Grass or concrete ?

V

Vacuum Box

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I want to kill the grass and concrete the front garden.. no kids involved so playing is not an issue... I am just sick of the bloody grass...

ideas, Pros /cons... plz..

Thanks...
 
I think the look of it is probably the biggest con. I have no experience with concrete. Would you consider synthetic grass or maybe stones?
 
i think concrete alone, looks dirty and cold suppose it depends on the area involved!
 
even non expensive paving slabs that you could get in a hardware store and put down yourself would look nicer than concrete. Also I presume you never want to sell the house on, prospective buyers might not like the concrete.....
 
Pro: No grass to cut

Cons: Concrete is ugly
Possible drainage issues
May limit future sale of house

Cons far outweigh the pros in my view.

Remember, the appearance of your house from the outside is important, especially if you are considering selling in the future.
 
Compromise... paving slabs or cobblelock or even cold concrete but with cutouts (for want of a better word):) for a few shrubs or flowers. Plan it well though.
 
The problem with paving slabs is weeds tend to grow between the gaps. Maintenance can be an issue and if unmaintained it can be ugly. I know in the last few years of heavy rain its been an issue for me.
 
I know what you mean....you could put a 'colour' into the concrete which might help soften it a bit and have a few cut outs...that might be easier to maintain that the slabs.
 
Patterned, coloured concrete (to make it look like individual slabs) would be much nicer. You often see this done on driveways.

I would stick with grass to be honest, although nothing worse than grass which isn't looked after and which is allowed to grow out of control, full of weeds etc.

But I would avoid plain old grey concrete - nothing worse looking.
 
i'm sure i read a thread on here last year about new regulations in relation to concreting front gardens. It was something to do with drainage systems being flooded, and possibly requiring planning permission to change a garden to concrete.
 
Put down stones and ensure there is a porus membrane underneath.

The membrane allows water down but stops weeds growing up.

No need to do anything with the existing grass, just pile the stone on.
It looks good and most importantly can be reversed easily if required.
 
Without knowing your reasons for not wanting the grass it's difficult to suggest but generally I would be loath to resort to killing grass to replace with concrete.

As stated below the imprinted concrete will give a nicer finish but there is a maintenance cost to this also as you need to maintain it so it keeps its finish. I have grass, imprinted concrete, stones, slabs and wooden decking at various parts around my front/back garden (sounds like a patchwork quilt) and I would rate as follows:

Covering Appeal Maintenance
Grass 1 Cutting + annual fertilising
Imprinted Concrete 5 Annual maintenance is costly
Wooden Decking 3 Annual cleaning and clear staining
Stones 2 Low cost, low maintenance once
finished
Slabs 4 Twice Yearly power spray

If you are sick of mowing the grass you should hire someone to do it for you, rates should be competitive right now and you still benefit from the visual aspect of it. Gardens are one of the features that 'sell a house' so don't rush into killing the grass.


Vacuum Box said:
I want to kill the grass and concrete the front garden.. no kids involved so playing is not an issue... I am just sick of the bloody grass...

ideas, Pros /cons... plz..

Thanks...
Click to expand...
 
Whoops, looks like the headings and detail from my previous post did not format very well, sorry about that.
 
Concrete is not very environmentally friendly (high embedded energy, and a lot of co2 produced.

Someone suggested a membrane and stones, that's a better solution environmentally than concrete.
 
from all the comments I think I will stick the grass.... much less hassle... and i can see issues with drainage as in my area, a little rain can lead to flood... thanks again all...

G.
 
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