Artificial grass - yay or nay?

[pebblepots]

We are getting our back garden re-done, anyone got experience of naice artificial grass? It appeals as dd will be able to play out there for more of the year without getting caked in mud, also we have a shady side of the garden where grass struggles.

Concerned about it getting hot in summer?!?

Watching with interest as I am also tempted by artificial grass!

Also thinking the same - we have a dog and a trampoline and the grass is just dying between them

Interested too. Dh thinks it's terribly naff but we have a small garden, a mud and grass chewing dog and shade, can't help thinking it'll be cleaner and look better

No its naff
It will look naff and its not good for the wildlife
It also hurts your knees when you kneel on it

If I had the money and access to good quality artifical grass I would. Who wants to be cutting the lawn every week?

check for drainage issues, you need to make sure it drains or you could cause a flood.

nasty stuff, though.

Yes I have artificial grass, couldn't tell you how much it costs as my parents got and put it down for me, all I know it was expensive top of range. It has black thick rubber backing with drainage holes. My DF enquired to make sure it was good as have little one.

It's bliss no maintenance, its softer than the carpet I have, also was laid like carpet not in individual rolls, doesn't irate skin what so ever. Hasn't faded, its just so lovely and people have been surprised when they have seen it and I've told them its fake.

I would post photos but don't want to be outed

We had some in an area that grass didn't grow in, it was fine.

I also bit the bullet earlier this year. I have had artificial grass put down in my back garden (north east facing). It saves me mowing and we will get the trampoline put back. It has made the back garden warmer though!!

Not sure about covering a whole garden but we have some down one side in a shaded area where nothing will grow. Looked very unreal at first but once a few leaves/twigs etc had fallen onto it, it looked rather good. You can send off for samples and we chose one which had a bit of yellow/brown in it so it looked a little more real.

Insancerre, have you see this stuff? It's soft and looks realistic, the sample we have gets lost amongst our current grass.. It is not made to look plastic-perfect as per the astro turf of old.

Http:www.easigrass.com/grass-ranges/easi-chelsea-super-soft

Springalong, I don't like the idea of a warmer garden!

what brand as range have you guys have used?

*brand and range

Yes. It is really good now, all sorts of looks and styles available. My sis has it in her very small back yard and it looks fab. I also think she hovers it

That should say hoovers. As far as I know it doesn't fly...

I have a funny back garden, wide but very short. It also sloped so when we moved in nearly 20 years ago we had it landscaped so there was a lot of brick, stone etc, with the middle part being grass. It is north east facing so it was quite cool and loses the sun fairly early by late afternoon. So having the warmth is actually lovely. The cat was a bit timid at first but now he loves it. DS and I stretch out :)

I used a local landscaper and we used a good grade (medium). I think Witchgrass is the brand. It is put down like carpet but you need a good flat base. So all the hard core and aggregates for that can be quite dear.

I really like the reduction in mess - the cat and DS & friends are in and out and somehow there is less mess than when they come in through the front door.

Yes - have a small city garden and laid it last Spring. We're really pleased with the results and while it doesn't look natural [it's just too perfect], it doesn't look like the grocers window either.
The good stuff is expensive, almost 30 per sqm when you include laying it etc.
It's not maintenance free. You have to sweep leaves or other debris off it or hoover it [and feel like a total idiot]. Anything like bicycle oil or paint will stain it so you have to treat it like carpet and protect it which is a bit tedious as you can't simply wash down a muddy bike or similar and have it absorbed.
Drainage has never been an issue, if anything it dries faster than real grass.
It is warm underfoot when it is really hot +25 degrees which is disconcerting. You don't get that lovely cool feeling of sinking your toes into cool grass.
Spilled bird seed [from a feeder] will seed into it as will weeds but it's pretty quick to sort out. We also had a tree in a pot that the roots grew out of and down through the plastic backing so it is fairly porous.
It's a lot friendlier surface than stone/cement/tiles for a small garden with children.
The kids can roll around and still come back clean so it's dead handy if you are going out somewhere as they are less likely to have trashed their clothes in 2 mins flat unless they find a pot to dig in.

The downsides are obviously the environmental. We've put raised beds in and done lots of planting to try to offset it but given that the garden was mostly large concrete tiles when we moved in, and there were some areas we could lay artificial grass but not the real stuff, we feel like we've made some effort to mitigate it.
Any sort of a large garden is going to be a bit of a faff though - you'll need a nice long cable for the odd hoover so best not be too precious about your Dyson

Highly recommended. I've had artificial grass down for a decade and it's held up brilliantly against extreme use. The lawn is north facing and turned to mud each winter. The artificial grass gave us our garden back, the children could use it all year around (no dirty shoes, if anything it cleaned the soles of their shoes), the dog can use it too as it's very easy to scoop up and hose down after them, garden furniture can sit on it, it's dry not long after rain, it's soft, it's easy to rake leaves up (you can just leave them to dry and blow away too, nothing will happen to the grass). It looks particularly good if you allow soft verges to grow around the perimeter breaking up the perfection. You can also throw away the lawn mower and do something useful with your time. I've recommended to many over the years and they all report the same thing, well worth doing.

That's good to hear. The only thing that puts me off is that it gets hot underfoot. So I assume kids need to wear shoes in summer?

I've never known it to be hot enough to require shoes, it does warm up in the sun though, for the most part it's pleasant and stays a little warm into the evening.

Thanks for sharing pics, I like it. So even when we get a summer heatwave, not too hot?

No, never that hot though you might be a bit pfb over a crawling baby though

No, never that hot though you might be a bit pfb over a crawling baby though

No, never that hot though you might be a bit pfb over a crawling baby though

Oh good to know, just got to find the cash now :)