Enjoy Your Easter With An Artificial Lawn

Well, it's that time of year again ... you're just contemplating the nice idea of a quiet Easter holiday and you remember the garden!

You know there'll be plenty of tidying up and replanting to do, especially after the worst winter in Britain for 30 years, but then you console yourself that annual replanting is a part of every garden and there's nothing you can do about the weather. So you accept to just get on with it with the hope that it won't take up all the holiday you have.

Then that sinking feeling sets in ... you just remembered the lawn! You look at the faded, patchy, muddy, weed-ridden, mossy mess and contemplate what it will take to get it in shape.You start paging through seed catalogues, get the mower out of the shed for an overhaul and tune-up; then come the visits to the local garden centre for pesticides to sort out the moss and weeds. The notion of a relaxing Easter break is now a mere fantasy ... and all in pursuit of that 'perfect lawn'.

What a waste! With an artificial lawn you can throw away the mower and do Mother Nature a favour by abandoning pesticides AND saving on water this summer. And that's not all ... the kids and the dog won't be bringing in muddy feet to the house any more either and every Easter from now on you can relax.

The initial cost of installing an artificial lawn will of course be more than the annual cost to revamp your old natural grass lawn BUT it's the lifetime savings that add up - no more seeding, fertilizing, trimming, mowing, strimming, watering plus all the time you will have saved ... time you can spend doing far more valuable and enjoyable things. In addition, there are the environmental benefits.

If you still need convincing, look at these 'before' and 'after' photos ...

Yes, it's the same garden! And if that's not enough to convince you, you can read about the advantages of artificial grass and check out our Artificial Grass FAQ section.

We rest our case!

City Beekeeping & Artificial Grass

At the end of last summer we wrote about increasing concerns for the future of the honey bee around the world. We quoted examples from southern Germany (where a significant rise in honey bee deaths had been linked to pesticides resulting in the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection suspending the registration of 8 pesticide treatments) and the United States where an environmental group had filed a lawsuit against the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for withholding information about the risks to honey bees from pesticide treatments. Clearly, the argument for reducing use of pesticides has never been so strong and with high profile celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson taking to beekeeping, it can only stand to gain momentum.

Now comes the news that the British honey bee population is in serious decline with numbers falling by as much as 30%. See a special BBC News report. The upside to this disturbing news is the growing number of people in Britain who are interested in keeping bees and maintaining their own beehives. The majority live in the countryside which is logical but what about those living in towns and cities? Well, they too now have an option to help the plight of the honey bee. It's called the beehaus. A bright yellow plastic box about the size of an average barbecue set, it is designed to reduce swarming and, it's claimed, can yield up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of honey in a year. It doesn't take up much space and its inventors are keen to point this out saying it is ideal for use on balconies and rooftop gardens.

So for those Brits who live an urban lifestyle and don't have a garden, they can now take their balcony or rooftop and convert it into a honey-producing space and play their part in saving the British honeybee. Using artificial grass to make the area colourful and pleasant under foot is the ideal compliment to the venture - no mowing, no watering and, above all, no pesticides required!

Read our Rooftop Grass Growing Fast post.

For more information on beekeeping go to the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) website.

Pesticides: The Birds & The Bees

We have touched on the subject of pesticides before in our artificial grass blog because of the potential hazard they pose to human health and the environment and there is no doubt that many people are now turning to artificial grass as a preferred alternative to real grass just so that they can avoid using pesticides on their lawn. That is great news ... but what about the birds and the bees? Yes, we mean that quite literally.

Recent reports suggest that both birds and bees are increasingly becoming unwitting victims of pesticide contamination and disastrous consequences loom on the horizon if the situation is not taken in hand with adequate counter measures.

Pesticides of course encompass many types of 'synthetic poisons' used in different applications - eg. insecticides (against insects), herbicides (against weeds), fungicides (against fungus) and so on. Using pesticide compounds releases chemiclas into the environment and with that is carried the inherent danger of harming 'innocent' inhabitants of gardens and farmland - hence the birds and bees reference.

Population declines in birds have been the subject of investigation for some time and detailed monitoring seems to indicate a strong connection between bird population crashes and pesticide contamination. The Smithsonian National Zoological Park has an excellent detailed web page entitled "When It Comes To Pesticides, Birds Are Sitting Ducks".

As for bees, there is growing global concern about the risks that pesticides pose to honey bees in particular. This summer honey bee keepers in southern Germany reported a wave of honey bee deaths linked to clothianidin (pesticide) and as a result the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in Germany went as far as suspending the registration of eight pesticide seed treatments (used in sweet corn and oilseed rape). A couple of months later, an environmental advocacy group in the USA filed a lawsuit against the Federal Environmental Protection Agency on the grounds of withholding information about the risks posed to honey bees by pesticides. Serious action on both counts - and for good reason.

The balance of the world's eco system is already fragile so with every new report of damage to wildlife by pesticides we need to press for greater openness on the subject and support ideas to help solve the problem.

After all, where we would be without the birds and the bees?

Photograph: European honey bee - courtesy of Wikipedia's honey bee page

Grapevines Not Grass In British Gardens?

Most people are familiar with the prediction of longer, hotter summers as an inevitable result of climate change and global warming and, indeed, some people might welcome the prospect with visions of enjoying the outdoors more, but such a change in our weather could have serious consequences for the beloved British garden.

Everything from hedges to plants, trees and the traditional British lawn will face a battle for survival if water becomes scarcer, summers become drier and winters become wetter.

A wealth of information has already been published on the subject and there's plenty of advice for gardeners who want to keep a colourful and flourishing garden throughout these changing times. For example, if you grow delphiniums and lupins, you will already know that they need moisture retentive soil and do not enjoy drier weather. Therefore you might want to consider planting flowers that are more drought tolerant. Growing fruit should become easier too in warmer weather and it might not be long before we see garden centres stocking more exotic fruit trees, even grapevines and palm trees.

Serious about growing grapevines in Britain? Find out how to grow them courtesy of this BBC Gardening page.

But what about grassed lawns? Many people are already concerned about having to use pesticides to keep their lawns looking green but warmer, drier summers and wetter winters will make lawn maintenance even more difficult. An artificial lawn may well be the answer - you'll save on water and pesticides and yellowed grass in summer will be a thing of the past. Wetter winters too will be much more bearable knowing that mud from the lawn won't find its way into the house. Take a look at this recent installation of an artificial lawn for a customer in Cheshire (as shown in the photograph).

Amongst the sources of information on global warming and gardening are:
The Royal Horticultural Society's report - Gardening in the Global Greenhouse

The Met Office's dedicated section on Climate Change

Pesticides - To Use Or Not To Use

A number of recent news articles have touched on the subject of pesticides and the arguments for and against their use in domestic gardens. Everyone wants an attractive garden of course and especially a nice looking lawn but at what price? Moreover, we’re not just talking about the cost of buying pesticide products but the question of potential hazards to human health and the environment.

Two major websites that cover the issue of safety with chemicals and pesticides are:

The Pesticides Safety Directorate official website – a UK Government backed website with lots of guidelines on the subject.

http://www.chem-tox.com/ - a US site with lots of detailed information. “Poison In The Grass” is the heading of one of their alarming reports which covers the hazards and consequences of lawn pesticides (http://www.chem-tox.com/pesticides/pesticidereport.htm).

Whether you believe the reports or not, you must ask yourself:

Do you have time to study all this information, then go into the local garden centre to delve through all the options of what’s available only to then have to commit to trying something out, not knowing the outcome?

Sounds like an awful waste of time and energy particularly when the real lifestyle choice of artificial grass offers a simple and effective solution.