Synthetic Grass?

[Puppylove]

Does any one have it? How much did you pay? Do you like it? Do you have pets? Are they diggers like mine?
I love the idea of not having to waste the water on a lawn, but the prices I've found so far are outrageous!
Let me know what you think!

[Gumbeaux]

Have you ever thought about a lawnless backyard?

http://www.trustcontractor.com/walkway/brick_stone_images/yard_covering.jpg

[Puppylove]

I have, but we have 2 dogs and lots of kids in the extended fam.. And that's kind of my point. I only want a little grass, somthing soft between my toes; the dogs love to roll in it. It is a 30x20 area - the rest is all brick work. But we would have to re-irrigate to grow grass, and we won't remember to water if it isn't an automatic sprinkler, plus I hate wasting water on a lawn. We do it in the front cause we live in a historic neighborhood and people come by for walking tours, otherwise it would be a rock garden! Nice picture though, I wish my brick work looked like that!

[lindrusso]

Where do you live? Do you really have to water the lawn?

I know a lot of people do water, but we don't. I've actually read that during times of drought, it's best to let the grass go dormant - what it would do naturally if we weren't watering. We rarely water the lawn. Our lawn isn't the prettiest, but it survives and we don't waste all that water......

Of course in some parts of the country, you HAVE to water or you have no grass since it doesn't even come close to raining enough.......

[do-lolly]

LOL, I have no idea what synthetic grass is, I'll have to go look it up. I'm laughing because everytime I see this thread title, all I can think about is the episode of Bewitched when their lawn was replaced with that plastic turf grass.:D Yes, I watched far too much television as a child.:o

[Puppylove]

We have to water the grass. We live in SoCal and we tried not watering a couple years ago, between the dryness and the dogs, it tore right up just from them running on it. Now we have a big patch of dirt and eternally filthy dogs!

Do-lolly: we've come a long way since astro-turf, but it's pretty much the same idea! You'd be surprised how natural it can look and feel, but a 30x20 patch can cost upwards of $2,000 :eek:

[avariell]

what about some sort of mulch (or something similar to mulch - maybe that rubbery permanent recycled tired stuff??) area that would be more comfortable to play around on?

i just can't imagine the idea of really having fake grass in my yard :o
we midwesterners just have too much water! :)

[blazedog]

I have no personal knowledge except that on some of the decorating/landscaping programs, people in arid climates like Las Vegas do use it for the look of grass.

From an ecological standpoint, it's difficult to justify non-native gardens in Southern California lovely though a lawn is -- I know my friends who have plantings have astounding water bills.

I would find out what the guarantee is -- i.e. how long is the grass guaranteed to look green and feel nice. Is dog urine an issue? I
At that point, one can do an economic analysis since there is the cost of water as well as grass -- again my friends with lawns in LA periodically have to do the whole sod thing. would imagine when one figures in the cost of garden upkeep, mowing, seed plus water over the life of the artificial grass, it becomes a wash -- if not less expensive than the real thing.

And there is the aesthetic factor -- how does it feel? Is it more dangerous to play on.