Go on... elaborate...I assume all the ecowarriors complaining about it have wildflower meadows instead of a lawn - given that an English type short cut grass lawn is pretty hopeless for nature as well.
RIP Lawnmower, Hello Artificial Grass
- Thread starter chroniclard
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Caporegime
I assume all the ecowarriors complaining about it have wildflower meadows instead of a lawn - given that an English type short cut grass lawn is pretty hopeless for nature as well.
Better than a Tesco bag on the floor, I presume.
Keeping your lawn trimmed short minimises it's value. No flowers, no pollen, nothing for insects to feed on. if you are honestly thinking we should be making our gardens a haven for nature, you should be letting it grow, sowing it with wildflowers, letting weeds grow in it.
if, on the other hand, you need to keep it trimmed short so that it's usable, or looks nice... well, you could argue that you're making much the same decision as someone with an artificial lawn - you've just drawn your line in a different place.
Err, ok
Soldato
Since when was this forum all about micro plastic hating eco warrior hippies. It's plastic grass for flip sake not microbeads down the drain.
You are conflating good taste and respect for the environment with some other nonsense that you are against.
The latest trend of outdoors looking like indoors with its pristine lines and lawn that you can hoover is gross. Normally goes hand in hand with anthracite windows and leased Range Rovers.
Leased Astra
Low maintenance and tidy was our goal and we like it, kids love the "grass". To be honest we didn't give a thought to any environmental impact, which in this day and age may be irresponsible.
Though now I have read up on caring for the grass I find it might actually require a fair bit of maintenance keeping it clear and other bits and pieces.
Just need a pagoda thing and corner sofa
for the end bit.As soon as I saw the tent in the first picture after reading the thread title, my very first thought was "now pitch that tent up on your artificial lawn without damaging it". 
Although I can see the reasoning, it looks too artificial and fashionable for me. Why does everything have to look nice yet be artificial?
Although I can see the reasoning, it looks too artificial and fashionable for me. Why does everything have to look nice yet be artificial?
Soldato
Looks stunning. But, lose the plastic and put real grass down.
Maybe next time when it wears out.
Man of Honour
It was much nicer before. It looked pretty low maintenance to me, seeing it torn up is a sad sight.
Your arguments are usually a little more fact based than that one...
Of course a lawn is better for the environment than artificial grass. But speaking for myself, I have two dogs and a child. In our last house the result of that was that the lawn was destroyed every winter, and the child couldn't play on it anyway, because keeping it clean was impossible.
Now, it stands up easily to all the abuse the three of them can offer, can be cleaned much more easily, and if there is ever anything nasty left on it, can be hosed off, disinfected, even bleached if you really want to.
it's been down for 3 years, and still looks like brand new. I check it over for weeds and remove them every now and again, give it a brush about once a year, and run the garden vac over it occasionally.
So, in my case, it's not about convenience. It's about the difference between being able to use it or not. And the borders have plenty of flowering plants in them to make up for the lack of grass.
I've considered doing this to the front lawn too as a balance:
https://www.wildflowerlawnsandmeadows.com/product/low-flowering-lawn-plant-plug-collection/
The only thing stopping me is the conviction that I'd **** it up and kill them all.
Oh, as for the tent - you will still be able to use it, as long as your guy ropes are long enough. Just peg it out into the borders rather than through the lawn.
And last point before bed: Yes, it's a lot of plastic. But it's also got a 20 year guarantee on it, so I confidently expect to last at least that long. If you're going to use plastic for something, using it for something with that kind of longevity seems like a lesser evil.
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Soldato
I wouldn't do my main garden but have a small fake section outside my bifolding doors, excellent for just nipping outside without shoes to sit and not trail mud in, same if I'm looking after next doors dog.
As for the eco thing a lot on here (not necessarily this thread) throw untold chemical crap onto their lawns, I don't, and I'm vegan so I almost have a halo, just saying
As for the eco thing a lot on here (not necessarily this thread) throw untold chemical crap onto their lawns, I don't, and I'm vegan so I almost have a halo, just saying
Soldato
That's truly is awful, if you hated cutting the lawn so much you could have got a robot mower which would have cut it while you slept each night for less than a grand and it'd look 'perfect' every day of the year.
I just don't get having green carpet outside, it doesn't look anything like actual grass so why even bother, why not have gravel or more slabs it just looks cheap and tacky and that's before the environmental considerations of making it a barren wasteland for nature
I just don't get having green carpet outside, it doesn't look anything like actual grass so why even bother, why not have gravel or more slabs it just looks cheap and tacky and that's before the environmental considerations of making it a barren wasteland for nature
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I assume all the ecowarriors complaining about it have wildflower meadows instead of a lawn - given that an English type short cut grass lawn is pretty hopeless for nature as well.
Absolutely, I've eaten into the lawn with more flowers, I have a wild patch around the pond and stream area, wood piles to attract insects etc, don't rip out nettles butterflies love them. It doesn't have to be one big ugly mess to help promote insect and wildlife in the garden. While lawned areas aren't as good as meadows I've never seen a bird pull a worm out of artificial grass.
Soldato
Same here, i cut my lawn high enough that the clover flowers as the bees love it and then leave big patches to nature to go wild each year especially around the edges. I planted 30m of additional native hedging to give the wildlife more shelter and an additional corridor across our garden and dont cut it until everythings finished flowering late in the year which also looks far nicer than any fence i've seen!
Caporegime
Your lawn is now a murder scene, you have to live with that.
Soldato
Congratulations on your chav garden. Looks horrendous.