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Dog wee and fake grass - advice please

12 replies

MrsMouse03 · 17/09/2020 16:15

Hi, we have 2 dogs and our grass is looking terrible due to dog wee and them playing on it. Thinking of paving over the damn stuff

Has anyone got fake grass and would recommend it or is it just as much work to maintain?

Thank you

OP posts:
Dreamersandwishers · 17/09/2020 16:18

No, but watching as I have the same issue/ question

AlwaysLatte · 17/09/2020 16:20

I wouldn't with dogs, I think all that wee not being able to drain away would be gross - and they'd probably try to dig it!

slipperywhensparticus · 17/09/2020 16:23

It festers under fake grass apparently the stench is appalling my moms neighbour has it and I have to admit on hot days there is a definite odour going on plus of course it heats up so much it burns the dogs paws

MagentaRocks · 17/09/2020 16:24

Fake grass can get a lot hotter than normal grass so you need to consider that when it is really sunny.

Our garden has gone from beautiful with a lovely lawn and lots of plants and flowers in pots and borders to having ruined grass and pots dug up. It is just one of those things. It doesn’t change how we enjoy the garden, it is the pups playground and he loves it out there - we just have to catch him quickly to wipe his paws and nose when he has been pot digging.

PuppyMonkey · 17/09/2020 16:24

My dog won’t wee on fake grass, so it’s a no from me.

1starwars2 · 17/09/2020 16:26

Fake grass is grim, and grimmer with dog wee on. I believe you can buy some stuff to neutralise the dog wee, which you pour on the lawn. Can you take them out more often early and late so they can wee on the grass verge instead?

BiteyShark · 17/09/2020 16:33

I have both real and artificial over a large area.

You need to have the fake grass professionally laid unless you know what you are doing. I think a lot of diy jobs just lay it on sand which won't give it good drainage and it will stink. Trying to remember what ours was, I think it's crushed limestone.

It will cost a lot of money but our dog is 4 years old and DH and I agree that it was money well spent. We can play on it all times of the year and it doesn't become a torn up boggy mud bath where no grass would grow. The base parts costs a lot but so does the grass because like carpet you can get different grades. We went for quite a deep pile and it's very soft on the foot.

In the height of summer the pee can smell a bit but a good storm sorts that out and if none appears I use a cleaner on it. I have only had to do that once this year. Another thing to consider is in very hot summer it can get extremely hot, too hot for paws. However, ours has a lot of shade so we just play in that area when it's too hot.

Occasionally in autumn I have to brush the fallen leaves off it but compared to the real lawn I hardly do any maintenance. The real lawn is a pain as I have to repair all the pee patches all year round Grin

heinz1057 · 17/09/2020 16:49

I have artificial grass and laid it myself but it's expensive, good quality stuff and it was laid on layers of sand and aggregate to allow proper drainage.

Dog doesn't mind weeing/shitting on it and I've never noticed any sort of smell. If he does a particularly smelly/runny poo, I spritz with dettol and then blast with the hose.

Apart from brushing leaves up, no maintenance at all. Best money I ever spent!

StillMedusa · 17/09/2020 18:00

We had it before we got the dog... and got rid of it not long after!

As a puppy she would wee on it but as soon as she got a bit bigger she refused. And just as well as it stank.
It gets RED hot in hot weather.. dangerously so (you can google comparisons)
Ours was properly laid and very good quality but ..it was fake.
We had the garden properly turfed and tho we do get the odd wee spot burnt we water it regularly and the dog hasn't ruined it.

Personally I wouldn't because it does smell quite quickly and lots of dogs hate it!

Bergerdog · 17/09/2020 21:24

I found it stank too.
Not as bad as concrete though that was disgusting!!

I find a combination of patio slabs and real grass the least smelly although maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing!

MrsMouse03 · 18/09/2020 13:20

Thanks for replies. I'm gonna look at some options Smile

OP posts:
WeAllHaveWings · 18/09/2020 14:01

We have fake grass after ddog destroyed the real stuff, but we are a north facing garden in Scotland so it never gets too hot.

ddog, who has always peed like a girl, has never liked peeing on the grass which is a bonus, probably reminds him of the carpet too much 😂 and pees in a separate stone chipped area, or the stone chipped border instead. This is something you could train them to do once it is laid. He does occasionally poo on the grass which is fine, easy to pick up and we have no noticeable lingering smell even on a rare hot day in Scotland.

Ours is around 6 years old now, it was laid properly, around 8-9 inches and skips full of soil removed, base compacted, filled with tonnes of small rocks, then smaller, then even smaller, sand and a weed membrane before the grass went on. Even with very heavy prolonged rain I've never seen a puddle and it is still as flat as a pancake. It was brilliant when ds was young as he could go out and play on it all year round as soon as the rain stopped and good now as ddog isn't coming in with muddy paws.

The first 3-4 years it was maintenance free no noticeable problems, now it gets a bit mossy and once or twice a year dh puts down moss killer then the next day uses a stiff deck brush to lift the moss out, before giving a good rinse. Takes a couple of days as he leaves on overnight and ddog can't be on treated areas until it is rinsed and dry.

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