Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Artificial Grass.
  • Inbred456
    Free Member

    Our back garden is NW facing and is shaded by the properties and trees around us. Our attempts at keeping a lawn at the back have failed miserably coupled with a dog and kids we think we are fighting a losing battle. My son is a keen tennis player so we thought we would investigate laying a mini artificial tennis court so we can all have a bit of fun with foam balls and mini racquets etc. Has any body gone down the artificial grass route? Costs and pitfalls etc. Would probably be doing it ourselves with a bit of help from a mate who does groundworks for a living.

    Cheers.

    csb
    Full Member

    Exactly the same problem as you. I’ve just got a mossy nightmare for a lawn.

    There was a thread a while back but I’m interested in any new responses too.

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    have walked past stuff done by these guys

    http://www.faux-grass.co.uk/

    looks pretty fake at more than a cursory glance (colour and uniformity) but looks much better than the half-wild-grass-half-dead lawn we had! Mate of better half has synthetic grass in London and loves it, especially with kids.

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    Inbred456
    Free Member

    Yeah turns into a muddy mess over the winter then a dust bowl in the summer. Will investigate further then report back.

    woody21
    Free Member

    Yes we have gone this route, we have a small backyard (now a Courtyard) which was all concrete. We were originally going to slab it with reclaimed limestone / gritstone slabs then we decided to go down the artificial grass route. The cost per sq metre increases the better grade of grass you buy, to prepare the yard I put a bed of sharp sand down approximately 5 cms deep, you then lay the grass as you would a carpet.

    You do need to deodorise / water it if you have got a dog. You can use the Hoover on it to pick up any leaves etc, apart from the deodorising we had to buy a piece slightly bigger than we wanted. Would I recommend it ? Yes, over last month or so we have been enjoying eating al fresco at least 4 times a week

    ScottChegg
    Free Member

    My next door neighbour has done his front lawn in artificial ‘grass’

    It looks like cheap green carpet. The kids on the way to school point and laugh. His daughter came round, and laughed. It is cosmically, comically awful.

    It’s only improved by the plastic dog turd (£9.99 for 10 on eBay) my eldest lad puts on it each time they are away.

    Ghastly stuff.

    Inbred456
    Free Member

    Agreed it doesn’t look the best but we intend to make it into a mini tennis court white lines and a net. It’s not there to replace a lawn, it’s there to provide entertainment for my son and his mates and to try to keep him off bloody Skyrim!

    fluxhutchinson
    Free Member

    Did my front garden myself. Cost was around £500 in total but that included a slate chipping border. The turf was around £360 inc vat, From verde turf, Was £15.50 sq/m + Vat. But I was in Jewsons the other day and saw Grono artificial grass. It was a bit dearer at £20 sq/m + Vat but it looked the mutts knuts.

    My Front Garden:


    Untitled by fluxhutch1, on Flickr

    pleaderwilliams
    Free Member

    This stuff doesn’t look too awful: http://www.lazylawn.co.uk/wonder-yarn.html

    forge197
    Free Member

    We’ve just has some put down to replace the previous owners gravel pool, we don’t have the fund for full landscaping project so just wanted to add some colour and rid us of gravel, it has a mixed weave of colours for a more natural look, were really pleased with it and used http://www.hitechturf.co.uk, also we don’t like gardening so a quick brush or hoover suits us.

    There are a world of difference in the quality of the grass’s available we got a number of samples to look through.

    Inbred456
    Free Member

    It’s good to see some actual examples. I don’t think it looks to bad. If I could get the real stuff to bloody grow l would but it’s just to shaded and with female dog wee burning holes in it I’ve got no chance. Thanks for the links I’ll have a look and cost it out. Probably work out being 24ft long by 12ft wide.

    yunki
    Free Member

    we’re not gonna mess about even trying to give the impression of real grass..

    it’s outdoor carpet for us in our backyard 8)

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    It is best to stick to real grass. ;o)

    kayak23
    Full Member

    It just about epitomises everything that has become wrong about the human race….but hey, fill your boots. 🙂

    csb
    Full Member

    Not sure what you mean Kayak. Being permeable, it’s a better option than laying paving down and the run off problems that causes. And grass isn’t exactly biodiverse itself, seeing as the goal is a monoculture. Not to mention the crap chemicals people pile onto it to make it green.

    samuri
    Free Member

    I think it’s awful. I mean, it tastes the same and you get the same initial buzz but after that it’s nothing like it.

    Inbred456
    Free Member

    Ok maybe substitute artificial grass for astro turf. I don’t want a lookalike lawn I am not trying to pass it off as grass, it’s to play sports on. I am not averse to a bit of gardening, this is not to save time or effort or even money as I think relaying turf would be a hell of a lot cheaper. On a NW facing plot surrounded by houses with a layer of topsoil 10mm thick sitting on boulder clay my choices are severely limited.

    forge197
    Free Member

    For us it provides more time for riding and doing the things we enjoy, feeding and maintaining a lawn isn’t on the enjoy list 🙂

    doncorleoni
    Free Member

    I got fed up trying to grow grass in NY garden. Soil is crap, no sun and it’s more of a yard anyway! Decided to rip the lot out and put down artificial grass so the kids can actually play in the garden. The local cats hate it and stay away which is another bonus! Just do the job properly would be my advice….

    I created a border with 4×4 timber, then a about 140 mm of ballast sand then 50 mm of sharp sand…. Then a whack with a whacking plate. Take time to get level! I also used some foam underlay which stops weeds growing through and makes it softer underfoot.

    Been down for almost 8 months now and it’s still looking as good as the day it went down. I put a very slight slope on it down to back gate so rain just runs off (it’s permeable anyway so water will not sit on top)

    Inbred456
    Free Member

    Hi Don can I ask roughly what area you grassed and roughly what the cost was per Sq M including hardcore and sharp sand was. Cheers.

    kayak23
    Full Member

    No offence, but they look just as utterly dreadful as I had imagined… 😀 Might as well have used a nice bit of Axminster….
    Still, practical I imagine..

    gofasterstripes
    Free Member

    A friend of mine tried it and it’s put him right off the fake stuff and the real one too o.O

    Rusty-Shackleford
    Free Member

    There’s some very realistic stuff about…seriously, from a few feet away you’d be hard pushed to tell. None of the examples above fall into this category! Go to a gardening show to see the good sh1t.

    29erKeith
    Free Member

    good stuff is pretty expensive, a mate of mine thats done a few gardens with it said if you do you use it, don’t have any areas over the width of the roll. joins just look awfull

    jamiea
    Free Member

    As mentioned above, it farking stinks if the dog pisses all over it! We went round to some friends who’d just had it laid and the stench of stale dog piss really got to the back of your throat.

    Cheers,
    Jamie

    Rob_S
    Free Member

    Here’s ours FWIW;


    grass by Rob_2010, on Flickr

    Drac
    Full Member

    gofasterstripes
    Free Member

    You better not be destroying my dreams there, Drac! That is REAL grass, Tinky-Winky will one day be my butler, I will live in their house and be surrounded by rabbits and a sentient hoover.

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