Mel, that certainly looks amazing - possibly just a bit too good to be true! I wonder how well it bears up under heavy traffic, and how does it drain in wet weather? Get yourself round to your friend's house now and ask her!! ;o) Definitely an improvement on our brown, crispy concrete patch.

It did look fantastic, Gattina! Someone suggested it might be hot for the dogs to walk on, but she has plenty of shade. And apparently, the dogs seem perfectly happy with it. It was a hot day when I was there, and the dogs were sitting on it very comfortably. I don't think there's a drainage problem with it - I think the "fabric" allows the water through. It sounded a bit like snow when I walked on it, though!

It was very perfect - would look totally out of place in my garden!! But, you know, just for a few moments I was quite tempted!

I can see that you have put up the extra 'question' in order to add photos, Mel, and the lawn does look very smart. I wonder about keeping it clean and I see that the owner has dogs. With a normal lawn the rain washes any dirt down into the soil and regular mowing cuts and removes dirty grass. My thought is that with an artificial lawn the dirt will accumulate on top of the membrane and build up? I have no experience of artificial grass so am just musing.

I know exactly what you mean, Bulba. However, in this instance, the dogs are extremely well trained, and didn't soil the real lawn at all. They just reduced it to a racing circuit! (It had a "track" around it) I think she gives it a sweep over to remove leaves - she is a very tidy gardener, and everything is immaculate (as far from my style as is possible to be!). The sweeping must be a bit of a job because it is a large area. After the initial "wow", I came to the conclusion that I actually prefer my real "lawn", weeds and all, but I can see that in some circumstances an artificial one might have its place.

Very interesting.

It looks so good but I think if its noisy to walk on that would spoil it for me together with debri on top, perhaps it could be hoovered?

Lol!

I think "noisy" may be overstating it a bit! Hoovering, though - now that's an idea! (There is an account of guests at Dirk Bogarde's house finding his manager hoovering the lawn - and that was a real one!)

I have to say the photos show a very impressive lawn. Thanks so much for posting them.

Sweeping them might be worse than mowing in a way but at least there would be no need for edging!
Bulbaholic also makes a very interesting point that is worth considering about dogs.

I certainly think it is worth looking at some and deliberating further as there are obviously pros and cons, as in all things.

I hope they gave you something to think about! It is an interesting idea. Perhaps you'll be able to find someone
with first hand experience of the pros and cons. I suspect, like most things, it depends on individual circumstances.

Great colour all year round and no watering! I wonder what the cost is compared to turf?

I think it is probably very expensive!

I think you're probably right, Mel! Next time we go "major" shopping to the Italian equivalent of B & Q, I'll try and remember to find out what it costs, although, heaven knows it'll bear no resemblance to UK prices

I looked at one web site and they were quoting £20 to £30 per sg.m. and that was for material only and it comes with a ten year guarantee. I believe that these lawns need to be laid professionally, so more cost. It would probably be easier and cheaper for you neighbour to get someone in to mow the lawn, Weedpatch. As your neighbour will already have her own mower maybe you could find a local teenager wanting to earn a few bob (almost impossible where we live, they just don't want to know about WORK).

I'd laugh out loud if it weren't so sad, Bulba. Whatever happened to good hearts and philanthropy and developing good habits in the young?

I wonder how it would behave in a flash flood? thats a lot of money and 10 years strikes me as not very long? Pond liners are guaranteed for 25 years.

Ten years isn't long at all! I expect installation is at least as much as the cost of the materials (like new exhausts!!)
I suppose it would behave like a carpet in a flash flood! (It might even float away!) Seriously, I imagine the type of soil underneath is probably the important factor there. It might not be so good on a clay soil...

The stuff I've seen locally seems to be composed of little loops: I'd hate to see what the determined efforts of a digging cat or dog would do to that: I know what they do to loop pile carpets!

This definitely wasn't looped, Gattina - I looked quite closely. It looked exactly like grass.

Well, that has to be an improvement.