Artificial Grass · 6 min read
Seven artificial grass myths worth ignoring
Some of the criticism is fair. Much of it describes badly installed lawns from fifteen years ago.
“It always looks fake”
Cheap, single-tone, uniform-pile grass does. Modern multi-tone yarns with a brown thatch layer and varied blade shapes do not, particularly once the pile has settled and been brushed.
“It smells”
Odour comes from residue trapped in a base that cannot drain. A permeable backing over an open sub-base does not hold residue.
“It floods the garden”
Artificial grass is permeable and usually drains faster than the compacted lawn it replaced. Puddling is a groundwork failure, not a property of the material.
“It gets dangerously hot”
It warms in direct sun, as decking and paving do. Shade and a rinse deal with it. The genuine risk is reflected light from low-emissivity glazing, which can damage any surface — we look out for that at the survey.
“It kills the garden's wildlife”
A short, heavily used natural lawn supports very little either. Most of a garden's biodiversity lives in the borders, hedges, trees and log piles — all of which can stay.
“It reduces the value of the house”
In practice buyers respond to a tidy, usable garden. A poorly installed lawn with visible seams and dips is the thing that puts people off.
“You can lay it straight on the soil”
You can. It will sink, ripple and grow weeds through within a couple of seasons.