Artificial grass - experiences?

[mk2driver]

We are thinking of replacing the awful grass on our house which we bought last September with artificial grass

Neither of us are keen gardeners. We have 2 cats and likely to have kids in the near future.

In total would have around 80m2 area - 50 out the back and around 30 out the front (divided by the path to the front door)

So the questions

Does anybody have it? Good/bad points about it? Costs? How has it faired in terms of wear? Would you do it again given the choice?

Thanks in advance for the help

[Dr Jekyll]

mk2driver said:

We are thinking of replacing the awful grass on our house which we bought last September with artificial grass

Neither of us are keen gardeners. We have 2 cats and likely to have kids in the near future.

In total would have around 80m2 area - 50 out the back and around 30 out the front (divided by the path to the front door)

So the questions

Does anybody have it? Good/bad points about it? Costs? How has it faired in terms of wear? Would you do it again given the choice?

Thanks in advance for the help

Judging from my neighbours experience.
Cats not a problem unless you go for cheap and nasty grass.
Kids not an issue, be aware that in summer it can get hot to the touch but no worse than a beach.
Costs very roughly £70-80 per sq metre if it's straightforward. Complications like a lot of prep required or limited access add a bit. To put it another way around twice the cost of getting a new natural lawn.

It's generally guaranteed for at least 10 years and according to my neighbours research tends to look good for at least 15 years. You aren't recommended to park on it but you can get away with driving over the corner occasionally.

My neighbour just had his front lawn done, that was around 30sq metres and £2000 one days work. He's seriously thinking of having the back done but limited access will push the cost up. I'm definitely looking at having my front lawn done, The only difference in appearance between his artificial lawn and the real ones in the street is that his looks better.

[soad]

Some pubs use it, looked like a cheap carpet.

[Dr Jekyll]

soad said:

Some pubs use it, looked like a cheap carpet.

It all depends on which grass you specify.

[Flibble]

Saw a few houses with it when looking, looked like a butcher's counter (sans meat). Yet to see any that looks even close to the real thing.

[Welshbeef]

Been to someone’s who has it on a fairly reasonable sized garden. I asked why? He hates cutting the grass + the boys can play football year round and not come in muddy.

Lol no change is ever have it. Boys and kids are supposed to get dirty.

BBQ stuff dropping on the floor - real grass well it’s stuff for insects to get rid of fake grass you will be washing it down.

[neth27]

I fitted fake grass myself in the back garden about 24m2. Done it in a day, it’s easy enough to do. About 4 ton of mot type 1, 1 ton of sharp sand, weed membrane and wacker hire for a weekend. I got everything from my local Jewsons.
It’s been down a couple of years now, it’s far better than the real grass in the front garden..

John...

[coltonbob]

Don’t do it. Grass really isn’t that hard to look after! What about a robot mower, or get a quote from a local gardener if you’re really short on time?

Why people want to replace something that’s alive, with plastic, to save a little bit of time, is a sorry state of affairs, a reflection of the lack of respect for nature in this country I think unfortunately.

I love my daughter (21 months old now) getting out in the garden as much as possible, she regularly comes in filthy, but that’s all part of the fun surely.

Personally, I think getting plastic grass sets a terrible example for the kids. “Well little one, it was a bit of work looking after the grass, so I killed everything, destroyed a little habitat, and replaced it with plastic.”

My daughter is absolutely fascinated by the worms, bees, birds etc in our garden at the moment too. Seems like such a shame to lose a load of the flora and fauna from the garden for the kids. Which you will with an artificial lawn...

[Welshbeef]

Also you are preventing birds digging up worms from your lawn, far fewer slugs snails insects.

Also water will not drain away as easliy as proper grass as grass itself clearly absorbs water and it doesn’t have to go through a fake membrane.

No little Flowers of any kind in the grass meaning no bees to pollinate.


Also you may find local cats simply love the sensation of stting and pissing on the fake grass which you’d really not like to clean up.

[BRISTOL86]

Absolutely awful stuff IMO. As above yet to see one that looks remotely good.

If you don’t want a lawn, don’t have a lawn, but I really don’t understand the fad for a fake one.

[Harry Flashman]

I'm with the antis. Nasty fad; looks cheap and nasty (even the good stuff, frankly), and one of those trends I think homeowners will come to regret. Remember carpet in bathrooms? This is like that, but worse, and harder to remedy.

In addition to the fact that it is stylistically terrible, it is also taking away a natural habitat and part of the ecosystem. And there is no excuse for failing to lay good quality, hardy turf - it is easier than artificial, cheaper, and these days maintenance is simple due to robot mowers for all sizes of garden - one of which could easily be bought using the difference between real grass and the plasticky awfulness that is the artificial stuff.

I've seen this stuff in £2m properties here in London, and it cheapens the whole property, in my view.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Monday 23 April 23:05

[anonymous-user]

Fantastic, my kids play on it year round, dogs crap on it and you pick it up and hose it down, doesn’t need cutting etc.

Wouldn’t ever go back to the real thing

[Welshbeef]

Coin Slot. said:

Fantastic, my kids play on it year round, dogs crap on it and you pick it up and hose it down, doesn’t need cutting etc.

Wouldn’t ever go back to the real thing

You “hose it down “ after dog st. So filthy poo flakes being sprayed round wherever

Aounds tranquil.

[Flibble]

At £70+ per square metre it sounds bonkers pricey to boot, real grass is way cheaper even if you need to buy a load of top soil to bed it in.

[Welshbeef]

Coin Slot. said:

Fantastic, my kids play on it year round, dogs crap on it and you pick it up and hose it down, doesn’t need cutting etc.

Wouldn’t ever go back to the real thing

Please post up a pic to see if it’s a rose tinted glasses view you have.

[LeadFarmer]

Artificial turf belongs in the 'A bit council' thread. I think the law dictates that all artificial turf must be accompanied by an oversized trampoline.

[Welshbeef]

LeadFarmer said:

Artificial turf belongs in the 'A bit council' thread. I think the law dictates that all artificial turf must be accompanied by an oversized trampoline.

And cheap plastic garden furniture that is faded left in the front garden

[Harry Flashman]

Coin Slot. said:

Fantastic... dogs crap on it and you pick it up and hose it down

That is actually quite disgusting. On a normal lawn, you pick it up and the residue is decomposed by bacteria into nutrients and returned to the soil. On artificial, you just spread it around the whole area, where it sits.

Grim.

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

You could get a gardener to make your grass nice then get robotic mower to keep on top of it for you. Artificial grass is pants.

[Black_S3]

Chainsaw Rebuild said:

You could get a gardener to make your grass nice then get robotic mower to keep on top of it for you. Artificial grass is pants.

Exactly this, and where not practical to use a robot mower reseed the lawn with a slow growing grass + buy a light battery powered mower.

The artificial stuff is for places like California where real grass won't grow without sprinklers and there's a permanent hosepipe ban.