Let’s face it: Maintaining a great, luscious green garden takes a lot of work. Synthetic grass (or faux lawn) comes with various benefits, including being an uninviting place for pests. But do slugs go on artificial grass or not?
Slugs do not go on artificial grass as it provides no benefits to them. It is plastic and unnatural and, therefore, has no positive impact on a slug (or other insects).
One of the reasons why having a great garden is so difficult is because of slugs. These slimy pests appear small and harmless; however, they cause grave damage to plants. If nothing else, slugs do not mind feeding on grass.
Therefore, many homeowners opt for artifical grass to counter this problem altogether, so they do not have to spend much time maintaining it.
Can Bugs Live in Artificial Grass?
Apart from slugs, there are other insects and bugs which invade gardens. Many gardeners do not have time to deal with these bugs. Therefore, they find installing artificial grass convenient.
If you are planning on getting artificial grass, it is important to understand that you will still see some bugs because they can live in artificial grass.
However, there will not be many bugs (especially beneficial insects) because they need natural grass to thrive. The soil and other living matter found in natural grass are important for the survival and reproduction of the bugs.
Artificial grass, therefore, does not attract bugs. However, you can still find other bugs and fleas living in the grass.
How to Get Rid of Bugs in Artificial Grass
There is no reason to worry if you have recently noticed bugs in your artificial grass. It would help if you took certain measures to get rid of the nasty creepy crawlies.
The first thing you must do is clean away any twigs or leaves that may have fallen on your grass. It is important to keep your artificial grass clean and maintain it with regular sweeping. Every piece of debris that falls can become the perfect place for bugs to thrive.
Fallen leaves are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, making them perfect for all kinds of bugs, especially in warmer weather.
While eating out on your lawn is a great concept, you must do it with care. Bugs love food and devour any crumbs or debris that may fall from your plates.
It is known that artificial grass does not require much maintenance, but you should still give it some attention. Like all things, artificial grass needs to be cleaned, so you must make it a habit to wash your lawn regularly.
Using water to rinse your lawn will rid it of bacteria, microbes and any bugs residing on it. The grass will look green, and your lawn will be clean.
Speaking of cleaning your lawn, it is essential to have good drainage. Not only will your lawn dry faster, but water will not accumulate on it. When water collects and becomes stagnant, it is a huge problem because it attracts mosquitoes and other bugs.
Sometimes fleas can also live on artificial grass. However, fleas cannot survive for long, but they can transfer from one pet to another. Fleas can pose problems for humans as they bite.
Why Artificial Grass is Bad?
However, while there are quite a few benefits to artificial grass, it is not exactly a great choice for the environment. There are a few ways in which artificial grass adversely affects the environment.
We agree that artificial grass gives off a (potentially) positive aesthetic appearance. However, a lot of plastic goes into producing this grass. In addition, the plastic grass cannot be recycled or used again.
We all know how long it takes for plastic to decompose. You cannot recycle artificial grass because it is made from various materials fused together. It becomes difficult to separate the materials and recycle them.
When you use artificial grass in your garden, small pieces of plastic will get left behind in the soil. Therefore, for centuries these pieces will remain in the soil and find their way into microorganisms causing damage.
Artificial grass becomes a barrier and kills the life underneath the soil. This grass provides no benefits to the wildlife.
Most people choose to use artificial grass for the aesthetic. However, after a few years, the grass loses its beauty and can begin to look bad. The plastic blades wear out and become dirty and squashed like carpets. It then needs to be maintained.
Leave Your Lawn Be
If you can’t be bothered to mow your lawn then there is another option to replacing it with environmentally-damaging plastic grass… Just let it grow! Buy a packet of wildflower seeds, push some bulbs in the ground and, before you know it, you’ll have a wildlife paradise in your garden.
Summary
One of the major concerns of gardeners is pests, particularly slugs. Installing artificial grass seems like an easy choice for people who do not have time or have green fingers.
There is no guarantee that you will not see any bugs in artificial grass, however. But you can avoid that problem by ensuring it remains clean and there is great drainage.
However, artificial grass impacts nature quite adversely. The grass poses no benefits to wildlife, not to mention it is made from plastic which later cannot be recycled. Over the years, the artificial grass looks bad and does not even serve its initial purpose.
Ryan is a keen gardener from the UK who’s spent years dealing with countless, common pests over the years so knows the ins and outs of how to deal with pests in the garden
Slugs like to move around on artificial grass, I speak from experience. We only had our grass down a couple of days and it was covered in slug trails.
We have synthetic turf and have slugs all over it. We pick up the dogs waste daily and blow the leaves off with a blower at least every three days and we still have slugs. They are everywhere. I am usually picking up at least 6 a day. Not sure why.