Installing Fake Grass

[AZDude]

So how hard is this? I have read some tutorials and it looks like hard work but generally not something that requires a whole lot of expert skill. Hoping someone who has actually done it could give a rough estimate of time and savings vs professional installation. Probably looking at 15' X 10' section or something similar.

I could just put in grass, but its such a time suck to keep your grass green the whole year, plus the environmental cost of watering a yard when you live in a desert. Right now, the back yard is just dirt. Thinking fake grass plus some desert plants for accents. Should be easy to maintain and require virtually no watering. Great for me, great for the environment. Figure I would have every weekend for about six weeks to work on it, which should be more than enough time.

[Carless]

Have you considered alternative groundcovers?  Some of them are very drought tolerant.  I google 'xeriscape groundcover' and got this http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07230.html which has a list of options.

A bit nicer than astroturf...

[pbkmaine]

Fake grass is plastic. It will do nothing for the birds and bees and butterflies who make this world such a great place. Look up the cooperative extension in your area and talk to a Master Gardener. They will have lots of advice on making your yard a nice place.

[pbkmaine]

https://extension.arizona.edu

[JustGettingStarted1980]

I did this for a 20' by 20 ' area in my backyard 2 years ago due to poor sunlight (covered in all directions), and having previous low light grass dying on me a couple times.

I absolutely love it! No maintenance at all. Check you youtube videos on installation, which really helped. Total cost for me with the sand/gravel/turf was about $2000. You can install it in 2 full days if you really want to.

[Blatant]

I'm in Scottsdale and thinking about this as well. I have two distinct and separate grass areas in my back yard. One's is roughly 500 sq feet in an L-shape. The other is about 600 SF in a random oval pattern.

Much of the effort in this, particularly in a situation like mine when there's existing grass, is digging out a layer of topsoil that's hard as a rock here in the Phoenix area. It's also my impression that it works better when it has hard borders to connect to (fence, patio, pavers, etc.).

I believe many companies will only do 500SF and up jobs. A friend had a 500SF area done in the highest-quality turf for $1,800 in Chandler. While I appreciate those suggestion of alternate xeriscapes, as a Phoenix resident I firmly believe we need to do all we can to minimize our water footprint here and fake grass makes a lot of sense.

Love to hear if you push forward with the project.

[Fishindude]

Sure would be nice to sit out on your fake grass lawn and barbecue a rubber chicken on the grill :)

[Cassie]

If you buy a high quality of astro-turf it will look great. We also live in the desert & did this. WE have 4 dogs so once in a while if it has not rained for months we will hose it down to help the dog urine go through. It is very soft-our dogs love to roll on it. It is so much better then it used to be.  OUr water bills plummeted & we have trees & a few plants so very little upkeep. We did it 3 years ago & would do it again.

[Blatant]

Fishindude clearly hasn't seen modern fake grass. Looks and feels pretty real these days if you spend some money on it.

[music lover]

Sure would be nice to sit out on your fake grass lawn and barbecue a rubber chicken on the grill :)

What's your point? Almost everything we use is "fake" or man-made. The grill and propane tank you use on your real grass is fake when compared to an open fire.

[AZDude]

Growing a nice lawn of green grass is pretty damn stupid in the Arizona climate, IMO. Without constant upkeep and loads of water, it dies for all but a couple months of the year. Not exactly a mustachian idea to plant grass and then spend hundreds of dollars on fertilizer, water, etc...

[JustGettingStarted1980]

Good luck, FishinDude enjoying your favorite pastime when there isn't any more water in them streams because everyone is watering their unnecessary lawns. Oh wait, this is already happening with the Colorado River!

[Blatant]

I don't know where the guy lives. I'm from Maryland originally, so clearly no watering necessary for yards. In the desert southwest, water conservation is pretty critical.

[Cromacster]

Fake grass is plastic. It will do nothing for the birds and bees and butterflies who make this world such a great place. Look up the cooperative extension in your area and talk to a Master Gardener. They will have lots of advice on making your yard a nice place.

I agree that putting in native plants and grasses would be better than fake grass, but if the choices are fake grass vs turf grass they are pretty equal in terms environmental impact/benefit.  Turf lawns are essentially useless beyond aesthetics and provide no positive impact to local environments.  At least the fake grass stays green if you don't water it.