Low maint. for a messy backyard to look nice reasonably?

amother

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 9:58 am

Im thinking to put fake grass in my backyard (because it gets overgrown all the time the way it is), to allow for swings, etc. use?

What should this cost for a small backyard (it has a shed on most of it), and who can I hire who does this neatly?

What are better reasonable alternatives?

tia

Edited: For a 350 sf backyard (it has a shed on it so I took shed footage off), whats low maintenance way to cover backyard?

I see fake grass starts at about $1,000 for grass alone.

What are other reasonable options that are low maintenance?

amother

Apple

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 10:50 am

We have fake grass and it's great. Just answering the question of if there's any reason not to get it. It does get extremely hot because it's plastic. So if it's super sunny I can't really walk on it barefoot. But to me it's worth it because I don't want to deal with the care of the yard.

DreamerForever

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 10:53 am

Definitely the most fun part of it, is that after a long messy day, you take out the vacuum cleaner and its immaculate in 10 minutes!

amother

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 11:12 am

amother [ Yolk ] wrote:

Nothing like fresh real grass.
My older boys and dh take care of the grass.

How often do you have to cut real grass? What machine do you use to cut the grass? How complicated is it?

amother

Yolk

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 11:56 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

How often do you have to cut real grass? What machine do you use to cut the grass? How complicated is it?

every few weeks. I dont know which mower it is, but a big one that you drive. the boys, including dh love doing it. for the sides you need some sort of handheld machine.
Its not complicated, but if you have a big lawn, it takes a while.

but I've seen neighbors with smaller machines, that have some sort of board attached to it, and they ride it that way. check out reviews etc.

amother

Amber

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 1:12 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

How often do you have to cut real grass? What machine do you use to cut the grass? How complicated is it?

It depends on where you live.
In the spring it needs it once a week. When it is hot in July and August it can go 10 days.
I don't know where you live where it is every few weeks. It is not healthy for real grass to have that much taken off at once. Also, your yard will look like a meadow and not a lawn and it will be very hard to mow unless you have a very powerful machine.

This is NE USA

DreamerForever

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 1:30 pm

Real grass is not complicated to look after, but it does needs constant maintenance- mowing every week or two in the spring/summer. If you have weeds growing, these will also need removing/treating frequently.

Elfrida

Sun, Jun 26 2022, 1:36 pm

Artificial grass will end up in landfill in ten to fifteen years. In the meantime, it will limit the biodiversity in your garden, and be far less comfortable to walk and play on.

The climate is the main factor determining when you need to cut grass. In some climates it will need to be weekly, others every few weeks is fine. Growing up in London we cut it about once a month. It was an electric machine with covered blades and you pushed it up and down the garden. Most of the cut grass ended up in the attached bag, and whatever was left we liked playing with. With a bunch of children running around you won't get a perfect looking lawn, but you can have a comfortable and pleasant looking play area, that does not cause environmental damage.

amother

Sun, Aug 28 2022, 11:11 am

I see fake grass starts at about $1,000 for grass alone for a pretty small backyard.

What are other reasonable options that are low maintenance?

tia

amother

Lightgray

Sun, Aug 28 2022, 12:45 pm

We had grass that we didn't take care of and is now just a bed of weeds. We cut it with a handheld machine we got on Amazon for about $40.
I have trees around the grass that I have to water. If we put down fake grass will it get ruined from the water?

amother

Wed, Aug 31 2022, 1:27 pm

I see fake grass starts at about $1,000 for grass alone for a pretty small backyard.

What are other reasonable options that are low maintenance?

tia

amother

Orange

Wed, Aug 31 2022, 1:33 pm

If you want to, you could just pave it over. Might also be expensive, and not so nice to play on, but very low maintenance.

amother

Wed, Aug 31 2022, 1:37 pm

amother Orange wrote:

If you want to, you could just pave it over. Might also be expensive, and not so nice to play on, but very low maintenance.

I got an estimate of many thousands for cement work.

amother

Bisque

Wed, Aug 31 2022, 1:42 pm

Cheap & diy option is to cover in a thick layer of mulch. Better yet, first cover with lawn fabric secured with stakes before covering. ( find at any garden store).
You can also upgrade to rubber mulch which will last much longer. Otherwise you will need to add more mulch seasonally.
Be warned you will have mulch tracked into the house.

amother

Lemonchiffon

Wed, Aug 31 2022, 2:07 pm

amother OP wrote:

I see fake grass starts at about $1,000 for grass alone for a pretty small backyard.

What are other reasonable options that are low maintenance?

tia

What will happen the grass that currently gets overgrown, when you cover it with fake grass? It will end up coming through and casuing issues.

amother

Foxglove

Wed, Aug 31 2022, 2:13 pm

amother Lemonchiffon wrote:

What will happen the grass that currently gets overgrown, when you cover it with fake grass? It will end up coming through and casuing issues.

You can't just unroll the fake grass. You first put down different layers of rock, sand etc. You also need drainage and then you can put it down.
Op, I dream of one day affording to put down fake grass. Until then I will just have to live with an untidy yard.