Do you have a problem lawn? Is too much shade from trees or kids play apparatus or overuse from the children playing football and other sports taking its toll on your grass? If the answer is yes, have you considered artificial grass?
I know you are picturing that horrible bright green fluffy stuff that they use in greengrocers’ displays aren’t you? Well don’t, artificial turf has come a long way since then.
A couple of summers ago we paid someone a lot of money to come and re-turf our lawn and for the first year it was fine. The following summer it had become clogged with weeds and patchy again. We deliberated long and hard over what to do with it and in the end we opted for artificial grass. There are several companies out there who supply artificial grasses and one of them is a company that I am familiar with as we have sold their specialist cricket matting for years.
They sent us some samples and we chose the turf that we thought would suit our needs and our budget the best. We have two small children and so have a climbing frame in the garden and also they like to run around and kick a ball about or play cricket, even ride their bikes.
All of the artificial grasses we looked at were suitable for gardens and children’s play areas and also they are made with top quality sports fibres to withstand repetitive active use. We were more worried about the price than the look of real grass, but some of them are very realistic and designed especially for those who want the look of an immaculate lawn. Even though we chose one that was more for play and sport but also for lawns we are very happy with the look of it. It looks really neat compared to the neighbours’ before they’ve had a chance to mow it and it’s much more uniform as they still have the problem of the tall trees that surround us and give a lot of shade at times causing patches.
We were worried that fitting it might be difficult and delivery could be tricky as we live in a mid-terrace house, but we needn’t have worried on either count. The grass came in a big roll like a carpet and as we had already prepared the ground for either turf or matting laying it was easy. All we had to do was compact some fine gravel over the ground and then roll out our lovely new lawn. The only problem we had was the weather after that as it rained continuously. This meant we still haven’t dressed the artificial grass with sand, which helps to hold it in place and last for longer. Instead we secured the edges to some wood staked into the ground and it hasn’t moved. So we have a nice soft lawn feel which is nice to play on. Even with all the really heavy rain we’ve had it has drained fine too.
So will I go back to real grass in the future? I don’t think so, we seem to have so little time to look after it properly and really resent spending the time we do have doing things like lawn mowing. The artificial grass is so much more practical for us and it has the advantage of being free draining and soft over paving. It may have cost quite a bit more than real grass but having tried the other way and having to replace it after a year, for me the price was worth it – plus there are no rows over who has to cut it! A beautiful garden and domestic bliss, what more could you ask for?