it all became too much for my poor clay based lawn this year. The addition of a slide,climbing frame and wendyhouse and 3 dogs left me with a mud patch! So I bit the bullet and called in some AstroTurf companies. The grass has advanced so much that it is very realistic. We had the professional lay it for us. They put a semitransparent membrane over the cleared lawn, laid loads of sharp sand and rolled out my miracle lawn. It took 4 hours start to finish. It looks fantastic, even when it has rained my DS can play out side within 10 mins without being wet from the grass,it is actually much warmer to walk and sit on that the lawn. My dogs decided they did not like the new grass so mess in the flower beds instead (yay) but even if there is an odd poo/ wee we just pick it up and rinse the area with the hose. It was not very cheap but by using a small company we saved a load of money. I wish we could have done it years ago and imagine the joy of never having to mow,water,feed or patch a lawn again! I do recommend it highly!