Artificial Grass: Beauty or Beast?

Striking green weed-free lawns are popping up everywhere. How can this be? Well, it’s because they are artificial and becoming increasingly popular.

The practice of replacing natural laws with ’fake grass’ is controversial, The Royal Horticultural Society, The Landscape Institute and the Society of Garden Designers are all campaigning against its use. So, what are the merits?

Here are some pros, cons and alternatives to consider:

The Pros

An artificial lawn is always fresh-looking and green, whatever the time of year. It enables clean children’s play (no muddy footprints in the house following a winter session on the trampoline) and maintenance is low - no Sunday grass-cut, just an occasional sweep-off and a little weedkiller or mosskiller from time to time.

The Cons

Even the best offerings still look artificial and diminish one’s sense of being out in nature when in the garden. They are warm to the touch in summer, rather than pleasantly cool under a barefoot like natural grass.

Natural lawns are a valuable resource for birds, bees and insects, all of which are denied this by installation of artificial grass. Because they are composed of several different materials woven into a ‘carpet’ they are not recyclable. If laid directly onto soil or on just a sand bed they perform badly. Correct installation requires a lot of resources including, disposal of large volumes of soil, importing equally large volumes of aggregates to form a stable base and edging material to finish and contain the mat. This creates a large environmental footprint… and expense!

Alternatives

So, what alternatives are there? The first and most obvious is a well-managed natural lawn, traditionally English, wildlife friendly and lovely under your bare feet. However, to create anything approaching artificial- like weed free greenness does requires rather more than pushing the lawn mower over it once a fortnight. On the other hand, you might consider the lovely white and yellows of daisies and buttercups as wild flowers rather than weeds and accept a little moss.

For a low maintenance alternative, what about a stabilised gravel garden with occasional shrubs and flowering ground cover plants? You can also introduce a dedicated sitting area by installing gravel stabilisation trays, a deck or paving.

There may be a few occasions when an artificial lawn is the right solution, but there are many alternatives and creative garden designs that could provide a richer environment in all senses of the word.

At Haywood Landscapes our landscape gardeners have been advising clients and building beautiful gardens across Kent and the South East for over 30 years.

If you need help finding the right garden solutions for your lifestyle, get in touch with us here or call 01227 733447 today.