[Closed] Real turf vs Artificial grass

I don't fully understand your post but it sounds like you've lifted some slabs to reveal a load of builders crap. You can turf over this but it won't thrive (aka it'll just die). I can't begin to cope with the idea of a sheet of green plastic so I'd go with stones. Or put the paviors back.

I work in a garden that has artificial grass front and rear. I have no idea of the quality of it, or what qualities are available. It shouts out a mile away "artificial". It just looks plain wrong. It isn't firmly fixed all over and I can feel it lifting. If it gets cut then there are big problems in repairing it to be an exact match. It feels wrong to walk on. It attracts just as much dirt, fallen leaves and general detritus as a "proper" lawn. For the work I do it is really a hindrance; I have to be super careful with all my gear not to damage it. I know a lawn will repair itself. This stuff won't.

It's just awful.

But the lady who owns it is a widow, and they had it installed when her husband was long term housebound so it saved them the trouble of mowing it. I can see the sense in having it in her situation. She has said that grandkids can get burns from it, but I can't comment on that.

I'm probably a traditionalist (and worked in garden maintenance and build) so just don't like it. I'm sure it has it's place in the world, but having seen it in close up there's no way I would ever consider it for my garden, whatever I was doing. There are so many more practical alternatives.

Decking?

There should be a law against artificial grass.

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I hate plastic grass..for starters it's bloody plastic ..and there is too much of the bloody stuff already without adding to the problem..

My gripe against plastic "grass" is that it is something pretending to be something else. It doesn't get anywhere close to resembling the real thing, so if you want an artificial wash 'n' wipe covering then why pretend it's grass. Personally I find a normal grass lawn the easiest, self-repairing surface imaginable. A quick once over with a flymo once a week in the season and the job's done.

Are there any positive stories of plastic grass?

Lack of space for a mower, plus lack of inclination to do much with a (small) lawn at a new house have me wondering if it might be better than paving it?

Are there any positive stories of plastic grass?

Yup. On sink estates it is a good place to store a couple of old motorbikes and a clapped out transit van.

Artificial stuff quite handy on the rough old floor in our shack even if it doesn't all match:[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47967599001_6f78b21dd0.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47967599001_6f78b21dd0.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

We've got a small patch about 4m x 3.5m.Ideal if you've got kids imho.No mowing,zero maintainance and I don't get muddy or slip on it when it's wet when I need to get into the shed for bikes,chairs,tools toys etc.2 or 3 times a week or my daily trips to the recycling bags and bins.It dries in minutes so the kids are on it all the time,playing, doing gymnastics which you can't do on a hard surface. Our neighbours had turf laid and it does look nicer sometimes in the year but not in the summer if it's been really dry and certainly not in winter and one side is patchy as it doesn't get the sun but crucially it's only really usable for a very small part of the year.Our other neighbour hadn't actually realised my "lawn" was artficial until he asked me how i kept it looking so green in winter.It doesn't move but I can easily roll it up in 10 minutes if I wanted to.I don't live on a sink estate and don't own a motorbike.I do have a 3 piece suite and an old fridge but I keep them in the front garden.

We covered a nasty concrete bit of our garden with fake grass. It’s the best thing we’ve done. It’s gone from a slimy mess 9 months of the year to a lovely outdoor room. It’s outside our kitchen window and is bright all through the winter. The bit we walk on a lot to the rest of the garden isn’t wearing down to mud, there’s no cutting and it’ll last forever.
In the right place it’s great.
The rest of our garden is a wild flower and wildlife haven and we have a lot of bees etc coming to he pots we have everywhere. It doesn’t need to be a barren space.

The rest of our garden is a wild flower and wildlife haven and we have a lot of bees etc coming to he pots we have everywhere

photos?  My wife likes the idea of that but I suspect it means that our garden turns into even more of a jungle.   concept is good though

We ended up getting ours rather reluctantly: But two young dogs had destroyed our lawn and when it rained it resembled a canine recreation of the Somme. Including craters. We got some quite expensive stuff and it was professionally laid, so it doesn't seem to lift and has been pretty durable so far. It looks ok. I wouldn't say you would notice that it wasn't real at a quick glance. The neighbours have all been pretty complimentary about it.
It's the sort of thing I can see that if everyone used would probably have a negative impact on the local ecology, but as above, the other bits of our garden are as wildlife friendly as I can make it. You have to factor in that the amount of mud the dogs were bringing in meant the hard floors were having to be mopped twice a day, and carpets needed to be cleaned twice a week which isn't exactly a boon to the environment.
Haters are gonna hate, but ultimately you have to go with what is practical for you.

With fake grass you certainly get what you pay for, as aboce, done right it looks good, done cheap it looks like the front of a greengrocers. You can't just bang it in any surface either, it needs a proper sub base.

Lawns are a bit rubbish in my opinion. Not usable all year round, require maintenance and storage for a mower and strimmer. Never understood the obsession with them either. Must be soo green and perfect. It’s just odd.

I’d prefer any other surface except block paving in my garden. Unfortunately for me they are the two things I have. Both utter shite. YMMV

Strip of grass and one of stones around the heavy use "lounge"area?
Reasonable amount of muck(& light) and the lawn will grow imo.
Different grasses? I love my tiny chamomile patch. 🙂
The birds love to feed on our lawn, no way would I replace it with an artificial one.

I'm getting artificial grass when I finally get around to getting my garden sorted, the only downside I see is it's hideously expensive. The quality stuff has lots of shades, different materials and blade heights and is pretty convincing - sure I've not seen any that I've had to touch in order to double check it wasn't really but it's close enough.

For me I'm just lazy, I can only access my garden through a garage, have no interest in gardening so just want somewhere for the odd BBQ, sun-bathing and bike washing (although that's on a deck). Sure I'll need to rake leaves off it, clean cat & bird crap off it and occasionally wash and re-sand it but that's still less hassle than a lawn (which is currently mostly brambles and weeds anyway).

Decking?

Indeed. Everyone who puts down artificial grass needs decking.

A relative of mine who is, shall we say, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, put down artificial grass in their garden under their climbing frame. Which has a plastic slide. It basically acts as a massive Van der Graaf generator, so the more laps a child does , the more they charge up. Pretty funny to watch the hair getting more vertical, then the resulting yelps and sparks when the discharging high 5s take place.

Decent artificial grass is fantastic stuff. We put some down in our shady rear garden/yard that saw a lot of traffic and it was perfect.

I think it was this stuff
https://www.lazylawn.co.uk/product/wonder-yarn/

and it's a far cry from the rubbish that is obviously artificial.

Lawns are a bit rubbish in my opinion. Not usable all year round, require maintenance and storage for a mower and strimmer. Never understood the obsession with them either. Must be soo green and perfect. It’s just odd.

Lawns don't have to be bowling greens. I just mow our communal lawn once a week in season (April to October), less if it's very dry. I leave some areas to grow wild and only mow those from September on. No kids or dogs though.

If you like artificial grass then go for that. The only downside is if you don't like the look/idea of it, and you'll already know that. The wildlife value of a mown lawn isn't too great so if that is a factor but you want artificial grass then have some tubs of lavendar etc. for the bees.

Last year i dug out the back garden and replaced with mainly slabs. Left a 3x3m area flat concrete slab and covered it with best artificial grass i could find. Best thing we ever did in the garden. It looks real, it drys quickly so you can sit on it etc, lawn mower is going in the bin when front is made the same and i can quickly roll it up to do important bike maintenance matters in the sun!

Key i think is to get the best quality, the cheap stuff is as bad as you think it will be.

Artificial grass is the '19 version of stone cladding ...

Bloke over the road from us hoses his plastic front garden down once a week to wash his dog's shit off it. He's a dick. Plastic grass is for dicks.

This is why the planet's ****ed.

Out here grass doesn't do well - in summar it dies because it's too hot and sunny (and you have to water it every day); in winter it dies because it's too cold and covered in 3' of snow. So people gradually are switching over to astroturf in places.

But it's just wrong - it's basically laying a giant sheet of green plastic down on the ground. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I'm mulling over some kind of wild alpine meadow type thing (ie long grass, flowers, no need for mowing)

I was trying - and failing - to think of a slightly nicer version of what Kayla1 said.

I just mow our communal lawn once a week in season

An hour a week? Mine gets done when I can no longe see my five year old when he’s playing. Not a fan of artificial grass, but I’d happily have concrete or dirt.

Just stick some potatoes or something in, or scatter some wild flower seeds about if you can be arsed. Anything's better than covering the surface of the planet in (more) plastic.

An hour a week?

It's a lawn, not a football pitch.

Our back garden is pretty small, but I've still got turf. It does take a hammering over winter with 'use'. Just got it 'perfect' and my son's invited a load of mates round tonight for a party in the garden - going to be trashed by the morning, but hey ho.

Still prefer the real stuff, even if it's hard work.

Plastic grass is for dicks.

Are you calling me a dick?
Maybe say it to my face?

Just stick some potatoes or something in

what, for an outdoor lounge, with seating and maybe a fire pit?

I don't even think real grass is an option for th eOP given the ground conditions he described..

Are you calling me a dick?
Maybe say it to my face?

Have 'im, Darren!

Plastic grass for indoors only-or to cover an area that was previously concrete etc. For the love of god don’t replace a lawn with plastic....and what kayla1 said.

Kayla 1 - is a woman.

I detest artificial turf. It's bad in so many ways. The producing of it for one.

Real turf doesn't have to be hard work. Our lawn attracts insects, worms, birds and wildlife. There are areas I leave overgrown where tall grasses and wild flowers have popped up. Grass like trees gives off clean air. It looks so much better and doesn't matter if a few leaves or bird droppings fall on it.
I don't know what happens to rain on artificial lawns.

For me it's the real stuff everytime.

Edit; YOu don't have to water the grass in the summer, in fact don't. It will repair itself come autumn.

Are you calling me a dick?

Meh.

Bloke over the road from us hoses his plastic front garden down once a week to wash his dog’s shit off it. He’s a dick. Plastic grass is for dicks.

This is why the planet’s ****.

I agree with the sentiment, if not perhaps the delivery...

I leave a big chunk of our lawn to grow long in the summer. The birds love it, the bees love it, it just seems like one less thing that humankind is saying '**** you, nature, we know best' to.

There's enough concrete, asphalt, and plastic in the world already.

Heads up (nearly said <stw>PSA!</stw>) that this topic is discussed on Raido 4 Gardeners' Question Time today (Sunday) at 2p.m.

I’m really against plastic grass. Considering the alarming decline in insects and birds in this country, and the alarming rise in people buying fake lawns, laying down a sterile sheet of plastic is not a good thing for the environment.

Apparently it's pretty bad for harbouring germs whereas in real turf they are dispersed and eliminated.

Lawns are a bit rubbish in my opinion. Not usable all year round, require maintenance and storage for a mower and strimmer. Never understood the obsession with them either. Must be soo green and perfect. It’s just odd.

My ‘lawn’, for want of a better word, is two small patches of grass divided by a short path of paving slabs, it’s shaded on either side by hedges, and one end by a rather lovely 15’ Acer that’s now around 30 years old. It gets cut once or twice a year, if it’s lucky, and even less often now it’s being invaded by cowslips, and moss, and the hedgehogs seem to enjoy romping around in the grass now it’s getting longer.
Now I need to get a lot more wild flowers growing in it, like buttercups, moon daisies/oxeye daisies, pink campion, and a wider variety of grasses.
I’ll have even less reason/desire to cut it then.

Some friends had their stone chipped garden swapped for artificial turf, works well for them and looks okay, he does hover it now and again though which makes me laugh...

I’ve had plastic grass this last autumn. It’s ace. We had drainage issues and now we have a non muddy, quick drying garden that the kids and dog can use all year round without hassle.

I miss mowing the lawn. I don’t have any environmental concerns as we’re talking 8x10m and the flower beds are still full of bees and other insects.

It’s right for us, but not for everyone

Seriously mate, get a delivery of a couple of tons of decent topsoil. Once in place (get the kids to help) rake it level and seed it. A natural surface is what you need. I seeded a new lawn last year and it has totally transformed it.

Lol at some of the judgemental pricks on this thread. Once you're living in a zero impact commune making your own clothes from hemp then you can criticise someone for laying a few sq. m of artificial grass. Also if you think a well manicured lawn provides much benefit for insects you're mistaken, there's very little bio-diversity there. A wild garden much more so but then they're much less usable, great if you've got a big enough garden to have both both a lot of people don't.