Artificial grass: yay or nay?

The other day I ended up on a hike that took me through a very ritzy neighborhood and couldn’t help but admire an immaculate, bright green lawn in front of one of the sprawling homes in the area. “I guess shelling out for an expert gardener really makes a difference,” I thought as I walked closer. It wasn’t until I leaned down to touch it though that I realized it actually was too good to be true. Much to my surprise, the lawn was made entirely of plastic!

Until then I hadn’t really thought of synthetic grass in any context outside of miniature golf courses and football stadiums. Clearly AstroTurf and the like have come a long way, and now the stuff truly looks way more realistic than ever. The lawn I saw was an especially clever fake, given there even were blades of grass in variegated colors to simulate the real thing.

There are obvious upsides to going the artificial route, the lack of maintenance (no more mowing, no more reseeding, no more fertilizing and no more pesky brown spots) being chief among them. You can save a ton in water bills (over time, a faux lawn will pay for itself in what you save on utilities), and you can feel good about conserving too.

That said, I’m sure there are some out there who are horrified by the prospect. Some might argue it’s inherently tacky, as if your house is wearing a giant toupee. And it would be a bit odd to have a perfectly lush, green lawn in the dead of winter. You’d also be forgoing the pleasantness of being surrounded by something living—so much for the smell of a freshly cut lawn, and so much for the oxygen-recycling benefit of real grass.

So what do you think? Is artificial grass great or gross?

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