If not bloody plastic grass then what?

[Jellybean85]

I hate plastic grass both the look and concern for the environment.

But I have 3 kids and we have a swing set, slide and trampoline in the garden. They love playing out and we're blessed with a large garden courtesy of living in an ex council house built when we valued families having space.

The area they play gets bogged down as we live at the bottom of a large hill. We've tried re turfing and adding lots of French drains for drainage.

DH wants to Astro about 1/6th of the garden so kids can play out more than the three weeks it's sunny every year.
I'm not keen but not sure on alternatives for play area? He's looking at having it done by a proper company so it's on the drainage sub base.

Friend had rubber chippings and said although it was soft and safe it was a nightmare that invited all the local cats to treat as a litter tray 😵‍💫

Good to know installing wasn't too bad!! Given the low cost I think we're going to try those first.

To those who suggested planting it's a good idea and we've gone with thick native hedgerows and conifers along borers which are all supposed to suck up water. They are thriving but seemed to make no measurable difference! We are at the bottom of a valley though with farmers fields behinds which he keeps for crops and grazing and it's clay heavy soil so I think it all just runs down in huge quantities 🤷🏻‍♀️

Bark breaks down into soil after a couple of years and weeds flourish in it so good in planted beds but not long term to play on.

Alcohol is a known carcinogen too , lvl 1 same as asbestos but people have no problem with that coming into contact with their skin ( throat). Rubber clippings or artificial grass would both be a good solution to the op’s problem.

For the sake of it only being 1/6th and to make your life easier and for the kids to enjoy the garden more I would just go with the fake grass.

Grass mats and seed it with clover to make a clover lawn.

I think you are right to avoid fake grass, it should be banned really as it is so damaging to the environment.

I think I'd look into those rubber tiles for under the play equipment.

Did I read that fake grass can be very abrasive if children fall on it, or has it improved?

We went with bark. DH constructed a wood framework with sleeper-type wood, and then stapled weed/control fabric to it, and then filled it with bark.

I have never seen a single cat on it, but I’ve only seen cats in our garden about four times since we have lived here (14 years). So I guess we have no experience with cat toilets.

Wood chippings not bark and it’s needs to be a good 6 inch layer. Must be hard wood and not soft wood.

We have a big area of it. It was her when we moved a few months ago, I assume for the same issue op has (also in the north). It is very soft and not abrasive to fall on.

I really dislike it though, I want something better for biodiversity. We are hoping to replace with the grass mat and clover lawn idea.

It can be abrasive, yes. Also hot, wet, mouldy and germ-y.
It is grim, really.

I had it it my last house, it was there already, and it was amazing. Before that I was pretty anti it. But it meant we had a garden that could be used all year round. Yes I know all the environmental issues but I am tempted to have it in my new house too. The kids can't use the garden at the moment at all as we only have a smallish garden and it's all just mud. They want to go out and play football and it just gets too difficult to play. Plus a mud-fest of a garden isn't nice to look. I would prefer fake grass to paving it over and having an unusable garden isn't great at all.

From a production point of view the artificial grass from an average lawn would produce the same amount of co2 as a flight to Greece. Also shrubs and trees will store a lot more carbon than a lawn so if you have a lot of these it counteracts it. Also, if you don't drive, don't use any plastics at home, don't eat meat, don't fly at all then fair enough but if you do all of those things then the artificial grass is the least of your worries.

Weeping willow trees soak up a lot of water. Salix Babilonica.

We've got grass matting down under the cricket net and even though I don't like it much it means teen can go out bowling balls even shortly after rain. It was a Godsend during lockdown when he couldn't get out. I'd actually say it saved his MH.

I think astro is fine when it's needed, for play equipment, dogs etc. We've got it under the pool (it's a big pool) to stop mud and to protect the pool from stones. But the garden is 100' long and 30% of it is veg garden, 40% is flowers and shrubs, 10% is astro and the rest is lawn for dog to play on (well he can use all of it but that's his play area). I don't like it when a whole lawn is replaced by astro because it looks better and doesn't need mowing.

I think if it's just part of the lawn used by the kids then go for it. Compensate mother nature with lots of flowers in the remaining areas. (Lawns aren't that good for nature either unless they are full of daisies, buttercup and dandelions)

Hot yes, you can't walk on it when the sun has heated it up. Like beaches in southern Spain. Not so much germ-y as it can be cleaned with a hose and soap.

How about a large raised grass platform?

Held in by railway sleepers or similar. Gravel or gravelly/ aggregate layer under the turf. Water should run off through the edges and through the gravel, maybe incorporate pipe drains within the platform. French drain around the edges.

Hopefully cost would be pretty comparable with digging down for a drainage layer for astro turf.

Would work better at the bottom of the garden probably, but terracing would also help the drainage throughout the garden.

I'd use pea gravel.

You need to use certified Play Bark where kids are concerned. It is produced to a specific standard making it suitable for falls from height. Also natural and environmentally friendly. If you ever changed your mind it would be simple to dispose of, whereas rubber or artificial grass based surfaces would be costly to dispose of.