HELP: Artificial grass vs the real thing!

kai

kai

kai

Soldato
Joined
15 Oct 2007
Posts
3,247
Location
Wales.
I have made several comments in the past, about the drainage in my garden. We have an issue due the amount of clay and surface water at the rear of the property.

We have had two quotes from a respectable landscaper.

Option One: is for French drains run out to the brook away from the property, and turf the entire area. £900

Option Two: dig out the area and hard-core and compact, this is followed by a screed layer. Artificial grass will then be laid on top of the screed. £1,300.

Option two requires me to provide the artificial grass. Around 30sqm is working out around an £800 – £1200

I am at a sticking point, I really am not sure which option to choose. I appreciate the artificial grass has a lot less maintenance, but what are peoples thoughts? Do you have artificial grass, would you recommend it? or will a “real lawn” always look superior when it has good drainage, and had time and effort put in for the initial preparation?
 
Last edited:
Artificial Grass

single best thing we ever did (house type work) in the last 10 years

ok it's not real, but looks real....actually no, it doesn't look real. It looks perfect, no weeds, no moss, it's fantastic!
 
Option one personally.

You cant easily reverse the option 2 choice, and £900 for option 1, if you end up happy with it then problem solved. If you still don't get on with it in a year's time then option 2 is always there.

My wife wants to put artificial grass in the back garden, but she is a child minder and wants to be able to use the garden all year round with the children. I am still not keen on it being done but this might happen for us at some point.
 
kai said:
Option One: is for French drains run out to the brook away from the property, and turf the entire area. £900
Click to expand...

that's a trench, with a tube in it, filled with gravel and weed fabric on top - do it yourself :o

there is a lot of prep involved in laying a lawn, I wouldn't rely on a builder doing any of that properly because it's not going to be him trying to mow the result.


artificial grass? it's hideous - this is not America, we are not Americans.
 
glen8 said:
Artificial Grass

single best thing we ever did (house type work) in the last 10 years

ok it's not real, but looks real....actually no, it doesn't look real. It looks perfect, no weeds, no moss, it's fantastic!
Click to expand...
Any recent pics of your lawn? most examples are either retail or just after first install.
 
any2yN1.jpg


Here's my mates. Sorry he's showing off his replica crossfit gym.

Had it now 8 months. Brilliant. Kids are on it all year where as mine is unusable for 5 months of the year. Dog hasn't ruined it and it's dry within 5 minutes of the rain stopping.

Cost him a fair whack though £6k and the garden is probably 4x the size of the picture.
 
We are going artificial when we can afford it, selling the expensive lawnmower and never having to waste time or wait for the sun to mow it :D :D :D
 
One thing that puts me off the Artificial is it looks too 'perfect', un natural and sticks out like a sore thumb!

I do like the idea behind it, having a dog which likes to be in and out all the time the reduced need of having to wipe his paws of any mud is a big plus point however I do enjoy mowing!
 
We had artificial grass in our last property. Brilliant the only downside is in the summer it can stink with our dog peeing on it all the time so we had to hose it down.
 
GinG said:
One thing that puts me off the Artificial is it looks too 'perfect', un natural and sticks out like a sore thumb!

I do like the idea behind it, having a dog which likes to be in and out all the time the reduced need of having to wipe his paws of any mud is a big plus point however I do enjoy mowing!
Click to expand...

Have a look at evergreens. They do a few ranges with different shades of green in so it looks natural.

oh....and a very important point!!! Do NOT let your kids near it with a pair of scissors. Unlike real grass, it doesn't grow back!
 
GinG said:
One thing that puts me off the Artificial is it looks too 'perfect', un natural and sticks out like a sore thumb!

I do like the idea behind it, having a dog which likes to be in and out all the time the reduced need of having to wipe his paws of any mud is a big plus point however I do enjoy mowing!
Click to expand...

glen8 said:
Have a look at evergreens. They do a few ranges with different shades of green in so it looks natural.

oh....and a very important point!!! Do NOT let your kids near it with a pair of scissors. Unlike real grass, it doesn't grow back!
Click to expand...

Most suppliers now do much more realistic ie less perfect looking finishes the key is to avoid cheap uniformly green products and go for something with some variation/brown in it as this is much more like a real lawn. We are committed to having artificial grass when we re-do our lawn it's a small space which can hardly justify the storage of an old push and shove mower and half the year it is two wet to use!
 
If you are not bothered by the actual fact that the grass is real or you like tending to the lawn, then there is no contest.

I have heard many good things about fake lawn - mostly along the lines of: "you only have to hoover it now and then".:)
 
Will be keeping an eye on this thread. We have decking and a patio but I'm not keen of the flags we used for the patio so I'd like to have artificial grass put down. Not a massive area but no idea what sort of grass to get or who to use to lay it.
 
Having lived with a garden that was more clay than anything else, we put in a drainage solution, removed some clay, added top soil, connected the drainage to a drain the builders had put in, it made the garden usable for around 18months.
Unless you dig a lot of the clay out, I.e. most of it, your only going to go back to how you are now, just in a few years time.
I would pick artificial, so what it looks perfect all the time, doesn't everyone stride to have the perfect lawn? The only downside is you could re do your garden twice with the cost of the artificial lawn over real lawn.
 
I'm in the same boat.
Garden full of clay and it never a drys out properly.

Had a landscape gardener out and he said drains are useless as the water will always sit on the clay above... And it's really expensive to dig it out and replace with proper soil / drainage.
I have a 250 sq m garden and anything is going to be expensive.
Going to think about doing a partial artificial setup to give the kids something to play on.
If that goes well I may extend it.

Does the water sit on top and drain from the artificial grass easily? I'd be putting it on a slope so could maybe run a drain along the bottom.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom