www.which/co/uk/gardening 00 |Month 2009

If you’re fed up with trying to maintain your turf, maybe it’s time to consider an artifi cial alternative – we test the optionsIf you’’re fed up with trying to maintain your turf, maybe it’s time to consider an artificial alternative – we test the options

Artifi cial grass

The lawn is an essential

part of a British garden,

but these days it doesn’t have

to be made of real grass.

Keen gardeners spend hours

each year tending their lawns

and would baulk at the idea

of artifi cial grass. But if you

hate mowing, are too busy or

have boisterous kids or dogs,

then artifi cial grass might be

worth considering. We look

at the options available.

June 2009 | 29www.which.co.uk/gardening

ON TEST

ARTIFICIAL GRASS

MOST EXPENSIVE

Of the three types of fake grass we trialled, the most expensive looked the best and all were low maintenance

WHAT WE THOUGHT OF ARTIFICIAL GRASS

How good do they look? Like everything, you get what you pay for.

The cheaper products look like the sort of

bright green baize used by greengrocers

which are OK on a pitch-and-putt golf

course but not what you want in a garden.

Some of the more expensive types of

artifi cial grass are held in place by

brushing a layer of fi ne sand into the pile,

which makes the individual strands stand

upright. The mid-priced grass we tested

was one of these but it still looked fake

when compared with the real grass.

The best fake grasses are hard to tell

from real grass from a distance. The most

expensive we tested was also the

most realistic and could easily be

mistaken for grass from a distance.

How much do they cost? Most artifi cial grasses come in rolls that

are two or four metres wide. Cost-wise,

they work out at anything from £10 to £30

a m2 (on a par with carpet!). You could

try laying it yourself but if you want a

good-quality fi nish, it’s probably best to

employ a local landscaper or an artifi cial

lawn specialist to fi t it for you. This will

add considerably to the cost, depending

on how much preparation is necessary.

A typical lawn may take a two-man

team a day to prepare and lay.

Compared with real turf (which costs up

to £6 a m2), fake turf is expensive, but if

you cost the time and eff ort involved in

maintaining grass, you could make

long-term savings (see cost table, p31).

It’s well worth researching the colours

and fi nishes thoroughly and requesting

samples of the diff erent materials to

make sure they fulfi l your requirements.

How do I install one? The preparation is very similar to laying

grass turf. You’ll need to remove any

We bought three lengths of

artifi cial grass, representing

the top, middle and bottom

of the range from one of the

major manufacturers. We laid it, along

with a similar-sized patch of quality turf,

and monitored it over a year. In late

summer, we simulated light and heavy

foot traffi c using a special ‘wear machine’.

Our experts commented on how easy

each type was to lay, its visual appeal

and how it stood up to wear and tear.

WHAT WE DID

CHEAPEST

Strips of turf and artifi cial

grass at our test site

MID-PRICE

grass aThe wear machine

30 |June 2009

existing turf then create a fi rm, level

surface topped with a layer of coarse

sand. Some manufacturers recommend

laying a weed-proof membrane too.

For larger areas, rolls are joined

using special tape and adhesive.

The material is cut with a knife and

butted

against

a hard edge,

tacked to

wooden

edging

boards, or

buried to keep it

in place. With

some types (as with the

mid-priced grass), dry sand

is brushed into the pile. You can

also lay some artifi cial grass onto a hard,

even surface such as concrete by simply

gluing it. It took our experts about 30

minutes to cut and lay the 6m2 rectangles

for our test – about three times longer

than they took to lay the turf. For large or

complicated areas, it’s probably best to get

a professional to fi t it for you. Professionals

should also remove an existing lawn

and prepare the surface properly.

Do they need any maintenance? You certainly don’t need to cut, weed,

feed, edge or scarify a fake lawn but you

will need to blow or rake autumn leaves

off it and hose off dirt or animal droppings.

Otherwise, a quick brush over every now

and then to raise

the pile

should

keep it

looking

good. Artifi cial

turf laid with sand

brushed into the pile will need

an annual top-up and we found

the sand acted as a seedbed for

weeds, which need to be removed, either

by hand or using a weedkiller. Artifi cial

lawns in shade may attract moss, but this

can be controlled with a mosskiller.

How do they stand up to wear? In our tests, the real turf was badly

damaged by heavy wear, although

it had recovered by the end of the trial.

However, wear made no impression on

the artifi cial grass. We did fi nd though,

that mud transferred from adjacent areas

spoilt the appearance of artifi cial grass.

Most of the products are guaranteed

for fi ve years, but the manufacturers claim

that products will last at least 15 years.

David Jewell is the superintendent

responsible for the Model gardens at the

Royal Horticultural Society gardens at

Wisley. One of them, the Family Garden,

had a real grass lawn when it was

constructed, but the wear and tear was

starting to take its toll. If only a fraction of

the 800,000 or so visitors each year tramp

across the lawn, that’s a lot of feet! So

two years ago, the turf was replaced with

artifi cial grass. It has stood up remarkably

well and needs only minimal maintenance

– a quick brush with an ordinary stiff

broom every now and then to raise the

pile. David reckons that most visitors

probably aren’t aware that it’s not real

grass until they are halfway across.

David also pointed to another Model

garden with a tiny, awkwardly shaped

lawn that was proving diffi cult to mow.

He replaced this with artifi cial turf as well

– this time with a much longer pile –

which has proved equally successful.

‘IT HAS STOOD UP

REMARKABLY WELL

AND NEEDS ONLY

MINIMAL MAINTENANCE –

A QUICK BRUSH WITH AN

ORDINARY STIFF BROOM

EVERY NOW AND THEN

TO RAISE THE PILE ‘

Dirt needs hosing

off artifi cial grass

Expert view

David found fake grass to be

the solution to heavy footfall

June 2009 | 31

ON TEST

ARTIFICIAL GRASS

WHERE TO BUY

Artifi cial Grass Ltd

0800 652 1281

www.artifi cial-grass.com

Artifi cial Lawn Company 01474 364320

www.artifi ciallawn.co.uk

As Good as Grass 0845 221 1345

www.asgoodasgrass.co.uk

Prima Lawn 0845 257 0043

www.primalawn.co.uk

Verde 01254 831666

www.artifi cialgrass.org.uk

For most gardens, there’s

still no substitute for real

grass. However, for small

gardens with awkwardly shaped lawns

or small lawns used by children or dogs,

fake grass becomes a viable alternative.

It is pricey to install, but it will remain

green whatever the weather throws at

it, will take heavy wear and will require

very little maintenance once it’s set up.

Mr and Mrs Barnes from

Dorset share their garden

with their two dogs.

Originally, most of the garden that wasn’t

planted was gravelled. Although this

was less easily damaged than grass,

they felt it looked rather stark.

They asked a local contractor to

remove the gravel and replace it with

artifi cial turf, leaving the plants and beds

in place – these intricate shapes would

be diffi cult to maintain as grass turf.

The Barnes wanted to soften the

appearance of the garden and make it

more dog friendly so they opted for a

soft sand-infi lled

artifi cial turf.

The result has

the appeal of a

real lawn but the

Barnes don’t

have to worry

about their

dogs damaging

it. And they

say it’s ‘zero

maintenance’.

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Ourverdict

COSTS FOR A 20m2 LAWN

Initial costs

Annual costs

Time spent on maintenance

Total over 15 years

Real turf Fake turf

£120 for good-quality

turf (much less from

seed); £130 for Best

Buy electric mower

£400 for good-

quality artifi cial turf

(considerably more to

have it installed)

£4 for lawn weed, feed

and mosskiller

15 minutes a week

mowing and trimming.

1 hour a year feeding,

raking, edging etc

£310 (£20.66 a year)

plus more than 4

extra man-days of

maintenance!

Up to £4 for a bag of

sand and spot weeder

as required

1 hour a year brushing

etc

£460 (£30.66 a year)

What are the environmental implications? Most of the worms and soil insects that

thrive under a real lawn won’t survive

under artifi cial grass. This means that fake

grass won’t be attractive to blackbirds

and other birds, nor do they absorb

carbon dioxide or have the cooling eff ect

in summer (see our eco article in the May

issue). However, they will allow rain to

drain away as effi ciently as real lawns.

Mr a

Dors

with

Originally most of th

Membercase study

Artifi cial lawns won’t

appeal to blackbirds

say it s

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gravelled garden

Fake grass gives

the garden a

lush appeal

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Delite

EcoSense

Silk35 Velvet

Silk25

ExclusiveSatin

p/m2

£ 24,9

5 p/m2

£ 32,9

5

p/m2

£ 24,9

5 p/m2

£ 27,9

5

p/m2

£ 27,9

5

p/m2

£ 31,9

5

p/m2

£ 25,9

5

Royal Grass®

...prices 2012

Sandfill

p/m2

£ 6,95