A lush lawn that you never need to mow: How sales of fake turf with synthetic fibres made in China are soaring 

• e-mail

Saturday afternoon, and you are doing what you are always doing when it isn't raining — mowing the lawn. Perhaps you regard it as a time-consuming pain, though there's satisfaction to be drawn from a job done well as you admire your perfectly cut stripes.

But some of our neighbours never seem to bother. They don't pace up and down to the putt-putt-putt of the cylinder mower or the buzz of the Flymo. Yet, despite their seeming laziness, their lawn looks infuriatingly immaculate!

Their secret? That perfect green lawn next door is a complete fake and has no more grass in it than an inner-city skateboard park. What you think are perfect blades of ryegrass, red fescue and brown top are, in fact, synthetic fibres manufactured in China or Belgium, often from recycled plastic bottles.

Sales on the increase: The supply and installation of a fake lawn will cost from £45 - £70 per sq m

To all intents and purposes, their 'lawn' is a plastic carpet. Many of us may disapprove, but fake turf is on a roll. Suppliers nationwide are reporting huge leaps in turnover.

Take, for example, the Manchester-based firm Grono Lawns, which was founded in 2008 right in the depths of the recession and which supplies artificial lawns nationwide.

'We've doubled our turnover nearly every year to £3 million,' says the firm's boss, Lionel Gilmartin. 'When we started out, artificial grass was not very popular and many thought it was like the bright green stuff you get in a greengrocer. But now, there are some really sophisticated and realistic products, which are indistinguishable from the real thing.'

Mr Gilmartin has a point. The fake grass, which costs from £10 to more than £30 per square metre, really does look convincing. The 'lawns' provided by Grono and other UK firms certainly look right and are most emphatically not the kind of lurid DayGlo green you would see around a bunch of bananas on a market trader's stall.

At the top of the range, some examples even feature a lower layer of light brown 'thatch', that mimic the dead blades of grass that are the feature of real lawns. You have to get really very close to tell that the grass is fake.

What's more, the grass even feels right under your bare feet, and even has that ever-so slightly prickly feeling of the real thing. What it does lack is that soothing coolness of grass, but maybe that's just a quibble.

Despite the cost, the sales figures reveal that people are taking the plunge, for one simple reason — they no longer want to spend their weekends mowing the lawn

So, who exactly is buying these synthetic lawns?

Last year, Premier League footballer John Terry was said to have spent £150,000 replacing his real grass with the fake stuff. Clearly, such a price is out of most of our pockets, so is going synthetic just a rich man's game?

'We supply to all sorts of properties,' says Phil Nichols, the director of Artificial Grass Limited, where sales figures are increasing by 20 per cent each year.

NO MORE MUDDY FOOTPRINTS (EVEN IF OUR PET RABBITS GOT VERY CONFUSED)

by ROBERT HARDMAN

Ghastly idea. That was my response to my wife’s suggestion that we should cover our garden in a plastic carpet and call it grass.

When it comes to lawns, Britain is the world champion. How could any self-respecting Brit prefer fake turf over the real thing?

Very easily indeed, it turns out. Having considered my objections for at least a second, Mrs H signed up for a bogus lawn. And three years later, we have not had one regret. It looks immaculate and feels like grass, even when barefoot.

Best of all, the children can run in and out all year, kick as many balls as they like and there is still no mud.

True, it is not natural. When we had a couple of pet rabbits, they looked deeply confused scratching around their inedible home.

However, the main downside is that I am deprived of the one thing to which every man aspires at some point: a shed. I have just the spot for it. But my wife says the only reason you need a shed is to store a mower. Since we have no mower, we don’t need a shed. We have a trampoline instead.

Advertisement

'Some people install lawns on their balconies or roof terraces — and then we regularly supply to those with big lawns in excess of 200 square metres.' With many of us living cheek-by-jowl in built-up areas, there is also demand for fake lawns to cover small, shady gardens where natural grass would struggle to grow.

Mr Gilmartin says the bedrock of his business has been supplying those with an average-sized garden of 50 sq m (more than 500 sq ft).

'These are those who don't really want to waste space by putting up a shed to house a lawnmower,' he says. 'But we're certainly getting a lot more business from those with gardens of 300 sq m, which are very big indeed.'

So, what precisely is involved in installing a fake lawn? Is it just a case of laying it down on top of the existing grass?

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The perimeter needs edging with timber and the existing lawn has to be removed to a depth of three to four inches and replaced with a layer of limestone dust, topped with sand.

This is flattened with a whacker plate — a specialist vibrating tool — and covered with a weed-proof membrane. Only then is the fake grass laid down. It comes in vast rolls, and is glued and nailed into position.

As it is an extensive process, the supply and installation of a fake lawn will cost from £45 to £70 per sq m, depending on the quality of 'grass' you buy. This means that an average 50 sq m lawn can cost up to £3,500, though at the cheapest end, the bill would be £2,250.

Of course, if your garden is big, the bill will run well into five figures. A garden the size, say, of a tennis court, could cost up to £50,000 to cover.

However, despite the cost, the sales figures of firms such as Grono and Artificial Grass reveal that people are taking the plunge, for one simple reason — they no longer want to spend their weekends mowing the lawn.

There are many suppliers of artificial grass on the market and it is worth researching online. All reputable firms will be happy to supply samples, and the more you request, the better you will be able to compare colour, quality and feel.

It's also worth placing the samples on your lawn to see how natural they look.

All firms supply a range to suit most pockets, though the prices below do not include installation. While some suppliers employ their own installers, other have a network of trusted contractors.

As with any groundwork project you undertake, ask the installers if you can see examples of their work in your area.

TOP OF THE RANGE

GREEN OASIS

Cost: £26.99 per sq m.

Selling point: A lighter tone, which gives a satisfying feeling of early spring. Would suit a shady garden to add some brightness.

Supplier: namgrass.co.uk, 01425 627 832.

PRESTIGE

Cost: £36 per sq m.

Selling point: Soft underfoot and extremely realistic, with a good brown thatch — you pay for what you get.

Supplier: grono.co.uk, 0161 877 0929.

MID-RANGE

LIFESTYLE ELITE

Cost: £21 per sq m.

Selling point: Dense, with a pile height of 1½ in and a good soft texture. In addition, the multi-green colour of the grass has an authentic appearance.

Supplier: artificial-grass.com, 01900 811970.

CONTINENTAL

Cost: £23.98 per sq m.

Selling point: Convincing brown thatch, and with a pile height of 1 in, it gives a very short and neat appearance to the garden.

Supplier: trulawn.co.uk, 0800 2100 461.

LOWER RANGE

WINDSOR

Cost: £9.99 per sq m.

Selling point: Not as thick and dense as its more expensive rivals, but it does look and feel very grassy. A good budget buy.

Supplier: artificialgrassdirect.co.uk, 01772 629 654.

There are many suppliers of artificial grass on the market and it is worth researching online. All reputable firms will be happy to supply samples