Artificial Grass

Look at these temperature comparisons and think of your dear moggy’s paws in the summer ??

Not something I would ever recommend. Looks a bit naff & ot environmentally friendly either.
If it were me choosing I would do a mix of gravel & paving with planting in between. Put some catnip in and a litter tray by it for poor elderly moggy .

I have a strip of it down as it makes the transition to the paving stones seamless for my dgs. And me. It does get weedy and hot in the summer sun, which I didn't know beforehand. I'm considering getting it lifted when I get some work done in the garden and laying turf instead.

Loathsome stuff, what about the ecosystem!?

We were given a few panels but our little rescue kittens have a propensity to wee on it and pull the plastic tufts out so we got rid of it.

We were looking at this one:
www.royalgrass.com/eco-friendly-artificial-grass
We have borders with soil, bushes, trees, plants as well as areas with wooden sleepers, and gravel of different colours.

I take the point very seriously about the heat within the product and will look further into that Maw thank you.

We have been battling the spread of moss and a creeping weed that can’t be controlled despite our best efforts.

I’m not a lover of it at all. My friend has it front and back of her house. I love to see a lawn. I understand people aren’t able to cut their grass with health issues etc so I wouldn’t say anything to my friend about hers. I love to walk barefoot on grass. We have quite a big lawn and hubby is in good health to cut it but we realise it will be too big for us one day. DH won’t have artificial plants or flowers in the house either.

Dreadful dreadful stuff terrible for wildlife looks awful gets very hot and what if cats wee on it yuk
I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole

There is a house near us with false grass, and false shrubs in pots.

It looks like a big dolls house.

Far better for your cat and the environment to have your existing grass taken up and new turf laid.

Our AC are keen gardeners, including veggie gardens and fruit trees. Bug, butterfly and hedgehog houses also.

One has a very large long garden, and has laid a section with artificial grass for the childrens slides, toys and it allows them to ride their scooters, bikes etc and play out all year round.

It does get hot when the sun is strong, and it’s been turned into a game with sprinklers for the children to run through and play in.

He has said that as soon as they no longer need a play area it will be returned to natural lawn like the rest of the garden.

There have been many 'discussions' on GN over the years about the pros and cons of artificial grass.
Many years ago I would have been firmly in the Real Grass court. ? .
But, since old age and severe health conditions have caught up with us, we went down the Artificial Grass route.
We have not regretted it, although many on here disagreed.
Have you tried getting someone in to cut the grass? Absolutely none here, unless you want to agree to an enormous monthly? or regular contract fee, and then they may just decide to go to pastures new.
So we continue to look out onto our small, neat and tidy back grass. Perhaps we are selfish, but we have no pets to consider.

I can see there are some very strong views on this and it is perhaps a whim on our partto want some lush-looking grass without the bother of cutting it weekly for 2/3 of the year.
The alternative is to get someone to treat the moss and insidious week that I can’t get rid of - but again, because we have a cat I do not want toxic treatments put on the lawn.

I think the way to go is to lift the turf and replace it with new.
It may be a similar cost too.

Thank you all for your comments.

You’re not selfish Auntiflo - enjoy your evergreen and neat lawn.

This one of those areas where we may have to inconvenience ourselves . Artificial grass is plastic. Please don’t add any more to the environment. Bark is a better surface for children's play areas.

We inherited a large fake lawn with our house move.
As it had been recently put in to a very high specification we are keeping it for now.
It does require maintenance, mainly a weekly brush with a stiff broom. Outdoor vacuum cleaners are available but not recommended as they will loosen the tufts.
.
We have trees behind the house - if leaves fall on it they will
rot down and so provide ideal growing conditions for weeds. Leaf removal duty took an hour each and every day in the Autumn.
We haven't been here for a Summer yet but will be keeping an eye on the temperature.

When the time comes to replace it we will have quite a job to bring the surface up to being ready for a decent grass lawn. The area below the fake grass has been prepared with a crushed stone layer and has been heavily compacted to make it level.
If we put anything on it it leaves a mark. Yesterday I put the trays of seedlings out for an airing and then had to work quite hard to remove the imprint when I took them back in. So if furniture goes on it then it'll have to stay where we put it.
Pro's and Cons of course - it does look neat and we can walk on it all year (it makes a crunchy sound!). On balance I'm not as anti it as I thought I would be before living with it.

An interesting and balanced view post lixy . Thanks.

We had artificial grass laid in the very small garden of our sole rental property. It had originally been transformed from a badly neglected jungle (inside was even worse!) with beds and a very small real lawn, but after maybe 8 years it was in a very bad state and beyond saving.

Our previous tenants, who were there long term, had two (not indoor) cats, and I can’t see that during their last couple of years after the ‘grass’ was laid, there has been any damage to it at all.
I was always anti artificial grass but in some cases it may be the most practical option if you don’t want a hard surface, like paving or gravel.

It certainly looks considerably better than the equally small, patchy, and very tired-looking real lawn in a neighbour’s garden.

There was a section of artificial turf in our new home. It is set out as a 3 hole putting green and a half cricket pitch. It will stay as it is a bit of fun. OH likes it because he does not have to mow it and it always looks good. But weeds do grow through it and moss does grow on it so it is not maintenance free by any means.

Not sure how hot it gets but you can now get some that are heat resistance which I'm told don't get anywhere as hot.

I am inclined to agree with PECS and go down the gravel and paving route but weeds are also a nightmare there also.

A few years ago my local Cat Protection League would not foster or adopt cats to homes with artificial grass because of the paws burning.

Nothing appears to be maintenance free.

An artificial lawn uses copious amounts of plastic

Plastics from artificial lawns will leech into the soil and pollute it for centuries

Soil life cannot survive underneath artificial lawns

Plastic grass can’t or won’t be recycled

Astro turf has a big carbon footprint from manufacture, transport and installation

Better to give a local kid a job to mow a lawn once a fortnight in the summer wouldn’t cost that much and be sooooo much better for the environment and do a youngster a good turn

Artificial grass is depressing stuff, IMO. Other than on some sports pitches, or in very small areas (a maximum of a couple of square metres, perhaps on a balcony) I think it looks awful - and it's dreadful for the environment, both in the production process and when laid down in use.