artificial grass

[Verona]

Hi

 

Was just wondering whether any of you have artificial grass down. There is a large area at nursery that doesn't get used in wet weather because it is much too soggy and a bit of a risk to those going onto it. When artificial grass is wet, I've been told, it is very slippery ??

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

V

[Melba]

We have artificial grass as well as soft play surface and the grass is much safer in wet or icy weather. The children hardly ever fall over on it while the soft play surface is lethal once it is damp.

[stmatthewschadd]

we have artificial grass and the children love it, we had to get it because the real grass was unplayable due to large trees from next door blocking any light so it never grew (and was always muddy)

Ofsted weren't impressed so we have real grass in lots of tubs for children to feel, touch smell .

[Verona]

Thanks for your replies. Are there many types of artificial grass and if so which is best? I assume the best is the most expensive........

 

V

[Melba]

Ours was not anything like the most expensive and the rep was the one who talked us into something cheaper.

[laura]

We went cheap and cheerful, and did it all ourselves, just hired the equipment and got a willing husband to do it! It was hard work but we saved over £1500! Our first lot has been down a year and is still perfect and it's had a lot of use. We've just done our other garden this September.

[Guest]

Really sorry but wet soggy real grass being a risk!!!

 

There is nothing like experiencing the real deal,

 

There is nothing like laying on grass and picking at it, pulling daisies in the summer, collecting cuttings to make a birds nest, looking through magnifying glass to spot the wildlife or the frozen blades of grass in winter or playing on the muddy part with water from the tap

 

Life is about taking risk, better not tell you about climbing our trees

Edited October 11, 2013 by Suer

[Helenee]

We are just considering artificial too and I am sad about it. We are very real here and love natural - all our resources are wood, metal etc. we don't have primary plastic toys and yet we are going to have fake grass. Which is just mad.

 

Sadly have no choice though -we turfed the garden 2 years ago but the enormous fir trees that border us have killed it again. Having battled with no grass for 7 years and the wrath of the parish council who want to know what I do to kill it, I have admitted defeat. In the summer term we didn't have a blade of grass just dust that went in faces and made every one look like they had emerged from a chimney - picking daisies sounds, collecting grass for nests would be a dream. With winter coming I will have a mud swamp !

 

So fake it is for us !

 

To counteract the grass we have a great bark area with digging and mud kitchens in and then a pebble path on a slope so it's like walking up a beach and going to stone the water area to add different textures. We also have 6 planters that house herbs, fir cones, pine needles - so not all bad. Just wish I could have daisies.

[SueJ]

We made the decision to have fake grass after battling with the real stuff in a part of our garden that we reclaimed from a wilderness state.

Benefits

It can be used all year round with all resources on it

We have tyre planters for children to plant into and have two Spring tyres for bulbs and primroses/primulas, another tyre with a small willow to show seasonal change which we underplant with annuals such as love in a mist and another tyre with bamboo which we are growing to form a den type area.

The "grass" area also has a large sandpit and our Wendy House on it.

When we installed it we were concerned that we had lost some of the "natural feel" but the children love it and one little one dived across it so that he could rub his face and hands in it and pronounced that he loved it.

Low maintenance with no mowing - which when you are a term time setting is a real benefit especially over the six weeks break and when it's dry we can brush it clean and have even on occasion given it a good hoover !

 

Disadvantages

Cost - however we got a local trade to do it for £1500 and it is guaranteed for 10 years

For those of you who worry about loosing the natural look - well we have had it for two years now and nature will out - some of our annuals such as love in a mist and california poppies have self set and we are letting them grow through without the area returning to a wilderness of nettles and brambles.

We are very lucky that our Church landlords are v. amenable and let us reclaim the wasteland when capital access grant funding was available so therefore it didn't cost us anything. Our original playground (which we still have was a mix of concrete and spongy play surface) so nothing natural there.

At one point in our "grass" garden we had a one meter square raised bed which we divided up into a "square foot garden" for planting edibles and cropped radish, beetroot, lettuce, garlic, spring onions and potatoes. We have however "reclaimed" a grass strip in the church carpark and now have an allotment instead. And yes we do know how lucky we are, however I think that our Church landlords now appreciate that we are a bit like "friends with benefits" as our outdoor space has greatly improved what was there originally and the Church parishioners (always good to have them on board) like the changes we have made.

I hasten to add that this has all taken time - we have been there nearly 10 years now.

So to all nature lovers out there - a fake grass garden is not necessarily the death knell to nature that it is perceived to be :1b

[Mouseketeer]

We have an area of A.Grass, which has worked really well, ,also have grassed (well what's left of it) garden, but a word of warning, we have a shaped outdoor mirror (perspexy type thing) on fence by it, and where the hot sun reflected off it it actually melted fine strips of it when sunny it is always canopied but it had been taken down over a weekend.

[Poohshouse]

We have artificial grass which we brought of the internet and had laid by a gardener - much cheaper.

Our garden is sectioned into 3, artificial grass, bark and nature areas and a real grass section. I very much believe that children should have the opportunity to make mud pies, dig up earth worms etc. We have the best of both.

[Guest]

our garden is used all year round most of my children come in, currently looking like they have done the rounds in a mud pit, it's fine, it's learning, some of our grass is worn away but that's fine too.