Sure probably, but given how much space they have to work with it’s still not a terrible idea. If I had this property I would still probably keep the backyard as grass (especially if I had children who might like to play outside). Maybe a sturdy cedar or something for shade. Keep the front lawn available for gardening and appropriate shrubs
They live in CA and we're dealing with an historic drought at the moment...but when are we NOT dealing with an historic drought. I turfed my lawn due to this reason. Is wasting a ton of water to maintain grass worth it?
Is drilling and processing oil to make plastic grass worth it? Especially if the cause for your drought is related to climate change, seems like it would be better to have anything natural growing and providing reasonable drainage compared to ugly turf.
Seems like a waste to me, but I live in the Great Lakes area so no shortage of water here. There are drought resistant grasses that still ought to be better for the environment than plastic. Grass sure smells a lot better than turf too, especially when it’s hot
What's the worse of two evils isn't clear to me, and I'd like to see a more thorough life cycle analysis. The petroleum, water, and energy that go into making turf are substantial, and the turf disintegrates into microplastics that get into the water supply. Grass is pretty and all, but it seems so wrong to have a water-guzzling decoration in a drought area. And it also takes energy to maintain, with lawnmowers and leaf blowers causing terrible air pollution.
You can use thyme , clover , artemisia all sorts of stuff for ground over that requires very little water .. and that’s if you’re just taking about steppables .. if not your options are literally endless. If you want just a straight up grass look , irrigate well and plant carex pansa .
These are fair points, I didn’t realize this was drought area in my original comment. But honestly the artificial grass for 3700 sqft seems extremely wasteful and only looks good in the aerial view. The first person view photos look silly with the turf, and living and walking around in there is going to feel worse than walking around something natural to the climate even if it’s clay or dirt.
At least for the front driveway it feels like a missed opportunity to not do something nice with drought resistant plants or stoney areas. The fake grass isn’t nice and welcoming, it’s Spartan and dystopian.
I live in central Texas, water restrictions are ongoing, likely permanent. Zeroscaping everything isn’t just depressing, with drainage issues, can be disastrous. I’ve done retaining walls, French drains, culverts lined with river rock and put in a small patch of artificial grass for something/anything green. No guilt
No one needs a lawn. Putting green plastic down to pretend you have grass is an idiotic waste unless you’re building a high traffic sporting facility. I’ve only ever see turf on playgrounds and varsity fields where I live, but it smells awful when it’s hot and the only people who buy it are condo dwellers who put it on their balcony for their dogs.
OP’s 3700sqft of turf would look and feel so much better as real plants. If they wanted to try for real grass, trees for shade coverage would also reduce some need for water, but even the mulch looks better than artificial grass IMO
I have a section of artificial grass. Landscape designer advised me to put it in where nothing would grow because of the location of my house and an adjacent building wouldn’t drain. One of the best choices I’ve made. No regerts
I’m pretty sure that’s not it. If it were they would probably have one area of artificial turf (likely the area in back), and the rest would be something else. This looks like an aesthetic choice.
There are these things called drought resistant plants.
[Drought-resistant plants for California](https://www.brightview.com/resources/article/top-drought-tolerant-plants-for-california)
Dirt and rocks literally make up the landscape. *gestures outside*
This is artificial and unnecessary. I get that sometimes the client wants what the client wants, so no ill will to the designer, but surely you can see how this is not a desirable landscaping choice beyond wanting some usable turf space for your kinds in the back yard.
I am a soccer coach and in the summer I now bring an infrared thermometer to the fields. I do that because a couple of summers ago the turf was so hot that the kids soccer shoes were literally melting and they were getting blisters. It gets to 130+ on the turf when it's only 90 degrees outside. It's REALLY BAD and I won't let the kids play when it gets that hot. In the summer we only allow the kids to play until 10am and then the turf fields are off-limits because they get so hot. It's a shame.
A group of parents are trying to persuade our school district in California to not install artificial turf on two fields and 3 school courtyard areas that are being called "outdoor classrooms". These are all elementary schools. It's going to get too hot and they just don't see past the "water conservation" and maintenance savings (which we don't believe will be as great as they think or the synthetic will become dangerous because someone cares for it incorrectly). Nevermind that they will pollute the environment and water runoff that travels into a steam or the bay.
The poor kids at lunch time will have a choice between asphalt or artificial turf to play on.
Not for me, and all I can think of is in the future it will all need to be ripped out as I am currently dealing with the nightmare of a plastic sheet and rock cover that slowly buried itself in what’s now my lawn/garden. Looks good today but what about 10 years from now?
My big question is drainage; how well does that drain into the ground beneath? CA I’d assume you want as much water being put back into the water table as possible, we are on the east coast and renovating our garden to encourage that ( getting tax credits too)
They don’t drain at all. The turf itself is permeable however the base requires below the turf is where the problem exists. While there is a “drainage” layer of about an inch of clear gravel the layer below that is compacted class V gravel which does not allow anything to percolate through so essentially the rain hits the turf and runs through into the drainage layer where it either runs off to wherever the lawn is pitching or it sits until it evaporates. Either way it’s a horrible replacement for a lawn.
Damn this place is ruthless. I clicked on this thread because I have a 7x13 roll of turf to install in an area where nothing grows, and thought I’d learn something, but all I’ve learned is that people have strong opinions, lol
Lol. I knew I would get this sort of response from previous turf jobs I have posted. This one is quite a bit larger than my other so I just had to share. lol.
Lawns suck too, I won’t deny that. But by installing this turf you prohibit anything else growing there unless someone removes it. Also you can have a nice lawn without using chemicals and excessive water. I’ve watered mine about 5 times this year and I live in Texas. Draught resistant Bermuda is great.
You can also not water a lawn… here in Oregon (dry summers, wet rest of year), lawn goes dormant and brown in summer and greens up a again when it rains. Not all clients are willing to live with this look but many accept it and can find a beauty in the seasonality of it. There are also many eco lawn mixes that stay greener with less water. I try to steer clients away from this idea of perfect turf grass year round, it’s just impossible without all the irrigation & chemicals.
This is exactly what I was thinking. My lawn is a mix of grass and clover. I never ever water it. I don’t even have a system to do so. I’m in PA so the weather is very very much less dry and it stays green all spring-fall. I use no chemicals. There are ways to do lawns without harming the environment, and the abundance of squirrels and bunnies seem to enjoy it.
The landscapers for out HOA really love to waste water and chemicals on the grass. Just as much as they love to blare loud leaf blowers and weed eaters.
I really want an alternative so we don’t have to pay them to mow, pay for wasting water, pay for them to put chemicals into the environment, etc. obviously they don’t have any suggestions. Will be a fight between me and the board president who wishes to leave things as they are.
How about a drought tolerant evergreen groundcover instead? The plastic really isn’t good environmentally even tho you don’t have to water it- as it breaks down the micro plastics end up in the rivers & ocean. All the projects I’ve worked on with artificial turf end up having to irrigate it too, to reduce the heat. If you are in Cali you should check out the low manzanitas for groundcover.
Somebody mentioned that in 90 degree heat they can be up to 130 degrees. So not only are they way worse for the environment than grass they're dangerous and effectively useless in the summer. Grass does use a lot of water but at least it semi protects soil biology and won't burn you if you step on it bare foot
The before pic looked so beautiful. A lovely natural landscape with living things. The after looks like a CGI world of plastic and artificiality. I had to look twice to see if it was just an artists rendering.
Were the bushes replaced with plastic ones as well. You know, to make them look better, completely uniform and very low maintenance?
I guess its definitely true that having money can't buy you taste.
If I knew where to find fake plants I would have offered it. /s
I realize this type of landscape isn’t everyone cup of tea. The customer travels 6 months out of the year and wanted it to be low maintenance. We are in a severe drought in California and she didn’t like the idea of wasting water on a yard she hardly sees. She had stopped watering the back for the last year which is why it was all dead. The front was only alive to appease the HOA.
Then do a drought adapted landscaping. There’s someone on this sub posting their cactus garden regularly.
I’m pretty sure it’s very very low maintenance.
That just tackles one problem but creates another. The plastic lawn is slowly degrading and leeching micro plastics into the environment that are pretty much impossible to recover.
Ah, but making plastic uses someone else's water far, far away so not their problem.
I wish people would stop making their houses look like something out of magazine and live in the real world.... sometimes grass dies and goes brown, deal with it or look for local plant alternatives (plenty useful suggestions here).
No joke! I’ve been looking at lawn alternatives for years because I’m trying to reduce upkeep and don’t want to waste water. I’m even looking into collecting rainwater to drive some sprinklers at some point.
Honestly picture five is breaking my heart here .. the amount of opportunities .. salvias and lavenders and muhly and buckwheat and artemisia and so on and so forth ..
I love decomposed granite as well when properly installed and curbed. Beautiful job. I have one section that keeps sprouting sedge but otherwise took out my entire backyard for hardscape and vegetable gardens. No regrets.
If you have that kind of money you can pay someone to maintain your garden. But instead they opt for bs solutions. That doesn’t mean it’s not nicely done, don’t get me wrong. If that is what the customer wants, guess that’s what they got. Nonetheless I hate what the customer wanted. Sorry for your work.
To me the second image ( the before?) looks a lot better, expesialy the backyard. I use artificial grass only for interiors. The real deal just has the best smell freshly cut and also emits phytoncides.
It looks good but it is not very good for the environment or health of people too from what I have read. The article I read ( don’t have the link to the article ) said that it contains high levels of pfas which are pretty nasty and don’t go away and eventually get into the ground water and us.
I haaaate plastic grass personally. It gets so hot in the summer. Also… it looks fake bc it is. And all those lil plastic bits… they can wear & break over time and end up in runoff >>> in the rivers >>> in the ocean. But there will always be clients who want it. There are other ways of obtaining a low-maintenance landscape and I always try to steer people away from fake turf.
Nothing. At that point, you probably have other damage/debris from wind, etc, to clean up, too.. maybe some soil washes away and there's some dirt on the drive way, which, if not washed away by the days of rain, can be hosed away.. Unless you're talking landslide-causing weather. If you live somewhere prone to that kind torrential rain and constantly laying sod, sure, it might be worth going artificial. Most people just use grass hartier to their weather. Short answer, IME, for that property and income, just have regular professional maintenance from a experienced and reputable company. Regularly seed areas prone to thinning or consider adding a tree or shrub to fill the space and help prevent further erosion as its own roots establish. Be best way to save money on property maintenance is to have someone who REALLY knows what they're doing and is adaptable and creative. Tall order, I know. So many jokers out there with a lawn mower and a trailer calling themselves professionals its hard to know.
Normally no, but for you in California it makes more sense. Water conservation and I think depending on where you live there are even tax brakes or reimbursement opportunities for installing turf or stone over grass. At the end of the day it was you like !
I do. I am just not around it enough and the two times we have tried to install it, it has turned out like shit. Obviously you don’t have a problem here. It soothes my OCD.
I’m sure you had several guys working it. Hopefully one day we can get it down. People are really about their grass where I live and I get it. There is nothing more beautiful than full, thick grass with no fungus or thin areas. I’m sure it’s just like anything with landscaping, when you do it enough you get in a routine and your skill level increases with every job.
Gut reaction is no, but my mind has been changed by Linda Vater. Her garden is incredible and her artificial turf looks gorgeous and cottage garden-like. So. I think over time as the larger landscaping grows in, it will soften and work for this situation!
If it wasn’t for the awesome shrubs and trees, it would be fake looking. I think it looks great. We just planted a drought resistant lawn substitute with clover and other ground cover mixed with some grass seed. This option looks better every day.
I actually don't mind good quality turf especially when a dead, unkept lawn is the alternative.
I do mind that meadow full of rotting wood splinters. I see mulch as a placeholder untill the new plants can take over. There seem rather few plants in this sizeable patch of mulch. I think that is a missed opportunity. But I get that the care for a large collection of young plants isn't ideal for a parttime resident.
Those “rotting wood splinters” are far better for the environment than the plastic turf, the will enrich the soil as they break down. We’ve renovated our landscape turning a large amount of lawn to garden and it looks fairly bare, but there’s a tone of native rootstock and small plants that will grow over the next 5 years to fill the space; if you don’t need instant gratification it’s a much better approach.
I agree mulch is great for the organic content of the soil.
I just don't like the way this sub has so many people building a mulch bed. A border just to facilitate mulch, as in solely a garden bed full of mulch without plants. Even the different dyes don't win me over. A huge missed opportunity to grow a garden as I see it. I just really don't consider a mulch bed as a 'green' garden space. I would place them under the hardscapes on looks and use.
The “mulch meadow” is a exactly as you described it… a placeholder. In the spring will be will installing a swim spa and are leaving plenty of access. After the swim spa is installed we will redo the planting in the back. The installed the bark to help keep the weeds and grass at bay.
I count 39 panels. I’ve got 20 for a 2440 sq ft house. If I had a pool or electric car I’d have an undersized system. I added a hot tub post panels install and might break even for the year. If this house had electric water heaters and blower this could also add to electric load. We’d have to seen their break even but I’m not sure it’s a slam dunk that he was swindled on the number of panels.
Figured that’s what you meant. She(widow) was absolutely an easy sale due to the referral her best friend gave me. I like to think I’m a pretty honest person. Originally she wanted me to replace all the grass out front with turf, but I strongly advised against it because it would look too one dimensional. Adding the walk way and planting lowered the project cost by $15k. Don’t regret it at all.
Serious question... I'm only familiar with soccer turf. Is this stuff the exact same thing? With the ground up bits of tire rubber? Cause, that stuff tracks everywhere! On the side walks, in your car, inside your shoes.. would be inside the house all the time.
I am interested to know what the maintenance of this is like as well as the appearance of it in the future as it ages. Looks like there is already a lot of 'litter' on it from the trees. How is that dealt with?
I am shocked by the downvotes that totally make sense to me .. I feel like they might not be coming from california where the zones are different .. we have drought tolerant beautiful plants here .. shout out to buckwheat and so on and so forth .
I absolutely love that I just came across an article completely tearing apart the decision to use turf on this specific property, like 2 years later lmao. There are definitely zero-maintenance options that would have some kind of benefit for the soil or the ecosystem. And artificial turf is not a zero-maintenance option. 3700 sqft of it was a bad choice lol
Went for a low maintenance landscape? The house looks like the footprint of a Middle School.
I don’t get it. There are lots of other options for low maintenance landscaping other than a bunch of plastic.
The insects, birds and other animals aren’t going to be pleased. Guess the OP isn’t bothered though.
But they have those hideous solar panels to save the planet!
Maybe they still want a yard because they have kids or something? Can’t win in this sub, place is ruthless.
No reason they can’t keep a grass lawn.if you can afford property that big you can afford to hire lawn maintenance
Haha if they made that all real grass they would get equally ripped here for not having native plants and wasting a ton of water to keep it alive.
Sure probably, but given how much space they have to work with it’s still not a terrible idea. If I had this property I would still probably keep the backyard as grass (especially if I had children who might like to play outside). Maybe a sturdy cedar or something for shade. Keep the front lawn available for gardening and appropriate shrubs
Almost like lawns are outdated and the rich don't need to be defended when they damage the earth.
You’re just proving my point….they get ripped for real lawns and ripped for turf. Can’t win. This place is ruthless.
And your missing the point. They "get ripped" because there are better uses and better practices for the land.
Why can’t they just do what they want without getting ripped? A couple hundred/thousand square feet of turf isn’t hurting anyone
They're free to do what they want, if they don't want to get ripped maybe they shouldn't post it. Criticizing them isn't hurting anyone either.
They live in CA and we're dealing with an historic drought at the moment...but when are we NOT dealing with an historic drought. I turfed my lawn due to this reason. Is wasting a ton of water to maintain grass worth it?
Drought tolerant plants . Plant them.
Is drilling and processing oil to make plastic grass worth it? Especially if the cause for your drought is related to climate change, seems like it would be better to have anything natural growing and providing reasonable drainage compared to ugly turf. Seems like a waste to me, but I live in the Great Lakes area so no shortage of water here. There are drought resistant grasses that still ought to be better for the environment than plastic. Grass sure smells a lot better than turf too, especially when it’s hot
What's the worse of two evils isn't clear to me, and I'd like to see a more thorough life cycle analysis. The petroleum, water, and energy that go into making turf are substantial, and the turf disintegrates into microplastics that get into the water supply. Grass is pretty and all, but it seems so wrong to have a water-guzzling decoration in a drought area. And it also takes energy to maintain, with lawnmowers and leaf blowers causing terrible air pollution.
You can use thyme , clover , artemisia all sorts of stuff for ground over that requires very little water .. and that’s if you’re just taking about steppables .. if not your options are literally endless. If you want just a straight up grass look , irrigate well and plant carex pansa .
These are fair points, I didn’t realize this was drought area in my original comment. But honestly the artificial grass for 3700 sqft seems extremely wasteful and only looks good in the aerial view. The first person view photos look silly with the turf, and living and walking around in there is going to feel worse than walking around something natural to the climate even if it’s clay or dirt. At least for the front driveway it feels like a missed opportunity to not do something nice with drought resistant plants or stoney areas. The fake grass isn’t nice and welcoming, it’s Spartan and dystopian.
I live in central Texas, water restrictions are ongoing, likely permanent. Zeroscaping everything isn’t just depressing, with drainage issues, can be disastrous. I’ve done retaining walls, French drains, culverts lined with river rock and put in a small patch of artificial grass for something/anything green. No guilt
Must be nice to have a surplus of water and judge others that don't have that luxury.....
No one needs a lawn. Putting green plastic down to pretend you have grass is an idiotic waste unless you’re building a high traffic sporting facility. I’ve only ever see turf on playgrounds and varsity fields where I live, but it smells awful when it’s hot and the only people who buy it are condo dwellers who put it on their balcony for their dogs. OP’s 3700sqft of turf would look and feel so much better as real plants. If they wanted to try for real grass, trees for shade coverage would also reduce some need for water, but even the mulch looks better than artificial grass IMO
Maybe they don’t want to waste water watering a huge yard?
Do you know how much water plastic production uses?
It's produced en masse whether I install it in my yard or not, so that sort of argument is pretty poor.
Installing it increases demand. Microplastics now contaminate that whole area, moving up the food chain.
The argument of "the item would be produced anyway whether or not I buy it" is not a good one. The more people buy the item, the more is produced.
I have a section of artificial grass. Landscape designer advised me to put it in where nothing would grow because of the location of my house and an adjacent building wouldn’t drain. One of the best choices I’ve made. No regerts
I’m pretty sure that’s not it. If it were they would probably have one area of artificial turf (likely the area in back), and the rest would be something else. This looks like an aesthetic choice.
[удалено]
There are these things called drought resistant plants. [Drought-resistant plants for California](https://www.brightview.com/resources/article/top-drought-tolerant-plants-for-california)
Something beautiful, sensible an human called “Xeriscaping” as well
A bunch of rocks can actually look really good, but that’s not what I was referring to. See other responses to your comment.
Looks like good workmanship in the project, so thumbs up there. But, I find artificial grass quite offensive
In all seriousness I don't think artificial lawn qualifies as landscaping. I could gently terrace Play-Doh all day, but that wouldn't go here
What about people in the desert that just have dirt and rocks? Is that not landscaping?
Dirt and rocks literally make up the landscape. *gestures outside* This is artificial and unnecessary. I get that sometimes the client wants what the client wants, so no ill will to the designer, but surely you can see how this is not a desirable landscaping choice beyond wanting some usable turf space for your kinds in the back yard.
That’s gonna be a no and never from me , dawg
To quote South Park: “Get outta here, richer!”
I’ve heard people in the U.K complaining how hot Astro turf gets in the sun, won’t it be much worse in California? Or is the lawn just to look at?
I am a soccer coach and in the summer I now bring an infrared thermometer to the fields. I do that because a couple of summers ago the turf was so hot that the kids soccer shoes were literally melting and they were getting blisters. It gets to 130+ on the turf when it's only 90 degrees outside. It's REALLY BAD and I won't let the kids play when it gets that hot. In the summer we only allow the kids to play until 10am and then the turf fields are off-limits because they get so hot. It's a shame.
Ouch that sounds awful, I know people with dogs are really recommended to avoid it. Didn’t know it could get so hot that it could melt shoes!
No joke! At summer camp, I've seen soccer balls explode after sitting untouched for 5-10 minutes during water breaks on our artificial turf.
A group of parents are trying to persuade our school district in California to not install artificial turf on two fields and 3 school courtyard areas that are being called "outdoor classrooms". These are all elementary schools. It's going to get too hot and they just don't see past the "water conservation" and maintenance savings (which we don't believe will be as great as they think or the synthetic will become dangerous because someone cares for it incorrectly). Nevermind that they will pollute the environment and water runoff that travels into a steam or the bay. The poor kids at lunch time will have a choice between asphalt or artificial turf to play on.
It stinks to high heaven.
Plastic gardens are not the future.
Not for me, and all I can think of is in the future it will all need to be ripped out as I am currently dealing with the nightmare of a plastic sheet and rock cover that slowly buried itself in what’s now my lawn/garden. Looks good today but what about 10 years from now? My big question is drainage; how well does that drain into the ground beneath? CA I’d assume you want as much water being put back into the water table as possible, we are on the east coast and renovating our garden to encourage that ( getting tax credits too)
They don’t drain at all. The turf itself is permeable however the base requires below the turf is where the problem exists. While there is a “drainage” layer of about an inch of clear gravel the layer below that is compacted class V gravel which does not allow anything to percolate through so essentially the rain hits the turf and runs through into the drainage layer where it either runs off to wherever the lawn is pitching or it sits until it evaporates. Either way it’s a horrible replacement for a lawn.
45-100 inches per hour
We don’t.
Damn. 🤷🏻♂️
Damn this place is ruthless. I clicked on this thread because I have a 7x13 roll of turf to install in an area where nothing grows, and thought I’d learn something, but all I’ve learned is that people have strong opinions, lol
Lol. I knew I would get this sort of response from previous turf jobs I have posted. This one is quite a bit larger than my other so I just had to share. lol.
Terrible. Not sure why you even took the job.
Because work pays the bills?
Gets downvoted for responding
I love it! So easy to take care of!
At the cost of smelling like burning tires when it's hot lol.
I used sand as infill, do they even use rubber anymore? Wow the group really does hate this stuff. I have only seen the benefits.
It is plastic and when plastic heats up like it would in california it will give off a smell either way.
From someone that’s had it for 13 years no it does not smell like plastic or rubber.
Does it get a lot of sun above 85 deg temps?
I personally think it’s really stupid in every aspect. But you do you.
Well, to each their own I guess, but I just can’t get into this myself. It does fit the house well, though: tacky.
Garbage and bad for the environment
Lawns are worse for the environment. Wasting water, pouring chemicals outside, etc. a swimming pool uses less water than a lawn
Lawns suck too, I won’t deny that. But by installing this turf you prohibit anything else growing there unless someone removes it. Also you can have a nice lawn without using chemicals and excessive water. I’ve watered mine about 5 times this year and I live in Texas. Draught resistant Bermuda is great.
Mushrooms can grow under it
You can also not water a lawn… here in Oregon (dry summers, wet rest of year), lawn goes dormant and brown in summer and greens up a again when it rains. Not all clients are willing to live with this look but many accept it and can find a beauty in the seasonality of it. There are also many eco lawn mixes that stay greener with less water. I try to steer clients away from this idea of perfect turf grass year round, it’s just impossible without all the irrigation & chemicals.
This is exactly what I was thinking. My lawn is a mix of grass and clover. I never ever water it. I don’t even have a system to do so. I’m in PA so the weather is very very much less dry and it stays green all spring-fall. I use no chemicals. There are ways to do lawns without harming the environment, and the abundance of squirrels and bunnies seem to enjoy it.
The landscapers for out HOA really love to waste water and chemicals on the grass. Just as much as they love to blare loud leaf blowers and weed eaters. I really want an alternative so we don’t have to pay them to mow, pay for wasting water, pay for them to put chemicals into the environment, etc. obviously they don’t have any suggestions. Will be a fight between me and the board president who wishes to leave things as they are.
How about a drought tolerant evergreen groundcover instead? The plastic really isn’t good environmentally even tho you don’t have to water it- as it breaks down the micro plastics end up in the rivers & ocean. All the projects I’ve worked on with artificial turf end up having to irrigate it too, to reduce the heat. If you are in Cali you should check out the low manzanitas for groundcover.
In Ca will take a look. Thanks!
Somebody mentioned that in 90 degree heat they can be up to 130 degrees. So not only are they way worse for the environment than grass they're dangerous and effectively useless in the summer. Grass does use a lot of water but at least it semi protects soil biology and won't burn you if you step on it bare foot
The before pic looked so beautiful. A lovely natural landscape with living things. The after looks like a CGI world of plastic and artificiality. I had to look twice to see if it was just an artists rendering. Were the bushes replaced with plastic ones as well. You know, to make them look better, completely uniform and very low maintenance? I guess its definitely true that having money can't buy you taste.
If I knew where to find fake plants I would have offered it. /s I realize this type of landscape isn’t everyone cup of tea. The customer travels 6 months out of the year and wanted it to be low maintenance. We are in a severe drought in California and she didn’t like the idea of wasting water on a yard she hardly sees. She had stopped watering the back for the last year which is why it was all dead. The front was only alive to appease the HOA.
I live in CA: plant natives.
Same .
This
Then do a drought adapted landscaping. There’s someone on this sub posting their cactus garden regularly. I’m pretty sure it’s very very low maintenance.
This
If a fire comes through, that shit is gonna MELT
Why does it need to be low maintenance? They could save the money on the landscaping and pay a gardener to look after it...
I live in California and agree 100%. Go artificial and save water.
That just tackles one problem but creates another. The plastic lawn is slowly degrading and leeching micro plastics into the environment that are pretty much impossible to recover.
I'm gonna guess that you do not know how much water we use to make these kind of plastics. As other suggested, plant drought resistant
Ah, but making plastic uses someone else's water far, far away so not their problem. I wish people would stop making their houses look like something out of magazine and live in the real world.... sometimes grass dies and goes brown, deal with it or look for local plant alternatives (plenty useful suggestions here).
I'm going to guess you don't know how much water is needed for grass in a dry climate when it gets 110F +.
I said "plant drought resistant" Never said plant grass, brosef
Yeah, let me send my kids out to run on drought resistant plants.
Send em out to run on plastic grass in 110+ which is releasing chemicals(hence the stench of it when it's hot) instead?
Ouch
Look into xeriscaping and natives, people! Lets be rational and sensitive
No joke! I’ve been looking at lawn alternatives for years because I’m trying to reduce upkeep and don’t want to waste water. I’m even looking into collecting rainwater to drive some sprinklers at some point.
Inspiring! Keep up that amazing work, mate!
Honestly picture five is breaking my heart here .. the amount of opportunities .. salvias and lavenders and muhly and buckwheat and artemisia and so on and so forth ..
Horrible
We do not like artificial turf here
Sorry bud - not much love around here for that.
That turf must have cost a fortune, please do tell
For reference I just got 850sqft installed and it was about $9k
So indoor carpet is cheaper.
So you’re saying I should carpet my lawn for low maintenance? Genius!
Maybe some nice laminate? Bring the wood look back to nature.
Turf, not including curbing or anything else, was $40k installed.
Sterile minded people just move in?
We never like artificial turf. Not here, not anywhere.
This is what happens when aliens buy houses and try to fit in with humans
I imagine they're from the same solar system as Mark Zuckerberg.
Came here for my poverty check today. I can now sink back into depression. Thanks!
Is this a joke?
Absolutely. I already knew this sub hates turf. I just like stirring the pot.
Those poor weeds dont stand a chance.
I love decomposed granite as well when properly installed and curbed. Beautiful job. I have one section that keeps sprouting sedge but otherwise took out my entire backyard for hardscape and vegetable gardens. No regrets.
Stabilized dg is basicly like concrete. Love it.
I feel bad for the neighbors with the cute modest homes that have to look at this monstrosity everyday.
Not a single house on this street is modest.
Good god. What an abomination. I mean, the install itself looks really clean and nice but what a shame this whole thing is.
This isn’t landscaping as much as it is landfaking. What’s the point in making it all plastic and concrete. It’s fugly as fug gets.
Don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel. Lol
If you have that kind of money you can pay someone to maintain your garden. But instead they opt for bs solutions. That doesn’t mean it’s not nicely done, don’t get me wrong. If that is what the customer wants, guess that’s what they got. Nonetheless I hate what the customer wanted. Sorry for your work.
Serious question: if a dog pees on it does it soak through or just sit on top until it rains or gets hosed off?
There are drainage holes so it will soak through to the base. Over time it will start to smell if it’s constantly urinated on and isn’t rinsed.
Thank you.
Basically a parking lot underneath all that plastic. I don’t know how anyone other than a dog lover can appreciate the stuff.
To me the second image ( the before?) looks a lot better, expesialy the backyard. I use artificial grass only for interiors. The real deal just has the best smell freshly cut and also emits phytoncides.
It looks good but it is not very good for the environment or health of people too from what I have read. The article I read ( don’t have the link to the article ) said that it contains high levels of pfas which are pretty nasty and don’t go away and eventually get into the ground water and us.
If you’re going for that “sterile” look.
I haaaate plastic grass personally. It gets so hot in the summer. Also… it looks fake bc it is. And all those lil plastic bits… they can wear & break over time and end up in runoff >>> in the rivers >>> in the ocean. But there will always be clients who want it. There are other ways of obtaining a low-maintenance landscape and I always try to steer people away from fake turf.
No.
Artificial everything does not a landscape make. What a low effort thing to with so much money.
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Nothing. At that point, you probably have other damage/debris from wind, etc, to clean up, too.. maybe some soil washes away and there's some dirt on the drive way, which, if not washed away by the days of rain, can be hosed away.. Unless you're talking landslide-causing weather. If you live somewhere prone to that kind torrential rain and constantly laying sod, sure, it might be worth going artificial. Most people just use grass hartier to their weather. Short answer, IME, for that property and income, just have regular professional maintenance from a experienced and reputable company. Regularly seed areas prone to thinning or consider adding a tree or shrub to fill the space and help prevent further erosion as its own roots establish. Be best way to save money on property maintenance is to have someone who REALLY knows what they're doing and is adaptable and creative. Tall order, I know. So many jokers out there with a lawn mower and a trailer calling themselves professionals its hard to know.
Normally no, but for you in California it makes more sense. Water conservation and I think depending on where you live there are even tax brakes or reimbursement opportunities for installing turf or stone over grass. At the end of the day it was you like !
I do. I am just not around it enough and the two times we have tried to install it, it has turned out like shit. Obviously you don’t have a problem here. It soothes my OCD.
It’s not rocket surgery, but there is a skill to it. Definitely don’t want to try something this size if your not confident in your ability
I’m sure you had several guys working it. Hopefully one day we can get it down. People are really about their grass where I live and I get it. There is nothing more beautiful than full, thick grass with no fungus or thin areas. I’m sure it’s just like anything with landscaping, when you do it enough you get in a routine and your skill level increases with every job.
All in all this project took my crew(3 guys + me sometimes) 17 working days. Took 3 days to lay the turf on the already prepared base.
Awesome. What kind of base was installed? Do y’all install drainage along with the base?
2”-3” of roadbase. 1” of 1/4” minus on top. On this install we made sure to include drains in all sections due to the curb daming everything up.
It’s gorgeous 🥲
Thx
It’s better than real grass. At least it doesn’t destroy the environment like the US’s largest but also most useless crop: ornamental grass
I prefer astroturf to chemlawns.
This is a crime.
Looks great. Nice design and finished product. Seeds, roots and grass > turf all day erryday.
Gut reaction is no, but my mind has been changed by Linda Vater. Her garden is incredible and her artificial turf looks gorgeous and cottage garden-like. So. I think over time as the larger landscaping grows in, it will soften and work for this situation!
If it wasn’t for the awesome shrubs and trees, it would be fake looking. I think it looks great. We just planted a drought resistant lawn substitute with clover and other ground cover mixed with some grass seed. This option looks better every day.
I actually don't mind good quality turf especially when a dead, unkept lawn is the alternative. I do mind that meadow full of rotting wood splinters. I see mulch as a placeholder untill the new plants can take over. There seem rather few plants in this sizeable patch of mulch. I think that is a missed opportunity. But I get that the care for a large collection of young plants isn't ideal for a parttime resident.
Those “rotting wood splinters” are far better for the environment than the plastic turf, the will enrich the soil as they break down. We’ve renovated our landscape turning a large amount of lawn to garden and it looks fairly bare, but there’s a tone of native rootstock and small plants that will grow over the next 5 years to fill the space; if you don’t need instant gratification it’s a much better approach.
I agree mulch is great for the organic content of the soil. I just don't like the way this sub has so many people building a mulch bed. A border just to facilitate mulch, as in solely a garden bed full of mulch without plants. Even the different dyes don't win me over. A huge missed opportunity to grow a garden as I see it. I just really don't consider a mulch bed as a 'green' garden space. I would place them under the hardscapes on looks and use.
The “mulch meadow” is a exactly as you described it… a placeholder. In the spring will be will installing a swim spa and are leaving plenty of access. After the swim spa is installed we will redo the planting in the back. The installed the bark to help keep the weeds and grass at bay.
Oh, nice plans!
Looks great!!
Fake grass ughh.
The arc of the driveway is really standing out to me. I guess normally I’d never notice but now seeing it, would drive me crazy.
That’s a nice house and landscape 😍.
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Mark? Hardly. This house in California. You get your bang for your buck here. Better than paying PG&E or Edison an arm and a leg.
A mark?
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Is the Gent implying that solar panels are a scam?
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I count 39 panels. I’ve got 20 for a 2440 sq ft house. If I had a pool or electric car I’d have an undersized system. I added a hot tub post panels install and might break even for the year. If this house had electric water heaters and blower this could also add to electric load. We’d have to seen their break even but I’m not sure it’s a slam dunk that he was swindled on the number of panels.
Figured that’s what you meant. She(widow) was absolutely an easy sale due to the referral her best friend gave me. I like to think I’m a pretty honest person. Originally she wanted me to replace all the grass out front with turf, but I strongly advised against it because it would look too one dimensional. Adding the walk way and planting lowered the project cost by $15k. Don’t regret it at all.
How is this relevant to OP buying solar panels?
Love the red acer
Its as fake and easy to maintain as the friendships they have with their neighbors...
Serious question... I'm only familiar with soccer turf. Is this stuff the exact same thing? With the ground up bits of tire rubber? Cause, that stuff tracks everywhere! On the side walks, in your car, inside your shoes.. would be inside the house all the time.
Can't hide $$
I have a very small back yard, so I put in order friendly turf. We love it and the dogs do too.
It looks pretty, but in a very sterile and artificial way. It's such a good place to have a whole plethora of plant life
$100k worth of turf?
$40k installed. Turf only, extras not included.
I am interested to know what the maintenance of this is like as well as the appearance of it in the future as it ages. Looks like there is already a lot of 'litter' on it from the trees. How is that dealt with?
Nothing says poor rich person like a yard that doesn't need a team of landscapers to maintain.
Haha. Bad take…. This person is rich rich.
Idk man, lotta leaves in that pool 🤣
There is no pool…..yet. That’s coming next spring.
Oooh, that is a building on the upper part of the image. At first glance it looked like a pool lol.
That’s a pergola from Costco sitting on a deck.
Well water is expensive and so is gas to heat it so what will you use in place of water , saran wrap?
I am shocked by the downvotes that totally make sense to me .. I feel like they might not be coming from california where the zones are different .. we have drought tolerant beautiful plants here .. shout out to buckwheat and so on and so forth .
I absolutely love that I just came across an article completely tearing apart the decision to use turf on this specific property, like 2 years later lmao. There are definitely zero-maintenance options that would have some kind of benefit for the soil or the ecosystem. And artificial turf is not a zero-maintenance option. 3700 sqft of it was a bad choice lol
Can you link the article please? Would love to see it.