Any recent astro turf experiences?

B

Blackrock1

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We got a lovely cocker spaniel last year, unfortunately my lawn isnt taking that well to the news, between the rain and lawn getting mucky and wet (and then the dog also getting mucky) and the yellow patches from her peeing i am starting to consider taking up the lawn and putting astro in. Area is probably 40 sq/m

Has anyone put in astro recently thats not too fake looking and are there ones that work better for pets (im thinking drainage for urine mostly).
 
We had a beautiful lawn destroyed by a new dog some years ago so made the move to artificial. There is a range of options available depending on intended use, traffic etc.

No problem with dog waste since and it still looks lovely 6 years on. Perfect also for playing football, chipping golf balls etc.

We’re not keen gardeners so glad to have a maintenance free lawn. I’m sure it wouldn’t be for the purists though.
 
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Clover lawn is a great alternative to grass. It's hardier, resists drought, low maintenance, less affected by dog urine, and is good for biodiversity, especially for bees. The world doesn't need another 40sqm of plastic.
 
thanks all, grass or clover isnt going to solve the issue, our garden has poor drainage and now has a dog weeing on it, for 9 months of the year the grass is a mess and leads to her tramping mucky paws everywhere, id rather not have astro but its the best option for now. While we are at it, anyone know someone would do the work on installing an in ground trampoline??
 
We got Astro about 3 years ago. Dog was 2 at the time and similarly our garden was totally dug up by the dog; I found if I went out to the clothes line when it was raining my shoes would be filthy coming in too. We also have a 17 foot trampoline and no grass was growing underneath due to the shading. It was a big enough job and all materials had to be brought in through the house (no open side access).
What's available varies in quality; We used this : https://www.facebook.com/amazonicaartificialgrass/
it looks perfect still. Took the guy about 7 days to complete. It was a big enough task to level the ground first too.
If you do go for it, put something in the corners to 'block' them, have 2 friends and the dogs pulled up the fake grass in the corners, a garden chair will do, your dog is still young and will probably try and dig there
Really like the fake grass, our garden is small enough and neither of us are green fingered.
 
Irrespective of drainage i find the urine smell can be particularly bad during the hotter summer days. We wash our lawn weekly with a gentle power washer attachment that keeps the smell at bay.

Secondly if your dog likes to dig then damage to the artificial grass can happen very quickly.

Also a lot of places advertise this as maintenance free and it is definitely not. Leaves and small debris gets caught in the turf extremely easy and it can begin to look unkept very quickly. Additionally the pile can lie flat after a while and needs to be brushed back into place. Doing this by hand will not achieve the desired results in my experience. We have bought a sweeper / hoover combo that collects dirt and raises the pile so it looks like new again however this is effectively the same size as a normal lawn mower and takes about the same amount of time to complete as cutting grass.

All that being said i definitely prefer the look of the grass and the lack of mud with kids and a dog is a distinct bonus. We got our in a place call Sanctuary Snythetics having initially discovering them at Bloom a number of years ago.

Regarding in ground trampolines, do some research regarding mice / rats setting up home under them.
 
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Pugmister said:
Regarding in ground trampolines, do some research mice / rats likely to set up home under them.
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Looks like that's just an urban legend. A typical sunken trampoline doesn't provide what rats generally seek for shelter.
 
Leo said:
Looks like that's just an urban legend. A typical sunken trampoline doesn't provide what rats generally seek for shelter.
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Could well be, we went off what the landscaper told us and didn't research too much further as it was a late request and probably caused him more heart ache than it was worth.
 
What is the Astro turf like for picking up the dog crap, particularly when it’s messy? Is there not a lot of residue left stuck in the grass?
 
Pugmister said:
rrespective of drainage i find the urine smell can be particularly bad during the hotter summer days. We wash our lawn weekly with a gentle power washer attachment that keeps the smell at bay.

Secondly if your dog likes to dig then damage to the artificial grass can happen very quickly.

Also a lot of places advertise this as maintenance free and it is definitely not. Leaves and small debris gets caught in the turf extremely easy and it can begin to look unkept very quickly. Additionally the pile can lie flat after a while and needs to be brushed back into place. Doing this by hand will not achieve the desired results in my experience. We have bought a sweeper / hoover combo that collects dirt and raises the pile so it looks like new again however this is effectively the same size as a normal lawn mower and takes about the same amount of time to complete as cutting grass.
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we don't do any such maintenance on ours; a bag of sand once a year spread out over the turf and its fine. We do have to 'hoover' up the leaves from the neighbours trees though. We had to rake them up even before we got the turf as there is a lot and the lawnmower wouldn't have handled it.
Our dog rarely does her business in our garden, only on walks mainly, so don't have that hassle
 
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