Due to the fact our extremely fast moving greyhound has fast turning our lawn into a swamp, we are, very reluctantly, looking at laying some artificial grass.

Wondered if anyone had any experiences with it?

After pulling up a patio in a terraced yard we put grass down. The grass died so we dug that out and went artificial. It was perfect for what we needed. Easy to lay yourself etc (just heavy to move).

If you can get over the ecological aspect, I’d go for it.

If practical I’d prefer a real lawn but we went artificial (our lawn is only small) a couple of years ago as a combo of puppy, overhanging trees and slow drainage turned it into the Somme. Have to keep on top of hosing down dog pee and the occasional wash with detergent to keep it smelling ok during the hot months but don’t regret it at all if only for the complete lack of constant filth no longer brought in by the dog (also the ease of brushing up leaves, the constant ‘just mown’ look and lack of mowing).

Despite the ecological impact, it works well & looks ok. The alternative is the quagmire produced by two border collies.

Apparently you can hoover them.

my one experience of plastic grass was it was too hot to stand on, they had to constantly water it to cool it down and their dog seemed to avoid going on it.

If you can get over the ecological aspect…

Ecology doesn’t, but crack on.

See also: SUVs, flights, anything really. Plastic grass is one more thing to ignore the effects of.

Go for it!

Horrible stuff ends up in landfill. Gets hot, gets dirty, weeds grow in it, leaves turn to mush and get ground into it, could go on. If lawn not working patio, decking, bark area would be preferable. Or train dog to not tear up the lawn.

Grass grows back our two dogs ripped up the lawn over the summer.

I over seeded what was left it’s now lush and green my main mistake was trying to keep it to short with the dogs running and playing on it, I’ve just let it grow only cut it twice since summer it was that bad, although it’s in desperate need of a haircut it been too wet.

I’ll definitely leave it to grow longer next year this summer was tough on most lawns I’ll be keeping the blades on the mower set to 3.

Take the greyhound for a decent walk/run so it doesn’t have the energy for garden zoomies.

It’s apparently quite stealable, my brother has made his less attractive to thieves by growing weeds through it. Like block paving, once the weeds start they’re difficult to control

A sand oval, a few traps, a rabbit on a string, outdoor bar, few mates round with other dogs…

…make an event of it! 🙂

We got artificial grass in our back garden about 5 years ago because of our two female dogs (German Shepherd and Collie). Their urine kills off large patches of grass and the buggers never seem to urinate in the same area twice! While weeds do grow in the grass it’s easy enough to remove them if you don’t let them grow too large. Any debris can easily be brushed off and as for the grass being too hot, ours never got even close to that in our hottest of days.

Had it in our old house which had a relatively small garden (about 40ft x 30ft). 2 football mad kids who just wanted to play football out there no matter what the weather absolutely nailed it so ripped up the real stuff and put (decent) artificial stuff down. TBF, I thought it looked amazing. Dead easy to look after etc but after a year or so it was starting to look a bit knackered. Meant to sweep it to keep the pile but ours wasn’t great. If we hadn’t have moved away I’d have got back in touch with the company who did it and got them to come back and sort it (was under warranty). Never had problems with weeds etc.

New house has a much bigger garden but we’ve still fitted an area of it at the end of the garden for the kids to have as their all weather footy pitch. Did it myself with cheapo stuff as I knew that a) it wasn’t going to be seen from the house and b) all it was going to be used for was footy so screw getting decent stuff. Proper prep etc is essential – been down 2 years, takes an absolute hammering, no weeds etc.

It has its uses…

Had it in my previous house for the same reason as OP. I installed it myself. Actually easy to do, fairly cheap and looked reasonably good.
Apart from the ecological aspect, they do whiff in the summer. Unless you can train your dog not to wee on it?
I would say I probably cleaned the artificial turf at least once a day in the summer, proper scrubbing with a wire brush and all sorts of cleaners, the smell remained though.
Wouldn’t use it again, but do see the benefits.

“Horrible stuff ends up in landfill. Gets hot, gets dirty, weeds grow in it, leaves turn to mush and get ground into it, could go on.”

That’s not been our experience at all after 4 years. It doesn’t get hot and it looks exactly the same as when new. There may be variable results depending on quality or installation.

We also have wild meadow sections to kind of slightly offset the environmental impact on wildlife. But then I also have a conventional lawn at the front so I am a total hypocrite I suppose.

We did our back garden, it wasn’t all grass before, but with a 6 year old and neighbourhood kids, we have a pool that goes on it, and a few other annoying things, grass would be a killer, we have it out front and as usual, in houses drainage is usually poor and grass not that great quality, for hassle and time i prefer the fake stuff, unless i had a lawn done properly, but then the cost of that and watching it get destroyed every year would be more annoying.

The fake stuff doesn’t tend to get that warm, there’s several levels of quality, we went mid level and it does us well, if fitting it’s best to get the ground levelled and prepped properly, then you don’t have issues with weeds, drainage, etc.

Top tip: artificial grass needs installing with different materials to avoid the stink from dog wee.

Most lawns are laid with limestone aggregates underneath and sand on the top to weight the grass down. Both absorb urea and absolutely stink after a while.

To avoid the stink install as follows:

15-20mm granite chippings (compacted) for the base
Granite dust for the layer beneath the surface
Zeofill instead of sand for the top dressing

Costs a fair bit more but won’t stink and cheaper than ripping it up and starting again.

We have had artificial grass for the last 15 years. It just suits our lifestyle and after 4 attempts at getting a decent lawn in our old house we just gave up. With the cost of the turf, the miracle grow stuff etc it just became a losing battle in a small garden surrounded by 6ft fences. We gave in and put artificial grass in and never once had any issues. Its a myth that it gets too hot. My young children used to roll about on it in baking heat. It meant they could play on it literally minutes after the rain stopped and it meant when we got dogs we never had any issues with cleaning their paws. In fact we would let them play outside AFTER a walk to clean their paws on the turf. No smell issues as we were advised not to put the soft material down underneath that absorbs the piss. We cleaned it once a year and it never gave any issues.

Moved to a new house with bigger garden and 1st thing we did was replace the nightmare new build turf. All our neighbours complain about their shite gardens while we again can go out within minutes of rain stopping etc. We designed the new garden so that in the future if we want turf again, it will give us a much better oppertunity of a good lawn, but for now it just suits our lifestyle.

Oh and i get a happy smile every time i sit out in the sun hearing all the neighbors having to mow their lawns.

I did this back in the summer. New build house with some awful turf laid by the builders and my garden was on a huge slope which rendered it mostly unusable. In addition it became a swamp in winter and it meant our dog got filthy as soon as went outside.

Pics here

What is the last thing you made? (pics pls)

I used this: https://www.grass-direct.co.uk/madrid-artificial-grass.html

In terms of ensuring dogs don’t make it smell, do not use sand as the sub-base under the grass. That’s what causes their pee to smell. Use a base of “grano dust” instead. We’ve had zero smell issues during that hot summer

Oh and i get a happy smile every time i sit out in the sun hearing all the neighbors having to mow their lawns

I love mowing the lawn! Amazingly therapeutic. Am I alone?!

Guardian article on fake grass.

I love mowing the lawn! Amazingly therapeutic. Am I alone?!

I am kinda with you there – but it does start getting a bit tiresome by late summer/autumn having to find 2+ hours every other weekend. And with the relatively warn autumn we’ve had, I am still cutting it now FFS.

I love mowing the lawn! Amazingly therapeutic. Am I alone?!

Same here. Love doing it. The smell, striping it etc. I love my lawn.

Again cross reference this thread with the ones about the impending ecological armageddon

using petrochemicals to provide fake grass at significant carbon cost rather than carbon reducing grass and plants

Fake grass is also bad for biodiversity – urban gardens are surprisingly important for wildlife and local air quality

This is in a microcosm shows all that is wrong with western lifestyles

it does start getting a bit tiresome by late summer/autumn having to find 2+ hours every other weekend.

Are you using nail scissors?

Takes me about 15 mins including getting mower out and putting away. I don’t **** about with stripes though, obvs.

I quite enjoy cutting the grass, but unfortunately it doesn’t like growing in our north facing garden that is surrounded by trees. We’re also sorely tempted to go artificial as we’ve two dogs and two football loving kids so not dragging mud through the house is appealing.

I understand the ecological argument but would rather have a garden we can use properly.

Another weirdo that loves a real lawn. I get a bit cross when my son starts welding car stuff on the side lawn, or spraying car chemicals near my lawn. At least the burnt grass does grow back.

This is in a microcosm shows all that is wrong with western lifestyles

Depressing isn’t it. Sod the environment don’t want muddy paws on the dog! Hate how many gardens must be tortured into an immaculate extension of the house.