadful.

So think it definitely depends how much you are willing/able to spend.

I would love it as our garden doesn't drain well at all and it gets so boggy and muddy - plus we have a dog which doesn't help.

But we have other priorities at the moment inside the house - one day maybe!....

The good stuff is more expensive than good carpet.
www.easigrass.com/grass-ranges/
I priced it (in my head) at 45psqm. 28 for the grass+20% vat+underlay+labour.
I'm starting to shop around so will link back if I find something of a similar quality for less. We got samples of this stuff and it looks quite realistic though I still can't believe we are considering it but our "garden" is the size of a postage stamp and currently completely paved and not child friendly at all.

Alternatively, if you have a reasonable sized garden but the lawn is rubbish - then the cost of artificial turf will pay for a lawn company to come in every year to do maintenance plus possibly sort out drainage. You'll still need to cut it etc though. Worth it just for the smell. Bliss.

I love a proper lawn but was persuaded to have our small patch done and it looks fine and is brilliant from a practical point. We went with 'lazy lawns' who were definitely more expensive, but as others have said, worth the extra. I think even the very best products do look a bit fake especially in the winter when it still looks like a well manicured lawn rather than the damp mess of the neighbours!

But my DC can get out and play all year round and yesterday they were sitting out on it without getting wet or muddy, the house stays cleaner too as less mud being brought in. I like mine but one day when no one wants to play on it I might go back to real lawn...

We had a patio area which was hard to keep clean and not safe or comfortable for toddler dd. We used Easigrass and they were fantastic. It's like we've added an extra room onto our house, dd loves playing out there and we don't have to worry all the time about her taking a tumble or dragging dirt in.

I was more bothered about having something practical than what it looked like (though I don't find it offensive!).
It can be expensive if you're doing a large area so probably best for smaller areas.

PS DO NOT use AsGoodAsGrass. They didn't turn up and are apparently in financial difficulty. We managed to get our deposit back but only through the credit card company.

We had this put down in a very shady area of school where the constant trampling of feet meant that grass was destroyed faster than it could regrow.

It looks fine but is a huge PITA to clean in autumn when all the leaves for miles around fall. You can't just rake them off as you might a normal lawn, and they don't blow away so easily.

Been thinking about artificial grass for a while but what happens when the dog pees on it??

I have a mahoosive Dalmatian that pisses for England, can cope with the poo, would imagine you scoop and wipe but what about the wee??

I think you'd have to hose down after each poo/wee, assuming you have some borders that the water can run to.

Needadvice: you can hose it down. The Easigrass we have has a sand layer below it which helps with drainage for rainfall etc.

JohnDeere: we brush up the leaves from ours, hasn't been massively more difficult than before (though we had a patio not grass so didn't rake).

Couple of points:

• it does take longer to dry out after rain
• it gets very hot in lots of sunshine (ie when its 25 degrees plus constant sun, so not very often).

It's really bad for wildlife - whilst a lawn might not look that good, it has lots of worms etc which the birds can get - the artificial grass won't have this.

Our lawn had major drainage issues. We installed last summer and I love it so much. We complete on a new house tomorrow and I'm tempted to do it there as well...even though the lawn is decent. Its just so nice for kids to play on. The dog weeks on it and I just pour water over afterwards if it isn't likely to rain.

I grew up with half am acre mainly lawn and I agree its not got the lovely feeling or smell that has but for a postage stamp in London it works really well.

We had serious problems with neighbourhood cats pooing on our old lawn and its happened only once since we installed it. We did an area 7m by 4m and as much as I think it looks amazing it would not suit a big garden.

Also, we used an expensive one but laid ourselves due to money constraints...definitely better than getting a cheap one laid by someone else.

How hot MillionPramMiles? Too hot to walk on or just weirdly warm when you just want to sink your toes into cool grass

oscarwilde: when it was really warm weather last summer (25+ degrees) we had to put picnic blankets down. It was uncomfortably hot to walk on with bare feet otherwise.

mistlethrush: we have flowers/shrubs etc with soil and berries etc as well, still get plenty of birds.

Thank you, our house also has bug drainage problems, its like a swamp and my new carpet is trashed from where the dog has been in and out. ...

There's one near me and everyone just walks by and says 'Oh look artificial grass'! It doesn't look good but I think it's the cheaper stuff.

It doesn't look natural in any way. Sorry I don't like the ones I've seen as they are so obviously fake....or should I say I don't like the ones that are clearly identifiable.