Artificial Turf?

[eytonxav]

We have a small backyard and it's frequently visited by rabbits who make deposits that the dog loves. Also, in our HOA the former lawn company that covers front and side yard maintenance used to mow the backyard at a nominal charge, but since the HOA selected a new contractor my neighbor and I bought an electric mower and do it ourselves. Any how, between the rabbit droppings bear spots in a few shaded areas and self mowing, I am considering putting in artificial grass. I've seen some installations and it looks quite nice and even works well for dog owners. Any one here opt for artificial turf and have any recommendations regarding installation and maintenance over several years time?

 

[aaronc879]

Funny you mention that I just looked into it a few days ago. Too expensive for me as I have much more lawn than you and much less money. Could definitely be a good option for people with smaller lawns.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I asked the same question a week or so ago and got some good feedback. I have a huge backyard but will reduce most of it to hardscape with a smaller patch of turf.

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/anyone-using-artificial-turf-in-california-114290.html

 

[eytonxav]

I asked the same question a week or so ago and got some good feedback. I have a huge backyard but will reduce most of it to hardscape with a smaller patch of turf.

https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/anyone-using-artificial-turf-in-california-114290.html

Thanks, I am wondering about any unforeseen problems like a fire ant mound that needs to be treated or how often it needs a treatment for dog urine. Also have house behind me with tall trees, and tree roots might become an issue some day, although no sign of roots yet in my yard.

 

[Animorph]

We got our first quote Saturday for our backyard grass, about $7-$8/sqft. They can use a specific underlayment for dog pee for about $0.40/sqft. They said it really only lasts about 2 years for controlling smell, depending on how much pee you have to neutralize. After that you spray it with stuff every two weeks to one month. We don't have any artificial grass yet, I have no experience with it to know if all that is reasonable.

We do have some high roots we want to remove before installation so it may be a while before we get around to it.

 

[MC Rider]

I think it looks kind of fake, too perfect, and have seen more than 1 with weeds popping up through seams or along the edge. So, don't do a half azz job if you do it.

 

[COcheesehead]

I posted this info in the other thread too: it looks fake and retains urine odors from our dog (not us lol). We had to spray it with an enzyme wash every so often and on hot days you could still smell it. It also needs to be raked or fluffed every so often or it will flatten in areas of high use like a carpet.

In our current house, we opted for xeriscaping and enjoy that much more. It’s appears more natural and we have zero odor issues.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We didn’t experience any of the problems that Cocheesehead did. We laid it ourselves and there are certain items you put under it to keep weeds out. Eventually after a number of years we got a occasional weed. We had 3 small dogs and a big one and never a pee odor and it doesn’t rain much in Reno. Occasionally in summer we would hose it with water. I have laid on the grass and played with the dogs. I absolutely loved it.

 

[rk911]

been in our home since 1988. tried for years to grow grass but nothing worked. the yard is heavily shaded. didn't want to do the astro-turf thing so we decided to mulch the yard, built a new shed, added brick walkways and shady plants. we lay down a new layer ooof mulch every few years and think it looks pretty good.

 

[Teacher Terry]

RK, your yard looks good but Nevada is so windy that mulch and wood chips get blown away and a big dog running around the yard would mess it up. The Astro turf is really good for dogs.