Artificial Grass - anyone have it ?

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xcon

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#233896 8-May-2018 12:31

Trying to keep the lawn mowing to a minimum in areas of the yard that is still to be landscaped (it's currently clay)

I've seen advertisements for artificial grass

Anyone have artificial grass on their property ?

Wanting to know does artificial grass cope of the years ?

Fred99

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#2009942 8-May-2018 13:31

I don't know how long it lasts. Some friends of ours put some down - it looks kind of okay, but it's not all beer and skittles - although they obviously don't have to mow it, because it's surrounded by garden plants shedding leaves etc, they still have to vacuum it - a blower doesn't quite do the trick, stalky stuff gets stuck.

Mighty Ape

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richms

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#2010338 8-May-2018 21:24

Is it some way to get around stupid council coverage percentages or something? Otherwise I would rather have concrete or something.

Saw a cool thing at some place where they had big squares of concrete with tiny channels of grass to make it not count as coverage, would speed up mowing heaps and let it be more useful than grass.

Richard rich.ms

Goosey

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#2010399 9-May-2018 07:23

Hurts more when you fall, grazes the skin... and its hard.

Not good for kids.

Plus you need to wash/shampoo it.

kingdragonfly

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#2010402 9-May-2018 07:41

Actually the other problem is eventually weeds will grow through it,

Though it makes some cringe, taking a clue from the Bible I poured salt underneath my rock garden.

The salt only temporarily killed weeds, and now they're back. Weeds are tough!

xcon

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#2010421 9-May-2018 08:27

richms:

Is it some way to get around stupid council coverage percentages or something? Otherwise I would rather have concrete or something.

Saw a cool thing at some place where they had big squares of concrete with tiny channels of grass to make it not count as coverage, would speed up mowing heaps and let it be more useful than grass.

It is a corner section

We have the berm/burm infront , which is normal

Then on the side of the property outside the boundary (30m long by 2m wide of grass/weeds) then pavement , then another (30m long by 2m wide wide/weeds) then the road

The area we looking cover is inside our property boundary , (in the front yard the area between the post box and house)

In another thread about clay stabilization , someone mention the natural paving product http://www.naturalpaving.co.nz/

This seems to be a robust option as we are planning to driving over this stuff and I think the artificial grass would not be up to it

Coil

6614 posts

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#2010423 9-May-2018 08:31

Goosey:

Hurts more when you fall, grazes the skin... and its hard.

Not good for kids.

Plus you need to wash/shampoo it.

Thanks for giving me primary school PTSD, The buggers even put sand in it so it grated your skin like cheese.

MikeAqua

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#2010451 9-May-2018 09:25

richms:

Saw a cool thing at some place where they had big squares of concrete with tiny channels of grass to make it not count as coverage, would speed up mowing heaps and let it be more useful than grass.

Gobi blocks (picture a hash symbol made of concrete) do reasonable job of this too. You don't want a mower with small diameter wheels though.

Mike

danepak

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#2484317 15-May-2020 11:03

About to give it the go ahead.
Over and over I hear people saying that Tiger Turf is the best.
10 year warranty.
I’m slightly concerned about it only being a 1 year installation warranty though.
I don’t want to end up in a situation, where the parts starts moving apart or goes wonky after 12 months.

Paul1977

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#2484323 15-May-2020 11:11

danepak: About to give it the go ahead.
Over and over I hear people saying that Tiger Turf is the best.
10 year warranty.
I’m slightly concerned about it only being a 1 year installation warranty though.
I don’t want to end up in a situation, where the parts starts moving apart or goes wonky after 12 months.

We had ours done initially with Unreal Grass, but the join was visible and the colours were slightly different between the two peices. The installers said they had other issues with Unreal and have stopped using them, they replaced ours with their own newer and better (and more expensive) product they call "Smart Grass" at no cost, and relaid it in such a way that no join was required.

We were disappointed with the original Unreal grass, but very happy with the replacement Smart Grass.

We will probably use it again in our new house, but only if it can be done without joins. Once you notice a join, its hard to stop noticing it.

EDIT: The most important part of the installation is the ground work - it basically gets prepped as if it was being paved. Digout, mudstop, compacted AP 40, then compacted crusher dust (I think), then the artificial turf. They did a great job of the prep for us so we have a nice level lawn.

It also (in my opinion) requires timber (or paved) edging. Other wise you can see the cut edge of the turf and tell it's fake straight away.

danepak

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#2484325 15-May-2020 11:17

Paul1977:
danepak: About to give it the go ahead.
Over and over I hear people saying that Tiger Turf is the best.
10 year warranty.
I’m slightly concerned about it only being a 1 year installation warranty though.
I don’t want to end up in a situation, where the parts starts moving apart or goes wonky after 12 months.

We had ours done initially with Unreal Grass, but the join was visible and the colours were slightly different between the two peices. The installers said they had other issues with Unreal and have stopped using them, they replaced ours with their own newer and better (and more expensive) product they call "Smart Grass" at no cost, and relaid it in such a way that no join was required.

We were disappointed with the original Unreal grass, but very happy with the replacement Smart Grass.

We will probably use it again in our new house, but only if it can be done without joins. Once you notice a join, its hard to stop noticing it.

Yep, that’s the exact issue that we want to avoid after 12 months.
Tiger Turf is made in NZ and have a good reputation.
The other brands are all made in China, from what I can understand.
I don’t mind paying a little bit more for quality, but again, I’m worried about such a short installation warranty.

Paul1977

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#2484332 15-May-2020 11:28

danepak:

Yep, that’s the exact issue that we want to avoid after 12 months.
Tiger Turf is made in NZ and have a good reputation.
The other brands are all made in China, from what I can understand.
I don’t mind paying a little bit more for quality, but again, I’m worried about such a short installation warranty.

@danepak See my edit with additional comments and thoughts above.

I have to say, I think the product we ended up with is one of the most realistic looking artificial ones I've seen. I have some off cuts that I could sent you a sample of if you wanted, what area are you in?

EDIT: Another great thing is if you have a timber deck, you can tuck it underneath so you don't need a mowing strip around the deck.

danepak

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#2484555 15-May-2020 16:51

Thanks Paul.
We’re in Milford.
Whereabouts are you? I could pick it up, if you’re not too far away.