Anybogy got fake turf?

[Deschodt]

Tired of maintaining my lawn, it' s a no-win situation.. I hate yard work, watering the thing costs $$$r, watch it grow daily, more expenses fertilizing/weeding, pay for getting it cut or take some valuable garage space with mowing equipment. Lather rinse repeat... ugh...

My neighbor zeroscaped with rocks and mulch following the latest water restrictions... it looks asstastic, really, awful!

I just saw some artificial turf at a new public park downtown, it looked *great*. Very real, except walking on it felt like crunching bubblewrap, but I'm not too worried about that, it's for the useless front of the house.

It looked like bermuda, short thin blades but thick by sheer number, but I'm guessing removing trapped leaves from that "mesh" has got to suck as well... If I have to *vacuum* my lawn it's not much better than mowing it.. Looking for first hand experience with artificial turf for your home... small surface... Cost/maintenance vs pavers, would you do it again, that kind of stuff ... Thanks !

[Rick Lee]

I just bought a house that has it. It looks pretty good and professionally installed. If it's cheesy, it's only because no one in AZ could possibly have a lawn that looked like this. Otherwise, it looks pretty cool and is obviously very low maint.

[Deschodt]

I see you have trees with actual leaves (in AZ no less), impressive. So those leaves don't mess up the lawn too much ? I'd feel pretty stupid vacuuming my fake lawn... Just curious !

[tabs]

I got some of the stuff to green up the back yard...I got a good deal and it was still expensive.You still have problems with leaves and other shyte..like in dog shyte...she won't go any place else. You even get a few weeds mostly along the edges

However that said there is no water, no cutting, no fertalizer and that is generally a big plus.

Would I do it again..a big YES

[Rick Lee]

Well, I haven't taken a shop vac to the turf yet, but after watching the landscaping guys use rakes on it, I just might start.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Well, I haven't taken a shop vac to the turf yet, but after watching the landscaping guys use rakes on it, I just might start.

I ask because we got a mongo Pollen season here in FL, and I don't see how the tree sperm "clumps" from the nieghbor's oak tree would magically dissapear on their own ! I love the idea of fake grass, I'm a little scared about the execution ;-) But keep it coming guys, good stuff..

[Hugh R]

My wife had some purchased for the elementary school district that she works for. Said the prep was as expensive as the fake stuff, that may be due to being a school, they dug up the dirt and replaced it with improved drainage and sand.

[fxeditor]

I've got it in my back yard and I love it! Professionally installed synthetic turf looks great, is impervious to dogs (the main reason I got it), and my mow,blow, and go gardener never has to enter my property! It is expensive, which is why I won't be doing it to the front anytime soon, but I can't say anything bad about it!

Michael

[vangndy]

leaf blower will be your best friend. blow everything into a corner and pick up the pile.

[asphaltgambler]

I'm in on this too...I have a whopping 1/4 acre spread that is where grass is supposed to grow. I live in northern VA and the soil is mostly clay- awful. I saw several ads a while back in some franchise publication. Seems to make a lot sense to me - water bill is high already and I don't dig lawn care.

How much per square foot installed?

[dhoward]

Fake turf = Merkin?

[DARISC]

From what I've read, 5 to 10 yrs is the lifespan (and, of course. the older it gets, the worse it looks). It's expensive and I wonder if it's really any cheaper than paying a gardener to maintain a real lawn. I considered it briefly a few years ago, but I'm in So Cal, it's plastic and I don't know that any plastic stands up all that well to strong sunlight.

There's a significant difference between the various products available; some look very realistic, others don't. They all feel like plastic. I was at a local botanical garden recently and they'd installed it in a shady grove where grass wouldn't grow and it looked great (had me fooled at first). I inquired about it on the way out and was told they expected to have to replace it every 5 years.

[jyl]

You can do an attractive, interesting, and low-maintenance yard using drought-tolerant plants - grasses and so on. Just browse a couple months' worth of Sunset Magazine or find a landscaping book.

E.g. Drought tolerant yard (after) - Outdoors - Great home makeover and remodel ideas - Photos - Sunset.com

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by jyl

You can do an attractive, interesting, and low-maintenance yard using drought-tolerant plants -

That's what I did and it's great - low water usage and my gardener only needs to look in and spend an hour or two every month and a half or so. My neighbor has grass and high maintenance plants in a back yard 2/3 the size of mine and has to have a gardening crew in every week (and my back yard's purtyer ).

[Racerbvd]