Any thoughts? We are just starting to research this as an option for our garden. Has anyone got any experience with it? Pros/cons?
Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Artificial grass 2Jun 14, 2009 10:55 pm A local shopping centre has it in their outdoor restaurant area (mind blank as to what that's called, lol). And it looks fantastic!! However, in the sunlight it's really quite warm! Wouldn't be pleasant to walk on or play on for kids in the middle of the day in summer. Love Kristi Living the dream. 4 horsey acres in the country. What's the next project??? Re: Artificial grass 3Jun 14, 2009 10:56 pm It's expensive, it's hotter than you can imagine in summer and while you save on water, you increase the cooling needs of your home and it uses a disgusting amount of energy and pollutants to produce, you'd never off set it. The kids may burn themselves on it and it stinks in the heat. i poo poo fake turf Re: Artificial grass 4Jun 14, 2009 11:09 pm Hi Caroline, Please have a look through my thread here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10632 Be warned...in full sun all day it is HOT!!! It still looks good almost a year later, and we haven't had to mow it! Didn't have to pay for it either...even better!! If you have it under a large canopy tree, then it won't get hot, but in full sun it's a shocker. With several days over 40deg in melbourne last summer the heat from the grass actually burnt the plants sitting around the edge of it. Natural grass wouldn't do that. It looks fabulous, but you need to think carefully about where you put it! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Artificial grass 5Jun 14, 2009 11:11 pm We noticed it when we visited some new display homes. In some yards you could smell the rubber but maybe that was cos it had only just been laid? I'd hate to get that rubbery smell wafting around the alfresco on a really hot day? We had decided to get it for the front but then we started to worry about flammability? Not only do we get the occasional carelessly dropped cigarette butt, but there are people who like setting fire to hedges and Adelaide brush fencing, might they take an interest in an expanse of plastic? Um, okay, I see there's been another reply. Or two! Slow down people! Re: Artificial grass 6Jun 15, 2009 3:40 pm The council were putting it down on the median strip in a street near me in Kew. I haven't seen that before. Re: Artificial grass 7Jun 15, 2009 4:33 pm I can't stand the stuff. It looks OK from a distance but up close, even the better quality stuff still looks fake. Some really nice houses near where I live (Hawthorn) have installed it in the front yards and it has totally ruined many of them. I reckon if you can't do real grass, then some type of gravel looks better. Just my 2 bob's worth Re: Artificial grass 9Jun 15, 2009 5:54 pm vgolfer It looks OK from a distance but up close, even the better quality stuff still looks fake. When the sun hits it at a certain angle it does have an unnatural shine. Even a house I drive past regularly where I thought it had been done very nicely, I finally went past at a certain time of day and no, there it was, screaming fake Re: Artificial grass 10Jun 15, 2009 11:50 pm Thanks for all the replies We actually have a large area to be "grassed" and thought the artificial stuff would be better in terms of low maintenance and no watering. I know it's expensive, but so is water . Stormy- is the smell temporary, or does it still smell rubbery? Re: Artificial grass 11Jun 18, 2009 12:25 pm CarolineJ Thanks for all the replies We actually have a large area to be "grassed" and thought the artificial stuff would be better in terms of low maintenance and no watering. I know it's expensive, but so is water . I reckon you'd be better off laying a decent quality drought tolerant turf (some type of buffalo) and install a water tank. Just my opinion but if it's a large area I reckon fake will look - well, fake! Re: Artificial grass 13Jun 19, 2009 12:16 am Fu Manchu It's expensive, it's hotter than you can imagine in summer and while you save on water, you increase the cooling needs of your home and it uses a disgusting amount of energy and pollutants to produce, you'd never off set it. The kids may burn themselves on it and it stinks in the heat. i poo poo fake turf well said Fu. I also don't recommend plastic grass. It's not a good idea you know. And for Feng Shui? obviously it is bad feng shui. Hmmm...it's only my opinion. Re: Artificial grass 14Jun 19, 2009 12:24 am Anyone catch the doco on the ABC about plastic? Watch it and you'll not ever use synthetic turf. You'd be riding a bike for the rest of your life to off set that stuff Re: Artificial grass 15Jun 20, 2009 8:33 pm Fu Manchu i poo poo fake turf I agree, Fu. How can anyone say this stuff is environmentally friendly is anyone's guess. To spruik it as an enviro friendly choice compared with live turf? I don't know how cost comparisons would work, but it's not my choice. A decomp gravel mulched native grasses garden would look the shiz compared with plastic turf, and be much more water friendly. You could use species like Dianella and Lomandra, add in a few good small shrub species in groups, and have informal winding paths in between... just an idea. Whatever you decide, have a bit of fun with it, and enjoy your garden. Re: Artificial grass 16Jun 20, 2009 9:28 pm I meant to watch the doco but we ended up on another channel. I checked and and unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be shown on ABC2. Some "environmentally friendly" things aren't thought through too well. I remember when they first discovered the hole in the ozone layer, a brand of vacuum cleaner was briefly advertised as producing ozone. Problem is, ozone at ground level is NOT a good thing, and does NOT fix the hole up there. For an example of a garden where some of the lawn has been replaced with gravel/pebbles watch Gardening Australia on ABC (repeated tomorrow at 1). And there have been a couple of threads here with inspiring pics. Re: Artificial grass 17Jun 20, 2009 11:47 pm lacebark ... would look the shiz ... That's a cool word and I am going to use it too just watch me In fact everyone should use it For gardening australia http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/ Addicted to plastic... On i-view so you need a good broadband connection. If the link doesn't work go to the ABC home page, start i-view, go to catch up on the left and you'll see the link for "addicted to plastic" http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/384166 Re: Artificial grass 18Jun 21, 2009 12:02 am Fu Manchu lacebark ... would look the shiz ... That's a cool word and I am going to use it too just watch me In fact everyone should use it Addicted to plastic... On i-view so you need a good broadband connection. If the link doesn't work go to the ABC home page, start i-view, go to catch up on the left and you'll see the link for "addicted to plastic" http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/384166 Look the shiz I liked it too! Thanks for the info about i-view! Re: Artificial grass 19Jul 07, 2009 3:13 pm I'm assuming anyone who has artificial grass also doesn't have any dogs? I mean, what happens when your dog decides to.. you know on the grass? Wouldn't it be really hard to clean up!?! And then what if they had eaten something that, ahem, "disagrees" with them the day before and their, you know, was all... you know, fluid! Or am I the only one who has thought about this!? McBecks "Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right." Building With New Generation Homes The Domain Vertu Estate, Harrisdale viewtopic.php?f=31&t=24884 - My building thread Roof is on! Plastering has commenced... Re: Artificial grass 20Jul 07, 2009 5:36 pm McBecks I'm assuming anyone who has artificial grass also doesn't have any dogs? I mean, what happens when your dog decides to.. you know on the grass? Wouldn't it be really hard to clean up!?! And then what if they had eaten something that, ahem, "disagrees" with them the day before and their, you know, was all... you know, fluid! Or am I the only one who has thought about this!? It's a common question, all you do is scoop it up and hose it off. Having said that, it doesnt break down as quickly as real grass would do with the remnants We have laid some artificial lawns but I don't really advertise it, nor am I overly a fan of it. With better landscape design and consideration you can get better results with real turf in the appropriate areas, and designing the yard to have something else in the hotter areas where turf would struggle. A guy told me last year he ripped out a 5 year old artificial lawn that had broken down, and cost a fortune for the customer in tip fee's, labour and reinstallation of new material DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Please help me to answer this question , it will help me a lot as i can go to buy confidently with your recommendation: I want to put synthetic turf in our backyard for… 0 5611 |