Grass. IS IT always greener ON THE OTHER SIDE?
Which to go for, the ease of artificial grass, or the joy of a real lawn.
Grass.
It used to be that the choice was simple. You either had a lawn laid, or you decided on something akin to five-a-side pitch and ‘grass’ that looked and felt more like a worn carpet.
But times change and now, it’s not quite so easy a choice.
So how do you choose between them?
As is always the case, it will come down to personal preference and a number of factors.
How much time will you have to care for your lawn?
What are you looking to spend?
What are the growing conditions like? Is the area shaded or bleached in full sunlight?
Who’s going to be using it and what for? For instance, children using the area primarily for a playground will quickly make light work of a lawn.
Right first things first. How good is artificial grass? Well it’s come a long way. And today there’s a huge, very realistic range to choose from. Prices too are also varied, but an average is about £25 per square meter. Now obviously this is more expensive than turf, which is about £3 per square meter, but once it’s down, for the next ten years you don’t have to worry about mowing or weeding.
Which takes me on to the next point, which is about time. Now, if you’ve got plenty of time and you enjoy spending it in the garden, a lovely lawn could be perfect for you. But if, come the weekend, you’d rather be spending your time doing something else, anything else, then maybe an artificial lawn might make more sense.
The more time you have, or are willing to spend on your lawn, will also influence how important a factor your environment is. It’s less of a concern if a lawn’s constantly in the sun and you know you’re always going to have time to be able to water it. But if your lawn’s always going to be in the shade, while you can get grass that needs less light, you might not be so happy having to constantly deal with weeds and moss.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, what are you going to use your lawn for and what do you want from it? If you want to add the final touches to your show home, then maybe an artificial lawn will be perfect. It’s permanently crisp lines and perfect greens will set every home off to perfection and will give you that ‘curb appeal’.
If however you want a space that you can relax on, where children can roll around and will give you that fresh smell of cut grass when you get round to mowing it, then it has to be a proper lawn.
The case for artificial grass
It looks perfect, year in year out, for about 10 years with no effort on your part. While it can look almost as good as the real thing, it can be harder to fall on – which, if you’ve got children you should be aware of. Also, once it starts to wear thin in an area, that’s it. There’s very little you can do to patch it.
The case for grass
It smells great, it’s soft to touch, it produces oxygen and gets rid of carbon dioxide and it can be cheaper to lay. But for all this, it does require maintenance, even if it’s only mowing it every month or so and sweeping away leaves. And if you do get an area that’s going bald, you can reseed it.
My opinion? Go for grass every time, you won’t regret it. But for those of you who really don’t have the time or the inclination to look after a lawn, artificial grass really isn’t as bad as it used to be and makes a very good alternative.