How to install artificial grass?

Arslan001

I have a lawn and want to install artificial grass. Please advise me on how can I find the best artificial grass?

Woolsery

Yours is really a question for "In my Home" which covers practical aspects of home owning/renting. This section is for the legal/paperwork type issues.

MSE_Laura_F

I've moved this post to 'In My Home', where it should hopefully get more replies.

@Arslan001, a few years ago I ordered lots of different artificial grass samples online. There are heaps of companies who offer free samples - try an online search and pick out a few you like the look of. 

There are so many different styles (short, long, variations of green) so you'll be able to decide which you like best before ordering.

FaceHead

I would recommend starting off by watching a few youtube videos - like this one How to lay artificial grass - YouTube - which will give you a general idea of how the process works. Once you have the general idea, people might be able to answer specific questions you have. 

If you choose a grass first, there will probably be videos of people installing that specific one. 

Like any how-to video, the author is typically trying to sell the product, so will make it look miles easier than it actually is. 

Eldi_Dos

Arslan001 said:

I have a lawn and want to install artificial grass. Please advise me on how can I find the best artificial grass?

Before going ahead with installing artificial grass I would ask what adds more value to my property, a well maintained lawn or artificial grass?
A neighbour got a lawn maintenance company in and for a small monthly fee they come several times a year and apply whatever feed or chemicals required to improve the lawn. The results really improved appearance of lawn, so much so that other people on the street started to pay more attention to lawn care and the result is three years later the whole street looks better and I would say added value to properties and I think added to their kerb appeal and would make selling easier.

ashe

It splits opinion. I don't think artificial grass adds value. There is an argument that it can remove value if people want lawn because it can be expensive to remove, whereas people who want artifical will already expect grass as it's what most people will already have. 

For some people it makes sense - kids playing football, female dogs, dogs that dig, shadey lawns, hate mowing etc 

i used to be in the latter group and hated mowing hut was because I had a crap mower and didn't know what I was doing. Night decent mower. Learned what and when to put on the lawn and now live the look of it and get complements on it regularly. 

But down to personal choice I guess. 

One thing I will say is we do regular walks around our estate and it's a very nice area area with expensive houses. The houses with fake grass stand out a mile, it is always obvious, and we always see people digging by weeds out of it. Also brushing / vacuuming it, spreading sand on it, rinsing it down etc so don't mislead yourself that it is maintenance free. 

Slinky

Our old neighbour had it in their front garden. Then they asked us if we could remove some plants from our border as the petals dropping off were getting stuck in the 'grass'. In the winter they could no longer dump snow off their drive on the 'grass' as the snow would carry dirt off the drive which got into the 'grass'.  It's not the end of problems with a lawn, it brings a different set of problems. Plus it's horrendous for the environment for whatever lives in the ground below the 'grass'.

Also if you have pets or young children, be aware that on a summer's day, your plastic 'grass' will become so hot you can't put bare feet on it, as we discovered when we were on holiday in Italy with a pool surrounded by fake grass.

Gunner276

Don't, so bad for the environment!

tacpot12

We have artificial turf that we laid ourselves. We didn't follow the conventional instructions as we didn't want a completely flat lawn. Our old lawn was quite uneven and this suited our garden and us, so we just laid the artifical turf over the old lawn, having filled in the worst of the divots with gravel and then sand. 

I think the conventional instructions are just a carry-over from when artificial turf was installed as a playing surface for sports, where the surface had to be flat and very supportive and the turf had to be well fixed down. We've had ours down for five years, and it still looks like new. We have two dogs that tear around on it, but have never managed to ruck it up. It was a good quality artificial turf which I think has helped enormously with how it has worn.  

We find it is easy to brush clean, and we have an enzyme-based cleaner that we dilute and sprinkle over the turf with a watering can. We've never put sand down on it. We have odd tufts of grass growing through the drainage holes, but this just makes it look more natural to our eyes. 

SameOldRoundabout

Good quality artificial grass will not be hot in the sun. Warm yes, hot? No. 

We went for this as the only area we could turf of a previously-patio’d yard was very shady and being clay soil would just be a waterlogged mess. We got many different samples of grass online and after choosing our favourite look blind tested it to get the right feel too. We ended up going for one of the more expensive options (£25m2 I think?) but are so happy with it. It looks and feels like grass (albeit dry summertime grass) and gives our garden the look we wanted without the associated mud and mess. We do not have pets to worry about and are happy to just occasionally pull up any weeds. 

We dug down the soul and flattened it, added a layer of stone dust, flattened it, added a layer of sharp sand, flattened it, then the grass. 2 edges are pinned with sleeper flower beds and the other 2 are pinned using the special U shaped grass pins. Kids love it out there and so far so do we. 

It IS bad for the environment, and cheap stuff always looks tacky and fake but it doesn’t have to be that way, and for our small 3x4m shaded patch it works perfectly. 

SameOldRoundabout

Forgot to add, we also put weed membrane underneath the sharp sand.