New artificial grass - loose bits

An old colleague at work went one better than fake grass, he laid green coloured concrete down instead.

A few years ago the other half got a few quotes in for a fake, plastic lawn as the dog's wee was murdering the exiting natural one - over £4k! Hell no!
 
Played a few seasons of rugby on artificial pitches. It's absolutely minging the amount of bacteria that fester in them.

Get a graze on them and you better get the scrubbing brush and TCP out, and even then end up with skin infections half the time.

No such problems with real grass pitches, even the ones in Barnes covered in goose ****.
 
Lopéz said:
Artificial grass drains, it would flood constantly if it didn't.
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Yes, in the gardens themselves and if it's installed correctly but that's more water entering the drainage system instead of soaking into the ground.

In heavy rains, the drainage systems can become overwhelmed which can increase flooding.

All new estates now have SUDS systems but, I would imagine, that the house builders will build the smallest they can get away with to increase house building land by using calculations based on their housing plan.

If you have a 200 house estate and 25% get fake grass, that's a hell of a lot of extra water for the SUDS to take.

Lots of Google results come up showing this from various sources of you don't want to take my word for it *shrug*
 
Lopéz said:
Artificial grass drains, it would flood constantly if it didn't.
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Dog wee isn't rain. It drains but the residue from pee will stick around. You ever been to a festival when it's sunny, and the sun hits the steal shield/fence? Bleughhh
 
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Today was all about grass. The two contractor guys turned up at half past eight this morning, I had all the accesses sorted for the barrows. Then it rained. They worked the rakes levelling and smoothing the formation, still no turf.
It was due to be from Sandbach nearby but they also had land near Warrington from which they were producing this week. It was promised for eleven but eventually arrived a bit before three pm. We had fed and watered the guys as they waited on the green to arrive.
Two more guys turned up and soon it was going down in style, front and back. At sometime after five pm we had almost [EDIT] one hundred and fifty square yards of fine fresh cut turf laid and looking really smart.
Next doors cat turned up after they had gone and padded around the garden from fence to fence and back again. A quick guilty look at our kitchen window and he was up over the fence, he will be back.

Now it is sprinkler time and in a couple of short weeks the mower comes out for a first long cut. The lawn really makes the garden and setting out some beds will be the summers work as presently it is 100% grass.
 
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Hagar said:
Today was all about grass. The two contractor guys turned up at half past eight this morning, I had all the accesses sorted for the barrows. Then it rained. They worked the rakes levelling and smoothing the formation, still no turf.
It was due to be from Sandbach nearby but they also had land near Warrington from which they were producing this week. It was promised for eleven but eventually arrived a bit before three pm. We had fed and watered the guys as they waited on the green to arrive.
Two more guys turned up and soon it was going down in style, front and back. At sometime after five pm we had almost two hundred square yards of fine fresh cut turf laid and looking really smart.
Next doors cat turned up after they had gone and padded around the garden from fence to fence and back again. A quick guilty look at our kitchen window and he was up over the fence, he will be back.

Now it is sprinkler time and in a couple of short weeks the mower comes out for a first long cut. The lawn really makes the garden and setting out some beds will be the summers work as presently it is 100% grass.
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Pics
 
Richie said:
I see more and more fake grass getting fitted where I live.

It makes for a depressing, sterile looking sight especially when not fitted properly leaving wrinkles all over it.

The increasing areas now being turned to fake grass is going to do nothing but harm wildlife and increase flooding risks as well as pollute the environment with plastic waste from manufacturing it and also from microplastics as the grass wears over time.

It also reduces carbon consumption as well as increasing environmental warming as it doesn't absorb either of these.

It should be banned, not lauded as the future.


Edit - I'll ask for any argument as to the pros of this stuff over and above personal preference and practicality of use.

Are there any benefits outside of human convenience?
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None but probably 50% of the houses on my street have fully slabbed back gardens which are just as bad for the environment. In small spaces fake grass is brilliant I’d never lay it in a large garden but as I said it has transformed the way we use our garden and I would never go back.
 
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dLockers said:
Make sure they don't use it in the sun. The heat makes the old car tyre based backing release carcinogenics.
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Isn’t it the rubber crumb in 4G sports pitches that is ground up old tyres? Our fake grass is infilled with sand not rubber crumb.
 
200sols said:
Love hovering over my grass. Oh, you meant hoovering - loving that progress, hoovering our gardens.
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I only hoover the fake grass the raised beds are full of pollinator friendly plants etc. For me
It is progress it means my garden is a usable space year round and in the summer is an extension of our living space. Plus I already own a hoover and now no longer need to carry a lawn mower from my cellar though my Kitchen into the garden and back once a week!
 
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Richie said:
Yes, in the gardens themselves and if it's installed correctly but that's more water entering the drainage system instead of soaking into the ground.

In heavy rains, the drainage systems can become overwhelmed which can increase flooding.

All new estates now have SUDS systems but, I would imagine, that the house builders will build the smallest they can get away with to increase house building land by using calculations based on their housing plan.

If you have a 200 house estate and 25% get fake grass, that's a hell of a lot of extra water for the SUDS to take.

Lots of Google results come up showing this from various sources of you don't want to take my word for it *shrug*
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Rain drains through artificial grass and into the ground underneath the same as it does with real grass the backing let’s the water theough, it doesn’t result in extra run off into the mains drainage system like concreting over your front garden to park your car!
 
dLockers said:
Dog wee isn't rain. It drains but the residue from pee will stick around. You ever been to a festival when it's sunny, and the sun hits the steal shield/fence? Bleughhh
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Artificial grass is great for this a quick blast with a hose and you’ve washed it away and no dead patches!
 
a1ex2001 said:
I only hoover the fake grass the raised beds are full of pollinator friendly plants etc. For me
It is progress it means my garden is a usable space year round and in the summer is an extension of our living space. Plus I already own a hoover and now no longer need to carry a lawn mower from my cellar though my Kitchen into the garden and back once a week!
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You have a cellar, quite rare in the UK. Hope its full of wine?
 
All the new houses in my area have had problems with the gardens because the builders lay turf on unprepared ground, if the grass survives at all it gets water-logged - so of course people look for alternatives. If you want less fake grass or paving that'd be a good place to start.
 
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