Synthetic grass in San Diego (HOA, neighborhood, price)

[wanttoteach]

Hello,
Our backyard in Rancho Penasquitos is very small. We have 3 large dogs that have ruined our grass...absolutely RUINED in with their urine. We have replanted the entire thing (about 500 square feet) twice. We just pulled out the lawn today and are going to put in the synthetic grass. The good kind...not the kind which is cheap and has lots of nylon in it. But this grass is so expensive. It looks real, but the price of it made me do a double take. We interviewed a lot of companies, and found one company to be very honest, saying that we could easily put in the synthetic lawn ourselves for HALF the price. So that is what we are going to do. We were going to go with rock, but picking up poop with rock is a nightmare. Have any of you had experience with synthetic grass here, or with planting it yourself? I think it is going to become very popular here due to the water shortage and cost of water.

[ubringliten]

No experience here at all, but our HOA committee has allowed us putting synthetic grass in the backyard only. I have a distant friend who has it and he is very happy with it.

[wanttoteach]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

No experience here at all, but our HOA committee has allowed us putting synthetic grass in the backyard only. I have a distant friend who has it and he is very happy with it.

I could see why the HOA only allows it in backyards. Some types can be pretty horrible. Our neighbors had it in my old neighborhood, and it was downright awful. They had it in their front yard, and you could see the seams. We have been looking at grass that looks absolutely real, but it is absurdly expensive. It is nice to know that you know someone who is happy with it.

[sdurbanite]

A neighbor around the corner has synthetic grass in the front yard and it wasn't until recently that I figured it out. It doesn't look bad from afar, but up close you can tell.

I prefer xeriscaping, but I guess you are right about having to pick up poop in gravel and rocks.

[NYSD1995]

The good stuff is very expensive. For a backyard xeriscaping is not that friendly for pets and kids. Bermudagrass is a good option - low water usage, grows like crazy... still grass but has that low pile / smooth look.

[wanttoteach]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

The good stuff is very expensive. For a backyard xeriscaping is not that friendly for pets and kids. Bermudagrass is a good option - low water usage, grows like crazy... still grass but has that low pile / smooth look.

Does Bermuda yellow with dog pee? Also, does it go yellow in the winter? It would be a cheaper choice. I would love to know if anyone has this information.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by wanttoteach

Does Bermuda yellow with dog pee? Also, does it go yellow in the winter? It would be a cheaper choice. I would love to know if anyone has this information.

Yes it goes yellow

Don't know about dog pee speficially but NOTHING kills it... it's the grass they use at most parks in San Diego.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Yes it goes yellow

Don't know about dog pee speficially but NOTHING kills it... it's the grass they use at most parks in San Diego.

that and crab grass

That fake stuff is too $

[MySerendipity]

You might check with some gardeners, I know that some of the big resorts that allow pets use some kind of a product that they put on the grass to prevent it from dying or turning yellow. Don't know what it is thou.

[mommanae]

We used synthetic around our pool and were very, very happy with it. I'd say install is harder than you think as we had to have it restretched. It acts like carpet and if not installed properly, it will buckle. For drainage, we went with a specific product that would help with this. We have a dog as well and were concerned with smells and poor draining. A little simple green and spray down with the hose and it's fresh and clean. If it's not too large of an area, it's worth the price and water savings. Overall, we love it and would recommend it for pet owners, definitely!