We live in drought-stricken SoCal, and our two big dogs have destroyed our lawn over the last few years. My husband wants to replace the grass with decomposed granite and drought tolerant plants, but I like the look of a nice green lawn. Has anyone gone the artificial grass route, and how has it worked out, especially with regard to pets?
We did it in our backyard, largely because of our dogs. We have a ton of trees and thus, real grass didn’t do well. We’ve had artificial grass now for about ten years and love it. It always looks good, our yard is no longer a mud pit, and clean-up is easy.
In Nor Cal…and do not have pets so can’t help in that regard. But we too had yard where grass would not grow (too rocky) so we put in putting green and fringe area. Love it and works very well, but one comment I would make is that on very hot days, the “grass” is too hot for bare feet…
Another NorCal resident here - we replaced front and back lawns with turf 2 years ago. We love it, and so does our Lab. We have numerous trees and clay-like soil. Grass did not grow well and, back when it used to rain, we would have standing water in the yard. Our girl is rather prissy and doesn’t like getting her feet wet (she won’t retrieve either, and is uninterested in birds - but we love her!) so she has been very happy with the change.
My sister had looked into it for her yard, and was told that there were serious odor issues with pets. She gave up the idea because of that. I’m interested to hear all the positive reports from those with dogs.
One more thought - the grass looks more natural with plants along the edge, not abutting a hard surface. Regarding odor - we have sprinklers set up to rinse it off every few weeks in the summer, which solves the problem for us.
nottelling, as I said, we’ve had it for more than ten years, and with four dogs, never once an odor problem.
That’s great news. Really appreciate the report. I’ll pass it along to my sister.
I assume if you have a well draining soil under the artificial turf and periodically rinse the plastic lawn, it should not be an issue.
Does your husband want to replace the lawn with plants because of lower maintenance?, or because he likes the look?
Personally I think lawns are the best option, very few places, and for the most part they lack individuality and imagination.
But if he likes the look of grass, I expect you can find some turf that he can live with.
I also read that there are rebates.
We used colored wood chips with areas for plantings. Refresh means just opening a couple of bags. It’s a small urban backyard, not an expanse.