Anyone had any experiences they wish to share re Grass??

[tramcar trev]

Ok, my problem is that I want something to represent grass. I have some areas of parkland I need to grass. I do think it would look better if the colour was not uniform so I scrounged some synthetic "putting green' grass and tried to make the colour more realistic by misting beige and "earthy tone" paint over it with very limited durability. The paint sprayed on was oil based but after it had dried the grass only needed to be touched and the paint fell down into the roots of the grass as it didn't stick to the plastic grass..... It did look quite good untill you brush it with your arm

Ok so then I checked on eBay and there are a few solutions there but I doubt that any would withstand being outside....
This "mat" may do the job; anyone used it?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Model-Tr...ways&hash=item4d01eaa18a&_uhb=1#ht_3440wt_960 < Link To http://www.ebay.com.au/it...p;_uhb=1#ht_3440wt_960

Thoughts from the floor?

 

[New Haven Neil 2]

It's best not to do it on wet grass, you might get a chill.

 

[mike]

im useing artifical gras.. the only down side i have found, is the uniformed colour..

 

[Gizzy]

It's best not to smoke grass....

 

[Zerogee]

It's best not to smoke grass....

And you shouldn't snort Coke, either - the bubbles get up your nose....

Jon.

 

[yb281]

It's best not to smoke grass....

Rubbish - just don't use the synthetic stuff.

 

[Wobbleboxer]

Meanwhile, back on track...

You can now get some quite realistic looking artificial grasses with brown/beige bits built in. For those not wanting the greengrocer shelf look to their lawn. Not cheap though.

 

[stevedenver]

i like the kibri mats for inside only, and i try to get the brownish one , i think they call it field
and then
add varying amount of the sprinkle on fine dust in muted greens

the brown, at least to my western US eye, looks like life
the thing that i think the eye picks up on is uniformity of color

i imagine for those of you living in wetter areas, one might use green , and then add lighter greens and some wheat /browns

the kibri mat is pricey, but really looks great . it is less pricey in the big rolls, as opposed to the approx 8x10' sheets
i find the biggest help, besides varying the color, is to also trim it in anything but a straight line

it looks particularly good as small patches among soil ares and odd areas in and around buildings, ponds, gulleys etc
and to have the odd rock, nestled into a cut in the matt, so it looks half underground

kibri is one of the few where it seems to last, but will fade-the upright blades do seem to last years though, and fading can be dealt with via the air gun and paint

ive tried to shoot grass blades with the electro static gun and its simply a mess, and ive tride clumpng bits of hemp rope to represent weed clusters , pushed down into tiny drilled holes-while likely my ignorance of proper technique, these other options just never look right because of the slightly off angles of everything

another thing ive tried which works but isnt really pratical, is to use a heavy gel like glue, and push an old hair brush in and then trim the bristles and paint them -looks a bit like cattails /rushes and lasts, but is a major PITA to fix them up with color and bits of low lying growth

ive used the sprinkle on dust as well the colored foam sponge bits (here Woodland Scenics) and it works well, but simply doenst have the look of wild grasses, but is most often what i use for ease and cost

they make outside grass carpet which lasts but looks rather phony and doesnt take color unless you use a mineral based spray-it inevitably frays revealing the light nylon webs

 

[beavercreek]

Confused! I have a garden railway and my garden is full of the stuff. The big prob is that it grows!!!

Hi Roly
Apparently there is something that you can spray on the grass to slow the growth up.......what is it called?...........oh yes....................concrete!

 

[Madman]

I tried it years ago. I'll stick to beer.

There was an email I received some time ago about grass. Something about all of the beautiful flowers that covered the earth in the form of weeds, that are non labor intensive. God got word that people were killing the weeds to grow grass, which they have to cut, fertilze, spray...................................

If I can dig it up, it tells the story much better than I just did..

 

[Elmtree Line]

Artificial grass can look nice, Mike can vouch for that! Maybe you could spraypaint shades of green and brown onto it to break up the uniformity of the green? The Plastikote Spraypaints are good and inexpensive.