Faking it: No mowing, no mud and green all year round - but can artificial grass ever match the real thing?

By Constance Craig Smith
Updated: 11:13 EDT, 20 July 2010

A decade ago, no gardener worth their salt would admit to having an artificial lawn. Fake grass was stiff, ugly and an utterly unconvincing substitute for the real thing.

In recent years, however, it has been growing in popularity and respectability, with fans like The X Factor judge Amanda Holden singing its praises.

This year, fake grass even made its debut at the Chelsea Flower Show, when it was used to line a shed roof (although its use is still banned in the show gardens).

The main reason for the increasing acceptance of artificial lawns is the enormous improvement in quality. 

Sophie Murray with daughters Grace and Ella on their artificial lawn

The first generation of artificial grass was made of basic quality plastic, became waterlogged and lost its vibrant colour after a few years.

Today's replica lawns have a porous Latex matting for fast drainage, and keep their colour and shape for over a decade. From a distance, many of them look just like the real thing, and there's no doubt that they offer some great advantages.

For a start, there's minimal maintenance involved  -  no mowing, spiking, feeding or watering is required, just the occasional brush and regular hosing down to remove dirt and leaves.

And your grass will look green whatever the weather  -  the recent hot spell, which has caused many lawns to shrivel up and go yellow, leaves artificial grass unaffected.

It's also useful in shady gardens where grass won't grow; as an alternative to paving or decking; and on roof terraces and balconies, where the considerable weight of real grass would be an issue.

Fake grass is very popular with families with young children, particularly if they're football mad; even the toughest lawn will struggle to thrive if it's constantly being used as a football pitch.

Sophie Murphy and her husband, Nick, who have two children  -  Ella, nine, and Grace, seven  -  and live in West London, are one of a growing number of families who have opted for an artificial lawn. They decided to get rid of their 20sq m turf lawn after Nick built his office at the end of the garden and they were forever mopping up muddy footprints every time he came into the house.

'I agonised over losing my real grass,' she says, 'and at first I thought I'd made a terrible mistake. It looked too perfect and, well, fake.

'However, within a day, bits of leaves and plants fell onto it and it began to look real. I couldn't have predicted the lawn's success.

'The children roll, loll and do cart-wheels on it, which they never did on the old grass. It's like a lovely warm carpet that is never dirty. We spend most of the time outside, often barefoot, and there are no more muddy feet.

'The drawbacks are that there is no fabulous cut-grass smell, there are fewer worms for the birds, because worms don't live under the artificial grass, and it warms up a bit in the sun, so we sit on a rug or towel when it's really hot.'

A fake lawn won't last for ever, either, though manufacturers usually offer a guarantee of at least five years, depending on the product's UV stability  -  whether it fades in the sun  -  and the life expectancy can be up to 15 years.

Although it's possible for a competent DIY-er to install an artificial lawn, it's probably wise to get it done professionally, which will add about £30 per sq m to your costs.

You will also need to take advice from the installers (usually the company who supply the grass) on whether to opt for a sand infill system  -  where sand is brushed into the lawn to give it better stability  -  or one without sand.

Sand infill systems are generally thought to lie better, have better fire resistance and be more resilient, but they're more time consuming and expensive to install.

As a general guide, the installation of the grass is roughly £30 per sq m, so to install a good quality lawn you should reckon on about £55-£60 per sq m (plus VAT) for the grass and professional installation, meaning a fairly average-sized town garden lawn of 20sq m would cost around £1,200.

A lower quality grass, which you can install yourself, could cost from as little as £320 for the same size of lawn.

ARTIFICIAL LAWN COMPANY

TUFF: A tough-looking grass with a 30mm pile, quite strong and springy, in an olive-green colour. The blades are designed to stay very upright. It feels rather scratchy underfoot but would be good for a garden where the kids play a lot of football. £22.95sq m

SPRING: Long, thick grass with a 40mm pile, which uses three contrasting colours. The effect is of quite a shaggy lawn. The grass looks very convincing, although the feel is rather brittle. www.artificiallawn.co.uk, tel 01474 364320. £25.95sq m

PRIMA LAWN

LUXURY: Soft and quite pleasant to the touch, this lawn has the nicest feel of any of the ones we tested.
The pile height is 32mm and the grass is of a very even green  -  it's a bit too perfect to be realistic. £70sq m, including installation

PERFORMANCE: Impressively realistic 35mm lawn, with different height blades and plenty of colour variation. Fairly pleasant underfoot. This was our winning lawn. www.primalawn. co.uk, tel: 0845 257 0043. Approximately £59sq m inc installation

VERDELUXE: This looks like a newly mown lawn, with a pile height of just 28mm. The grass is of differing lengths, just like a real lawn, and is a lightish green. However, the feel underfoot is rather scratchy and rough.
£32.20sq m

SUPER VERDELUXE: A convincingly 'uncut' looking grass, with blades of differing lengths. The pile is 45mm high, with a bouncy feel. It looks great, but it feels somewhat brittle underfoot, so not good for picnicking on. www.artificialgrass. org.uk, tel: 01254 831666. £36.30sq m

LAZYLAWN

SUMMER: This 35mm grass has the appearance of a well-worn family lawn - a bit straggly, a few dead bits, and grass blades of varying length. It's pleasantly realistic and it's only the rather brittle feel of the grass that gives it away as fake.
£26.97 sq m

SUPREME V2: A very light green, like an early summer lawn - the colour is a little bit too uniform to be totally convincing, but if you want a bowling-green effect, this would be a good choice. Not too scratchy. www.lazylawn.co.uk, tel: 01572 768208.  £27.91sq m