Artificial grass is one of the most versatile garden materials. It also has a natural-looking aesthetic but without the hassle of cultivating the grass.
Fake lawns are becoming increasingly popular in the UK by storm. And not only with garden lovers. A strip of artificial grass lends an eye-catching dynamic to driveways and can transform the entranceway to your home or commercial property.
If you're an artificial grass convert, you may be intrigued by its full potential. This low maintenance material looks beautiful all year round and is indistinguishable from a real grass lawn.
But can you install artificial grass on a driveway, and if so, what should you consider?
How Can You Use Fake Grass on a Driveway?
You can enjoy artificial grass in all aspects of your outdoor space - including your driveway. However, we don’t recommend laying artificial turf over the area.
Artificial grass fibres are pretty strong and good quality products have an excellent bounce-back rate. You would be able to drive your car across it without damaging the grass fibres.
However, like most products, artificial grass will suffer from wear and tear. You wouldn’t get many years out of it if you were driving your car across it twice or more a day.
There’s no reason why shouldn’t “dress up” your driveway with artificial grass. A fake lawn would look great in the front garden of your house. But you should avoid using it where you drive into your house and park your car.
Artificial grass can also be complemented by paving stones, small fences and wood chipping. If you want to separate the driving strip from your lawn, a divide gives you a visually pleasing finish.
What Are the Benefits of Using Fake Grass on a Driveway?
As well as looking great, using fake grass on a driveway has several practical benefits for homeowners. Not only is this material durable, but it drains well and requires little maintenance. In addition, it keeps its colour all year round.
Advantages of Creating an Artificial Grass Driveway
Comfortable Under Foot
Most artificial grass is manufactured using a blend of polyethene and polypropylene which makes it durable but also soft. It’s the softness that has helped to make fake lawns more popular with homeowners in recent years.
When you consider how often you’re laden with shopping bags, laptops or heavy family paraphernalia when walking to and from the car, the soft cushioning of artificial grass beneath your feet can feel like a blessing.
Higher density piles provide optimum comfort. Pile density measures the number of fibres stitched into each square metre of the grass. Naturally, a higher concentration of fibres means the lawn will feel softer underfoot.
Excellent Drainage
Artificial grass offers excellent drainage for your driveway. These materials come with a permeable backing that allows water to be syphoned off and drained away. This reduces the risk of your driveway becoming slippery or mossy.
Of course, the drainage system of your artificial grass will vary depending on the nature of the surface. For example, the installation process is different if you’re laying astroturf on concrete than the process you would use if you’re installing a lawn on top of soil.
It’s important that water can be absorbed into the ground below, otherwise, your fake lawn will gather puddles. This not looks unsightly but also renders the grass unusable. Bacteria will also collect in the water and create an undesirable odour.
Good drainage is essential for keeping the garden in tip-top condition. When fake grass is wet it can also be a potential injury hazard because it’s easy to slip on.
On the other hand, artificial grass help to drain the water from your driveway after washing the car.
Low Maintenance
A key benefit of artificial turf is that it truly is a low-maintenance garden material. This is true whether you've got an artificial football pitch in your back garden or a designer driveway coated in artificial grass.
If you enjoy the aesthetic of natural grass and want to create an eye-catching green space at the front of your house, artificial grass is the way to go. Real grass is hard to maintain, especially when grown in smaller sections, or areas that are difficult to access with a strimmer or lawnmower.
Artificial grass can help you create those picture-perfect green spaces at the front of your house, without any hassle. For long-term luscious aesthetics, simply brush the fibres of your artificial turf every other week and rinse down when it gets dirty.
Ideal for Small Gardens
If you've got a small outdoor space and your driveway takes up the majority of your garden, using artificial turf can be a great way to segment your space into zones. Artificial turf can be used in small areas and can accompany your driveway and box plants to help you get the most from your garden.
Longevity
High-quality artificial lawns stay beautiful for years. You should expect to get at least 10 years of wear from a top-quality astroturf. All our artificial grass products come with a 10-year warranty.
If you take good care of your artificial lawn, you should expect to get at least 15-20 years out of it. Astroturf will definitely outlast the cars you will see come and go in the same timeframe!
Customisable To Your Taste
It's a myth that all artificial lawns look the same. These days, high-quality turf comes in a variety of options, varying in colour, density and pile.
Your garden design preferences won't be the same as the next person's, so your green space needn't look identical to theirs. Plus, certain shades may complement the materials in your garden better than others.
If you’re not sure which type of artificial grass will be the most appropriate for your garden, speak with our experts. We will be happy to offer guidance. We also provide you with free grass samples so you can get a feel for which colour, pile height and fibre you prefer.
Designs For A Driveway With Artificial Grass
Like what you're hearing but need more inspiration? No problem. In this next section, we’ve collated some of our favourite design ideas for how artificial grass can be used to complement your driveway. The only difficulty for you is deciding which design best suits the front of your home!
A Driveway Side Lawn
This beautiful lawned area neatly meets the driving strip and is fenced with beautiful green hedges. This design is ideal for family living, where you want to optimise each area of your garden for children's play. Alternatively, you could make the most out of this space by adding a small table and chairs to the artificial lawn, to use as a morning coffee spot.
Driving Strip
Depending on the figuration of your garden space, you could use artificial grass on either side of your driving strip, to envelop the driveway in green space. This design cleverly uses curved edging to soften the joint between the grass and the paving stones.
Front Yard Landscaping
This garden driveway design accompanies a small patch of landscaped garden, complete with topiary trees, rocks, plants and artificial grass. The lawn penetrating into the centre provides the homeowners with alternative uses but also gives them easy access to tend the flower beds.
Driveway Flower Beds
Those suburban home goals are all about the floral frontals. Flowerbeds are beautiful in any garden, but it can be tricky to incorporate them into your driveway space.
If you're keen on creating a beautiful front yard flower bed, simply use artificial grass to segment space. This example shows how fake turf can be used to divide your front garden into driveway and floral zones. Simply add your plants of choice, and accompany them with slate or bark, depending on your desired aesthetic.
Time to Give the Driveway a Fake Grass Makeover?
Artificial grass is a beautiful and practical material for use on your home driveway. It's durable, it drains well and it requires little maintenance any time of the year.
My Lovely Lawn specialises in creating beautiful outdoor spaces that all the family can enjoy. We're passionate about encouraging families to venture outdoors and create memories together in the garden of your home.
It is our firm belief that every outdoor space is an asset to your home, no matter how big or small it may be. Space is there to be used and an artificial grass installation gives you the means and the motivation to use it.
We offer a variety of premium quality lawn options that can be engineered to suit your unique needs. We’ll even install it for you if you’re not a DIY enthusiast or have experience laying artificial grass.
We should stress, that it is important to get the foundations right otherwise you probably won’t get as much use out of your lawn that you would expect.
To ensure you get full value for money from your lawn, take advantage of our experienced artificial lawn installers and premium products. Click here to get in touch and speak with one of our knowledgeable and friendly experts.
