Landscaping with artificial grass

[Tizzy]

Wow! I'm struggling to imagine how a concrete yard can look so good!

I put a piece of artificial grass in an IP alfresco. I thought it looked pretty awful when I did it, but it was cheaper/ easier than other options at the time so I did it!

I went back to see the house 6 months later and it's still artificial looking. It is laid on sand and Perth sand goes a long way down so it seems to wash okay. Toddlers are fascinated with the texture, plus it is in shade so maybe that helps it survive.

The really top line stuff that is so expensive looks like the healthiest buffallo you've ever seen. Still looks great on the front garden up the road. But noone actually uses it / sits on it / plays on it. It's just a show garden.

I also put Sir Walter and retic in the front garden of the same IP. Then the retic burst and the tenant ignored that and the lawn starved for moisture. With a bit of care I've got it back okay and I'd have to agree that quality drought tolerant lawn can be a real performer. I wish I had it at my PPOR.

 

[crc_error]

what happens when a dog craps on the plastic grass? what about leaves and other stuff which goes onto it?

sounds like it will need more maintenance than pavers and can potentially rot if a layer of rubbish builds on it.

 

[csc]

Wow! I'm struggling to imagine how a concrete yard can look so good!

yep i agreed with you when he first said what he was going to do but he has a block around 800 sq mtrs, high set house with colourbond shed at the back.........all down one side there is a exposed ag driveway....100% normal concrete as well with the rest of it..heres the catch..he has placed many perfectly placed gardens! quickkerb type thats the key...to breaking up the bland look...a really great pergola with gardens beds of ferns all round...takes him about 15 minutes to pressure clean all the areas once a fortnight..pressure cleaner uses way less water than a hose and does the job in a quarter of the time..... he said he got the idea off the net somewhere....initially he drew up some basic plans to scale and went from there...gardens were first to go in actually, rest over about 12 months...had many a good bbq over there....good luck.

 

[Tizzy]

I must admit, we no longer water our lawn at the PPOR, it looks really awful! Most of the lawns in my street are dead or close to it and people are in various stages of redisigning their front yards to use less water. There are a few that are all paving with raised beds and they can lookquite good. Our "intention" is to do lots of hardscape and raised simple gardens.

crc I can't really comment on leaves or doggy do because there are no trees to drop leaves and the tenant didn't have a dog. I agree, we should have put down paving and we will end up having to carry bricks through the house to redo that courtyard at some point in the future.

With the front aspect of the place down the road, their acrylic always looks perfect and is bordered with clipped short hedges with a fountain in the middle of the grass. Not sure if stray dogs leave their calling card or not, but as I said, Perth is built on sand so it would just wash away anyway with a hose down while watering the border plants.