Budget is probably the most important factor. If it's tight, gravel is a cheaper option, and can be done by yourselves quite easily. Planting can be added as required or desired.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
A friend of mine has a young family and a dog, and she has artificial grass. It's good quality and looks the part, even though it goes against all my instincts as a gardener. The thing to remember is that just like a carpet, it needs cleaning and maintenance.
If your dogs are trained to "use" a certain area of the garden then that will help, although accidents will happen. You could maybe consider slabs and/or gravel as well as the artificial grass to break things up and maybe add pots of flowers to attract bees and other pollinators. This can be a very contentious subject, particularly on a gardening forum, but if it fits your lifestyle, it's your garden so go for it .
A friend of mine has a young family and a dog, and she has artificial grass. It's good quality and looks the part, even though it goes against all my instincts as a gardener. The thing to remember is that just like a carpet, it needs cleaning and maintenance.
If your dogs are trained to "use" a certain area of the garden then that will help, although accidents will happen. You could maybe consider slabs and/or gravel as well as the artificial grass to break things up and maybe add pots of flowers to attract bees and other pollinators. This can be a very contentious subject, particularly on a gardening forum, but if it fits your lifestyle, it's your garden so go for it .
Yes I thought it might be a sensitive subject and I have tried for 2 years and I am fed up now with it being uneven clumpy and no good for my daughter or dogs but since its to do with gardening I might try here 🙈🙉🙊
Yes come summer I usually have loads of annuals and the roses pop up etc the buddliea gets in full swing and there's butterflies galore...I'm more of a annual plants in pot's kinda gal
I know a lot of dog owners who've had fake grass and they're all extremely pleased. My next sort neighbour has it too, and it looks smart. You have to lay artificial grass on a decent subbase, so you'll have to remove the turf and dig down 4-6". I would probably get professionals in.
However for me personally, I would rather use gravel surfacing because of the lower cost, more natural look and less use of plastics. 20mm slate chippings are probably the most stable under foot and most comfortable for dogs and humans.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
My parents' neighbours have artificial grass on their full-shade back garden. It looks OK, not the unnaturally bright green and totally uniform texture that you sometimes see, but apparently it cost more than a very expensive wool carpet including the underlay, sand etc, and they had it professionally installed. They also spend quite a lot of time sweeping it, washing it etc, and they don't have dogs or children. So I think it can look OK but be prepared to spend money and time on it. I think it's the cheaper, poorly-installed stuff that ends up looking truly awful. Even the expensive type is plastic though, and some day it will have to be disposed of somehow, so perhaps look into whether it's recyclable before you decide.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@gemma.threadgoldPB7Z1krJ you said you thought slabing would be as bad for then environment as the artificial grass. The grass is far worse, yes it does allow drainage, but over time it will deteriorate and leave micro plastics in the soil. Slabing with drainage or gravel would be far more environmentally friendly.
I know a lot of dog owners who've had fake grass and they're all extremely pleased. My next sort neighbour has it too, and it looks smart. You have to lay artificial grass on a decent subbase, so you'll have to remove the turf and dig down 4-6". I would probably get professionals in.
However for me personally, I would rather use gravel surfacing because of the lower cost, more natural look and less use of plastics. 20mm slate chippings are probably the most stable under foot and most comfortable for dogs and humans.
I know a few dog owners who went to the effort of putting in artificial grass - no small effort - then found that removing dog excretions from the fake grass was too much effort for them.
I guess the message was that there is no easy route, all options require a similar level of maintenance.
I know a lot of dog owners who've had fake grass and they're all extremely pleased. My next sort neighbour has it too, and it looks smart. You have to lay artificial grass on a decent subbase, so you'll have to remove the turf and dig down 4-6". I would probably get professionals in.
However for me personally, I would rather use gravel surfacing because of the lower cost, more natural look and less use of plastics. 20mm slate chippings are probably the most stable under foot and most comfortable for dogs and humans.
We used to have plum slate on the sides where we have just put the fake grass however as dog owners those little bits of poop tend to fall between the slate , our doggos are raw fed and there poops come out like pellets dry and crumbly at times 😂 so collecting off gravel amd slate is a pain in the wotsit we can not clear it as well.
The work isn't an issue for us I love a project and if I can do it myself I will, I will regret saying that after all the digging 😆
We dug a good layer under the recent stuff it's membrane, then MOT, then building sand I'm just not keen on the quality of this grass but for now as a quick fix I am happy
My parents' neighbours have artificial grass on their full-shade back garden. It looks OK, not the unnaturally bright green and totally uniform texture that you sometimes see, but apparently it cost more than a very expensive wool carpet including the underlay, sand etc, and they had it professionally installed. They also spend quite a lot of time sweeping it, washing it etc, and they don't have dogs or children. So I think it can look OK but be prepared to spend money and time on it. I think it's the cheaper, poorly-installed stuff that ends up looking truly awful. Even the expensive type is plastic though, and some day it will have to be disposed of somehow, so perhaps look into whether it's recyclable before you decide.
I'm expecting to pay about 2k the grass amd materials, I have picked out is deep and looks very natural deeper than my current though this stuff looks bright than what it is on camera.
I shall probably get a garden hoover 😆 yes I am a do it right the first time person as I really don't want to have to go through the process of redoing it as its sinks etc
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If it's tight, gravel is a cheaper option, and can be done by yourselves quite easily.
Planting can be added as required or desired.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The thing to remember is that just like a carpet, it needs cleaning and maintenance.
If your dogs are trained to "use" a certain area of the garden then that will help, although accidents will happen.
You could maybe consider slabs and/or gravel as well as the artificial grass to break things up and maybe add pots of flowers to attract bees and other pollinators.
This can be a very contentious subject, particularly on a gardening forum, but if it fits your lifestyle, it's your garden so go for it
Yes come summer I usually have loads of annuals and the roses pop up etc the buddliea gets in full swing and there's butterflies galore...I'm more of a annual plants in pot's kinda gal
However for me personally, I would rather use gravel surfacing because of the lower cost, more natural look and less use of plastics. 20mm slate chippings are probably the most stable under foot and most comfortable for dogs and humans.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I guess the message was that there is no easy route, all options require a similar level of maintenance.
The work isn't an issue for us I love a project and if I can do it myself I will, I will regret saying that after all the digging 😆
We dug a good layer under the recent stuff it's membrane, then MOT, then building sand I'm just not keen on the quality of this grass but for now as a quick fix I am happy
I shall probably get a garden hoover 😆 yes I am a do it right the first time person as I really don't want to have to go through the process of redoing it as its sinks etc