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?!?

The more expensive types can look very realistic and are practical for ball game areas that would get very muddy in winter, or areas of shade where grass struggles to grow. Does need to be laid properly, though, and the ground properly prepared.
I did seriously look into it once for a very tiny garden, and was only persuaded not to by a blackbird pulling a worm out of the existing very neglected handkerchief of lawn. Where was he going to get his worms otherwise? Tiny gardens nearby were all paved or decked.

Has anyone got artificial grass in their tiny concrete backyard? Do you think it would look ok with a bit of decking?

All the terraces round where we're looking have a small and concreted backyards and I'm trying to think of ways to tart (what will be) ours up.
I'm thinking some decking, a bit of nice artificial grass, paint the walls and maybe add some lighting. But am scared it'll look naff.

Of course I haven't bought yet, so all plans are in my head.

I've seen good and bad. The good's really good and the bad's really bad. If the best you can afford is good enough then go for it, otherwise, don't waste your money.

We looked into it but there are too many trees around our garden that drop leaves onto our lawn. Apparently if you get leaves on it they go slimy and block the drainage.

Two neighbours have it in their small gardens.

One looks really good, and to be honest, doesn't look too fake.

The other garden isn't well done and you can see the seams. The grass is laid in different directions.

Had ours a couple of years now. We have a small city garden and it has been a dream. Low maintenance and very easy. Colour seemed a bit bright at first, but it either faded or we stop noticing it. Is brilliant with little ones and love being able to go outside for play despite a lot of recent rain. I wasn;t cheap, but equivilant to paving the area.

We have some in our holiday home. We have had it for three years and it still looks perfect. There are some gardens beside us and they just look like immaculate gardens.

I think it looks really good in small gardens - who wants to have a lawnmower in their small Victorian terrace for a tiny patchy of grass (which is why they are mainly paved).

I would say no if you have a dog who is going to wee on it. Despite the fact it has drainage holes, the stuff reeks to high heaven and it's impossible to get the smell out. It is marketed as good for dogs, and in theory it should be, but we tried and had to throw it out.

Two of my friends have it and it looks great. It's also quite bouncy!
Great for a small garden.

We've just had artificial grass put at the back of the garden, stretching across. I ave six conifer trees there which stop my son's footballs going over the fence but nothing grew there and it looked dreadful and was always full of weeds. I got Grassify in to put down some artificial grass and it looks just great and makes my garden look even longer. They were very professional, worked quickly and tidied up after themselves so you wouldn't even know they had wheelbarrowed tons of soil and sand through my house. It's made such a difference to my garden. Wish I could post a picture but I can't see a link to this.

I think artificial grass is awful. When looking at houses it was a real turn off. I'm quite surprised by the number of people that appear to like it, perhaps all the plastic grass I've seen has been of the cheaper variety. We've got grass and all the general weed problems, but "feed and weed" seems to do the trick!

Ithe takes about half a day to cut ours so that is a bit of a pain but I just can't imagine ever wanting this in preference to real grass. I'll keep my eyes open for more uparmer instances though!

Naff.

Sorry.but naff

It can give static electric shocks. Not alot of fun!

If you go on grass direct website, read the reviews on their grasses, they are brilliant and also lots of reviewers have posted pictures of their gardens.

We're doing ours finally, after years of crap patchy grass. Can't wait. Neighbour has done it too, looks fantastic.

Local theme park has fake grass everywhere and it's brilliant. Looks real.

There is a difference though between the cheap stuff vs better quality.

We have it. It's fantastic! The garden is useable 365 days a year. It always looks great and is robust enough to handle 2 massive boxer dogs tearing up and down on it. It cost an absolute fortune as we went for the top grade one but it looks so realistic so worth the outlay. Best decision we made for our garden.

Yes! We have a good quality realistic one - so much so that our neighbour says she often thinks how good the lawn looks - before remembering it's it real!

No more yellow patches from dog wee, easy to pick up dog muck and disinfect. We had good drainage put in, so can be playing on it after the rain without getting wet. It is warm, but not overly so and the dog loves that, as it's perfect to snooze on.

We love our wildlife - so we make sure we have lots of big borders, bird feeders everywhere etc.

Avoid if you have dogs, the smell becomes unbearable in hot weather

We were sold expensive artificial grass on the basis of our dogs. Total lies - we can’t use our garden in the summer as the smell is so bad. They are 2 tiny dogs, the garden smells like a men’s urinal all summer. Prestige Lawns Milton Keynes- dog owners beware!

We have dogs, but I disinfect every week and that seems to work. Granted haven’t done a really hot day yet.

our next door neighbours have changed to fake grass we have very small gardens and when she said she was going to do it i was a bit mm but actually it looks good, she has two small dogs and the fake grass she has washed down looks better than the grass that was getting scratty cos the dogs wee on it

It looks awful and un-natural - which it is.

How are worms and insects going to live - it is their garden as well - birds and small mammals eat the insects and the great circle of life continues.....or we could concrete over it all and put some green plastic down.

I hate it. More plastic that this earth doesn't need. When we move I want another lawn with perhaps a wildlife garden area for bees and other pollinators.