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Artificial Grass - Thoughts

Morning all,

I know that for a lot of members Artificial Grass is a swear word and goes against the grain but I have an area in my rear garden that is in dire need of attention.

We live in an area where the soil is incredibly clay heavy.

Thus resulting in extremely poor drainage, to the point where when we get a lot of rain (quite topical now really) the grass is submerged underwater in areas!

I have tried aerating the grass with forks etc to try to assist drainage but to no avail.

Ideal solution is to landscape it by taking a foot or so of the rubbish earth/clay re soiling and re turfing (or similar - forgive the terminology)

Sadly rear access is non existent so no machinery could get in there.

Now as an alternative, what are peoples thoughts about removing the existing grass and laying the artificial grass?

Some of it looks quite realistic and I could love with it as it would mean the children could use the grass a lot more in the non summer months.

Has anyone experienced any significant drawbacks to artificial grass? i.e. shrinkage, tearing etc.

Thanks in advance.

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  • Morning artificial turf will not shrink or tear with a quality product ie.asgoodasgrass,witch grass,AstroTurf,Grono,perfect grass,to name a few ...if installed correctly though You would still require some excavation though.we always install by this method
    Geotxtile membrane
    Supporting surround ie.concrete haunch,paved edge,tanalized timber frame etc etc
    100-150mm sub base( type1)
    30-50mm sharp sand
    Weed fabric
    Artificial turf
    If really wet ground /heavy clay /poor drainage which can't be drained anywhere else .we install a layer of 100-150mm permeable aggregate before sub base
    We have installed artificial turf for over 12 years with no problems whatsoever
  • Thanks for the feedback.

    Sounds like it still requires some serious manpower to get it laid properly.

    Back to the drawing board I guess

  • Sound about right Brian. There is no easy way Colin!

  • Thanks Colin, its just so frustrating as the rear garden is awful unless its bone dry which as we know is only about 6 days a year!!

  • Impossible to say, but if you are forking into clay, that's like a blunt pencil...pointless....

    every lawn is so different and poor old clay can be to blame, but there's clay and clay?

    If its compacted then it may appear worse than it actually is...

    Can also depend on what lawn work you do? If any....

    Forking is out of date and is used on football pitches etc that have drains, as a way to let
    water into the drains.

    Im not saying your problem is solve.....able either!

    It is also one of many many aeration techniques they do.

    Forking should not be done on lawns...period

  • Just a thought but what part of the country are you in? Maybe one of the members that can help is local to you.
  • Thanks again guys

    Just outside of Crawley in West Sussex in a place called Maidenbower.

  • Outside my area but there should be someone along soon ... hopefully


  • David Hedges-Gower said:

    Impossible to say, but if you are forking into clay, that's like a blunt pencil...pointless....

    every lawn is so different and poor old clay can be to blame, but there's clay and clay?

    If its compacted then it may appear worse than it actually is...

    Can also depend on what lawn work you do? If any....

    Forking is out of date and is used on football pitches etc that have drains, as a way to let
    water into the drains.

    Im not saying your problem is solve.....able either!

    It is also one of many many aeration techniques they do.

    Forking should not be done on lawns...period

    Why shouldn't lawns be forked to improve drainage?

  • How many times are lawn aerated on an average lawn?

    Look at the constant deterioration of soil structures with today's droughts and floods

    Soild are losing air space, which are fundamentally making soils more consolidated and compacted...

    thats nature doing that, not even including what we do....

    put a solid fork tine in the ground? maybe wiggle it around as we learn from so called experts??

    it consolidates and smears around the tine, it removes no compaction.....it adds some air granted, but thats about it!

    just because we see people on football pitches, for example, do it, has no bearing on a domestic lawn that may only get aerated once per year...if you are lucky

    Peter said:



    David Hedges-Gower said:

    Impossible to say, but if you are forking into clay, that's like a blunt pencil...pointless....

    every lawn is so different and poor old clay can be to blame, but there's clay and clay?

    If its compacted then it may appear worse than it actually is...

    Can also depend on what lawn work you do? If any....

    Forking is out of date and is used on football pitches etc that have drains, as a way to let
    water into the drains.

    Im not saying your problem is solve.....able either!

    It is also one of many many aeration techniques they do.

    Forking should not be done on lawns...period

    Why shouldn't lawns be forked to improve drainage?

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