Artificial Turf? Options

[JRNasty]

I wonder enviromently what the impact is? lawns are homes for little bugs and creatures, and dont worms get confused???

Yes, the worms do. We were warned that a lump may appear under the lawn as worms sometimes come to the surface and then get stuck under the fake grass. Luckily so far this hasn't happened. As for the comment re the grass smelling due to dog wee and it doesn't. I have two dogs, one male and one female and the grass is fine. It's hard to explain but there r little holes in the fake grass to let the water drain thru wen it rains so I think the wee must do the same. It is brilliant tho. All year round lovely short manageable lawn with no brown patches lol

[amber]

Grrrr lovely green lawn, no mowing, no brown patches, jealous

Do you have any photos please?

[Mudhoney]

Can see the attraction for owners, but there is nothing like the feel of real grass beneath your bare feet and the smell of a freshly cut lawn. I feel awful thinking about all those worms trapped beneath the fake grass. Not to mention all the other bugs and creepy crawlies that provide food for blackbirds, song thrushes and hedgehogs. They are struggling to find it anywhere else but our gardens these days.

And if I were a dog I would like to sniff REAL grass, each blade with its unique scent, everything absorbed into the soil.... no, fake grass would be too sterile for me, and in this society where we seem obsessed with covering every inch of land with concrete, build build build, and so little open green space left to exercise our dogs, I'd want to keep my own little patch of natural greenspace just that - green and natural. Muddy footprints are all part and parcel of having a dog!

[GSDSian]

Grass just isn't an option for me here. The garden is so small that any grass would be a dead quagmire in no time. At the moment there's gravel down (which was down when I moved in). I don't see that replacing gravel with artificial turf will have any effect on the local wildlife. Although the dogs will probably find it more comfortable.

Pie in the sky anyway. Its more likely to be bark chippings for the forseeable future.

[spencers mum]

I used Perfect Lawn and they were very good. They will send you out samples and have quite a few different grades to choose from. I picked one with brown bits in it so looks very realistic. Also there is no smell from the dog wees.

I agree nothing looks or smells as good as a real lawn, but if you have dogs it does not stay looking good for long.

[ceri1]

I wonder enviromently what the impact is? lawns are homes for little bugs and creatures, and dont worms get confused???

I don't like the idea either. My lawn is eaten by the chickens and burned by Rosie wee, but its still a home for bugs and worms. I love grass, the smell and feel of it, and i cant see a plastic lawn replacing it (for me or the chickens!).

[rosiemongrel]

I'm not sure I like the idea either, for all the reasons mentioned. May I ask those who have got artificial turf if the dogs roll on it like they do on real grass? My two like nothing better than to roll in grass in the spring, I love the look of bliss on their face when they do it







Do dogs seem to relish artificial turf in the same way?

[pangolin]

Does anyone have experience of dogs skidding around on it? I heard a few years ago that it could cause friction burn but don't know if the newer stuff is better. The dogs are wrecking our lawn with their crazy chase games that result in skidding to a halt near the patio and ripping up half the lawn with it, but I don't want them getting hurt doing the same on artificial turf.

[JRNasty]

My two use it like they did real grass. Roll around sniff it. It still has lots of smells on it. I think my staffy girl likes it better then real grass as its a bit more rough she gets a back scratch whilst rolling. I don't think id have fake grass if I had a large garden but with a 6m x 6m it difnt get a rest and looked an absolute mess.

We still have flower beds and boarders which sprouts real grass so it's not all fake. Just the doggy part. I agree tho nothing quite like the smell of freshly cut grass! I'm very pleased that we have it though, makes the garden look smart but the dogs can do what they like. They both still scruff like on real grass, they just don't bring in half the garden once they have finished lol

[rosiemongrel]

Oh ok, that's really interesting, thanks!

[Zena's Pet]

Can see the attraction for owners, but there is nothing like the feel of real grass beneath your bare feet and the smell of a freshly cut lawn. I feel awful thinking about all those worms trapped beneath the fake grass. Not to mention all the other bugs and creepy crawlies that provide food for blackbirds, song thrushes and hedgehogs. They are struggling to find it anywhere else but our gardens these days.

And if I were a dog I would like to sniff REAL grass, each blade with its unique scent, everything absorbed into the soil.... no, fake grass would be too sterile for me, and in this society where we seem obsessed with covering every inch of land with concrete, build build build, and so little open green space left to exercise our dogs, I'd want to keep my own little patch of natural greenspace just that - green and natural. Muddy footprints are all part and parcel of having a dog!

The thing is, we don't have real grass, which is why we're considering artificial. We're at the bottom of a hill, on clay and everyone above us drains into our garden - including the neighbours utterly disgusting cleaner/disinfectant that they wash the patio with, coz they never walk their dog I don't see any signs of life in our grass as it is, and the dogs pretty much have dead-once-was-green-stuff on icky soil. We do have a nature corner away from the neighbours-from-hell, but in our case, astro turf would probably improve the environment

[aramisty1]

The Artificial Grass Company provide Crufts with their main events rings flooring so Agility/Flyball/Obedience/Group finalists/Best in Show etc get to perform on this. They do a 20% discount after Crufts on the actual stuff they used there (but they are expensive in the first place so not sure if the 20% discount really represents good value lol). They sell samples at Crufts. We have a square mat shaped one by one of our dog flaps but can't say it looks that realistic tbh and I hate to think what it would be like to pick up sloppy poos off it (tho people say you just hose it down?). I fell in love with the Crumb Rubber Ireland stall www.crumbrubber.ie at this year's Crufts so may go that way instead as would like to be able to run our 9 collies on it in winter.

[woofgang]

I guess environmentally it's a balance. Certainly no worse than paving or Tarmac, maybe better than continually using chemicals? I have literally no lawn, just tufts of grass here and there. In the summer it's a dust bowl, in the winter a mud bath. Both are brought into the house in quantity. Areas of my (smallish) garden are kept as a minuscule woodland so there is provision for wildlife. If I seeded or turfed, there is no guarantee it would survive and provide my dogs with a scented green paradise and they would have to have their garden access severely limited while the real stuff grew or rooted. We laid stable mats over the worst part. It was not cheap but the least expensive solution but it does look very ugly.
Does anyone reading this have a small genuine lawn and large lively dogs? If you do, what is your soil type and how do you keep the lawn and allow them free garden access?
And a question for those who have artificial grass, are your dogs diggers? Do they dig the artificial stuff?

This post has been edited by woofgang: 9th Apr 2012, 9:04 pm

[amber]

Does anyone reading this have a small genuine lawn and large lively dogs?

I guess the answer is 'no'

[HoopZ]

I wonder enviromently what the impact is? lawns are homes for little bugs and creatures, and dont worms get confused???

Environmental concerns along with carpet burns would be a worry for me. Anyone who has played sport on artificial turf knows how much those grazes hurt when you take a tumble. The way our nutters play they'd be bald and bloody in a minute.