Synthetic turf.

[loopyloo]

We just bought this stuff for our back yard that looks like real grass, it feels like real grass, but it doesnt take any of the maintenence of grass. I love my lush green lawn but we wanted an area for our puppy to go and do his puppy things on in his fenced area. I didnt want to run water back there and deal with mowing a small strip. It was $169 for a 5 foot by 10 foot piece. It needed a bit of sand under it and then it was nailed down by nails that were provided. To clean it we spray it with a bit of vinegar then hose it off. It has worked great for our small area. I saw someone with an indoor play area that used this stuff as well.

Have you ever used a product like this? What do you think of it?

http://synthetic-turf.com/shop/playgrounds

 

[Pete]

Yes have used it in the past and was quite pleased with it used it on a very small front garden and the neighbors liked it so much that they went out and bought some for their gardens. That was a few years ago, and like I said it was a small garden not sure if it would suit a larger area. Nowadays it even looks a lot more realistic due to new technologies and it is cheaper. Looked at some at our local Costco about a couple of weeks ago and was impressed with price and look. Worth shopping around as there does appear to be quite a range of price and quality out there today.

 

[cmdr-apollo]

I'm surprised that it looks and feels like real grass! If I had a lawn, I might consider it. I would rather focus on the crops I've planted than the grass, but I never realized there was any choice (well, aside from just killing the grass ). It does look like the technology has improved vastly over the years. I wonder how it holds up with dogs (I only have three non-destructive dogs that are under 15lbs each, but they do have to do their duty...).

 

[Becky]

My husband is quite keen on this because we are having a lot of problems getting our lawn to grow well in our back garden - due to how sheltered it is, the amount of shade and the fact that there is a yew tree in the middle of it (which we cannot remove) the lawn has a lot going against it! We're going to give it a couple of years of TLC, and if it still isn't growing well then we will either re-landscape and put flower beds where the grass doesn't grow, or get a synthetic lawn.

Do you know whether the colour fades over time in the sun?

 

[loopyloo]

Our color has not faded in the year we have had it. I thought maybe summer would damage it. The stuff came with a 25 year warranty but I think from reviews that if it sees a lot of sun the color will fade slightly starting at 10 to 15 years. For the price we paid and the fact that it requires nothing more then a spray with the hose it was well worth it. I figure the cost of the fertilizer and gas from the mower adds up and the time I don't need to spend maintaining it is nice too.

 

[zigs]

I've got the real cheap stuff just to tart my patio up and hide some rough old concrete.



Stayed in a Hotel in Salisbury where they had the more expensive stuff, it was lush