Weeds appearing on faux grass. Arrgh!

Hi, last autumn I'd decided I'd had enough of trying to keep on top of the weeding so I had my garden completely stripped back with a new membrane laid and covered with faux grass. At the time of completion I thought to myself "ha, that'll teach 'em!" But I've started noticing weeds reappearing all across the faux grass. I fully appreciate nature will always find a way, but is this a sign of the company I appointed using cheap materials or is this a case of that's life?

 

Hi and Welcome to the forum,

Think it depends on the type of weeds you have growing up and how big an area you are talking of ?

It could be just seeds that have fallen onto the faux grass and germinated in that, so should pull out easily or you could readily treat them with a suitable weedkiller spray.

If they are actually coming up through the membrane then might be worth contacting the company who did the work, though again you could use a strong spot weedkiller on them.

 

That’s life. Dust will have gathered in the base of the “stalks” and, combined with rain, you have made a mini forest.

 

Is there a source of the weed seed nearby that you can identify and remove or are there lots of different weeds? I often walk past a garden with artificial grass and there are now more weeds than grass! There are quite a few videos online advising how to maintain artificial grass which may be worth a look.

 

Artificial grass professionally installed is usually laid on a level base of sand (sometimes with a hardcore sub-base). Using just membrane can ‘work’ but how good it will be at weed suppression depends on the quality of the membrane and the ground preparation. All perennial weeds should have been dug out thoroughly and the ground left fallow to allow any missed to regrow and then be weeded out again or systemic weed killer applied.

Unless the artificial grass is regularly cleaned/vacuumed you will inevitably get blown in seeds germinating. If there is any leaf fall onto the grass, that also needs to be promptly cleared. If left and allowed to breakdown and decompose it will combine with grit/dust etc to create a growing medium and further weed growth.

As you can see, artificial grass isn’t a no work option. It’s an outdoor carpet so it cones with housework

 

I often pass houses which have plastic grass - all full of weeds. They'll mostly have seeded in.
The irony is - I also pass some which have grass growing in it....

Certainly not an easy option of any kind.

 

Plus it has a finite lifespan after which it will end up in landfill. A lot of companies will tell you it can be recycled, but there's a complete lack of businesses willing to actually recycle it.

 

The woman across the road from me had it put in while I've been in this house [11 years] @Escarpment .
She had it replaced earlier this year.
I don't know the reason, and I haven't asked her, but she has dogs [that are always barking ] so maybe they've wrecked it. It's a very small back garden.

 

It probably stank of wee, unless she washed it regularly.

 

Plus it looks awful. It makes me think of an old woman covered in thick makeup to hide the reality beneath.

 

Have you seen me recently @Tidemark ?

I never wear it at all now. Can't be bothered.