The artificial grass is always greener …

Every now and then, I like to pop over to luxuryhousingtrends.com to ogle new products that I’m not going to buy because I’ve taken on a new venture (this one) … usually it’s fabulous decor or cool stuff for your home … but artificial grass? Now that’s something out of the ordinary.

Certainly, according to the blog post there is a market for it in the UK where people are actually using it in their back yards. Heck, even Prince Charles has bought some, albeit to put under his biodiesel powered Range Rover in his garage to keep it warm(er) at night. Less yard maintenance. Hmmm… But is that really going to fly in these parts? Is there a market for it? It got me thinking.

Thinking … “would the neighbors think I’m cheating?”, to be truthful. But beside that …

There actually are environmental benefits to artificial grass. It does save on water and obviously doesn’t need any fertilizers or chemicals - good for the environment. But to me, “going green” is a bit about getting closer to nature, not further from it. Artificial grass is pretty far away from nature … so it’s probably not the kind of green I’m looking for.

What about for people with allergies? Or a good cause? I found this article about autistic kids with allergies & environmental sensitivities and how artificial grass solved the problem for them. No more allergy attacks and a safer environment as well.

I can see using artificial grass as a substitute where grass won’t grow, around swimming pools and roof gardens where it’s difficult to get natural turf to thrive. I don’t have either of those, but I do have a huge tree that literally overshadows the back yard. It sucks the life out of any grass in it’s shadow, once the leaves come out. And dumps bags of leaves on the neighbors in the fall (I offer to rake).

I used to think it was because the previous owners had dogs that grass wouldn’t grow well. But after sprinkling on fertilizer and grass seed, it’s the mass of roots close to the surface that’s the problem. My neighbor has offered to chop it down but I love the old tree, and she isn’t going anywhere soon. Artificial grass could be a better solution …

Weighing the pros and cons, I’ve decided to try good old fashioned elbow grease first. Get some branches trimmed … and head to the garden center for more dirt (”the works”). One more try … if it doesn’t work out, maybe, just maybe it’ll be artificial grass time after all.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.