Are you looking for alternatives to natural grass for your garden?

If you’re concerned about the condition of your natural lawn due to drainage issues, damage caused by your pets, or lack of sunlight in your garden, it can be difficult to know what to do. Of course, there’s the optional of replacing your real turf, but then you’re leaving yourself open to the same problems.

So, what can you do?

Well, there are various solutions to choose from. Perhaps you’re already considering some of them!

As an experienced landscaper, I’m going to talk you through five of your best options, below.

1 Concrete/paving

Paving can be very decorative and useful for a patio area, as it provides a stable surface to place garden furniture. However, depending on what you want to get out of your garden, you may not find it as aesthetically pleasing (especially if you like a bit of colour in your garden!). It’s also not a soft surface for children or pets to play on, and requires regular power washing to stop moss growing.

2. Decking

Decking is another great option for displaying furniture and entertaining guests. However, if you like the look of grass, it won’t be as colourful, or soft for children or pets to play on. It can also get green, grimey and slippery after the winter months. When it is exposed to sunlight, rain, snow and frost it will lead to deterioration of the colour.

Decking requires annual staining to keep it looking good, or it may turn a grey-ish colour. It can also flake if not using a high quality stain. Decking is also not an ideal surface for pets, as their urine won’t drain through as easily as on a natural lawn, and can lead to bad smells.

Often, water and pet urine will simply lie underneath the decking, rather than draining away, causing whatever has been used to prop the deck up off the ground to rot.

3. Decorative aggregates (stone chips)

Decorative aggregates are another option for replacing your natural grass, although probably one of the least popular. This is because they aren’t child or pet-friendly – they can easily be swallowed – and they’re not particularly easy to walk over. Again, it depends how you wish to use your garden.

Also, the high quantity of sand through the aggregate means weeds are a common problem with decorative aggregates, making it quite high maintenance.

4. Artificial grass

In contrast, artificial grass is one of the lowest-maintenance solutions to natural grass. It combats all of the issues above – including drainage problems – and is child and pet-friendly. In most cases, high quality artificial grass even looks just as good as a natural lawn, and provides a nice, soft area for children and pets to play on.

The best part? It comes without the hassle of regularly having to cut your grass, and no chemicals are required to keep it looking good and clean all year round.

5. A resin-bound surface

Your final option is a resin-bound surface. It’s also extremely low-maintenance, and effectively drains away water, whilst being completely non-slip. It comes in a variety of different colours, and is also non-fungal so weed-growth is restricted. With a lifespan of around 15 – 20 years (and costing around £80 per square metre), it’s also a long-term solution compared to standard paving.

In my experience, resin-bound is a good alternative to concrete, pavers and blocks, however the installation process is very much weather-permittent, and again, this is a hard surface, so not the best for children or pets to play on.

Advice from an experienced landscaper

When deciding on the best solution for your garden, you should carefully consider your options. Think of the reasons you’re getting rid of your natural lawn, and how you want your garden to look. How will you be using it? You may also want to consider longevity, and how low-maintenance you want your garden to be.

All of these factors should help you determine which surface to opt for. You should also speak to your chosen landscaper, as they might even be able to suggest a custom solution to suit your needs and budget.

One of our customers contacted us about getting rid of their natural lawn, due to drainage issues. They were looking for a full garden makeover with artificial grass, a large decking area and some chip borders. They wanted to know how much maintenance this would require, as they had a young family and didn’t have the time to maintain their garden all the time.

We advised that artificial grass was a great low-maintenance option to help fight the drainage issue and provide a safe, soft area for their children to play. They had a budget in mind, and wanted less artificial grass and more decking to keep the costs down – however, they didn’t realise the regular maintenance decking required.

After weighing up the options and taking everything into consideration, they realised they wanted their garden to look great, whilst being low-maintenance, so they eventually opted for a larger artificial grass area for the children to play on, and a small patio to sit their garden furniture. The end-result suited everyone!

Conclusion

Sometimes, finding the right alternative to natural grass can be tricky. That’s why I’ve compared five of the best alternatives to a natural lawn above, although your final choice should really depend on how you want your garden to look, and how you’ll be using it.

Do you have any questions about finding an alternatives to natural lawn? If so, let me know in the comments’ section. I’ll be happy to help!

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