Synthetic Turf vs Real Grass: An Honest Comparison for Melbourne
Short answer: Synthetic turf wins decisively in the places where grass has never worked — deep shade, narrow side strips, small courtyards, rooftops and balconies. Real grass wins on large, sunny, open areas, where it is cheaper, cooler underfoot and better for the block. Most Melbourne homes are best served by using both, in the right places, rather than choosing a side.
We install synthetic turf and we maintain real lawns, so we have no particular reason to sell you one over the other. What follows is what we actually tell people who ask, including the parts the synthetic turf industry tends to leave out and the parts lawn purists tend to ignore.
The comparison, straight
| Synthetic turf | Real grass | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Considerably higher. Most of it is excavation and base, not the turf. | Much lower, particularly if you prepare and lay it yourself. |
| Ongoing cost | Low. Occasional brushing, debris removal, infill top-up. | Ongoing: mowing, water, fertiliser, weed and pest control. |
| Water use | Effectively none, beyond occasional rinsing. | Real, though far less with the right grass and deep watering. |
| Summer heat | Gets very hot in full sun. Can be uncomfortable barefoot. | Cools itself. Comfortable in heat and cools the area around it. |
| Shade tolerance | Total. Looks identical in deep shade. | Poor to moderate. Most lawns fail below about four hours of sun. |
| Wear | Excellent. Will not develop bare tracks. | Wears in traffic paths, but repairs itself if given a rest. |
| Drainage | Free-draining — if the base was built correctly. | Depends entirely on the soil beneath. |
| Lifespan | Roughly 10–20 years, then the surface is replaced. | Indefinite with care. Renovated rather than replaced. |
| Environment | Plastic, no habitat, adds heat, eventual disposal problem. | Absorbs stormwater, cools, supports insects and birds. |
| Appearance | Consistent year-round. Never brown, never lush either. | Varies with season and care. Better at its best. |
Where synthetic turf genuinely wins
These are the situations where we recommend it without hesitation, because grass in these positions is a recurring disappointment.
Deep shade
The south side of a double-storey house, under a mature evergreen, between two townhouses. Below roughly four hours of direct sun a day, no lawn variety sold in Melbourne will hold. People try shade-tolerant buffalo, then seed, then more seed, and end up with mud. Synthetic turf looks the same in shade as it does in sun, and this is its single best use case.
Narrow side strips
The metre or so between the house and the boundary fence gets no rain because the eaves shed it, minimal light, and no airflow. It is a dead zone for grass, it is awkward to mow, and it is where mowers get damaged. A run of synthetic turf, or gravel, ends the problem permanently.
Small courtyards and units
In Brunswick, Fitzroy, Richmond or Yarraville, a courtyard may be four metres square, walled on three sides, with no side access. Storing and using a mower is disproportionate to the area, and getting clippings out means walking them through the house. Small areas are also where synthetic turf is most affordable, because the cost scales with area. Our guide to inner-north courtyard gardens goes deeper on this.
Balconies and rooftops
No soil depth, weight limits, waterproof membranes and no drainage to speak of. Synthetic turf is often the only realistic green surface. See balcony and rooftop garden care for the load and membrane considerations, which matter more than the turf choice.
Around pools
No mud tracked into the water, no clippings in the filter, no fertiliser near the pool. A common and sensible use.
Investment properties and rentals
The garden gets maintained regardless of who is living there and how interested they are. For a landlord, presentation between tenancies stops being a variable.
Where nobody is going to maintain a lawn
This is worth saying plainly, without judgement. A lawn is a commitment. If the honest answer is that nobody in the household is going to mow, water and feed it, and nobody is going to pay someone else to, then a real lawn will become a weed patch. Synthetic turf that looks the same in five years beats grass that looks terrible in one.
Where real grass wins
Large open sunny areas
Cost scales with area, and on a big back lawn the gap becomes very large. A quarter-acre block in Reservoir or Greensborough is not a synthetic turf candidate on cost alone, and it is also exactly where grass performs best.
Anywhere used through summer
This is the point that gets glossed over in sales material. Grass cools itself by transpiring — a lawn on a hot day is cooler than the air above it. Synthetic turf does the opposite: it absorbs heat and holds it, and in full Melbourne summer sun it can become too hot for comfortable bare feet or for a dog to lie on.
It is manageable. Hosing it down cools it quickly, shade sails or a tree change the situation entirely, and it is a non-issue in shaded positions. But for a full-sun back lawn where children and a dog will actually spend January, it deserves honest weight in the decision.
Where the block needs to breathe
Lawn absorbs stormwater, cools its surroundings, and supports insects and birds. Replacing a large area of a suburban block with plastic has effects beyond the block. Some planning permits and estate covenants also carry minimum garden area or permeable surface requirements, so if you are covering a substantial area it is worth checking what applies to your property before you commit.
When you want a garden, not a surface
Synthetic turf is a floor covering. It is consistent, and consistency is exactly what some people want. But it does not change with the seasons, it does not smell like cut grass, and it will never look like a good lawn at its best in October.
The part that decides success: the base
If you take one thing from this article, take this. Almost every failed synthetic lawn we are called to look at failed underneath, not on top. The turf is rarely the problem.
A correct installation involves:
- Removing the existing lawn and organic material entirely. Anything living or organic left underneath will decompose, settle and leave dips. Turf laid straight over grass is the classic cheap installation, and it fails within two years.
- Excavating to depth — enough for a proper base, not a token scrape.
- A compacted permeable crushed rock base, laid in layers and compacted properly, graded to falls so water moves to somewhere it can go.
- Drainage where the soil demands it. On the reactive clay across Melbourne's north and west, water passing through the turf hits clay that will not accept it quickly. Without subsurface drainage or a designed outlet, it sits. See our guide to western Melbourne's clay.
- Secure edges so the perimeter cannot lift or curl.
- Joins glued and seamed properly, with the pile all running the same direction — get this wrong and every join is visible for the life of the installation.
- Infill brushed in to weigh the turf down, hold the blades upright and protect the backing.
The base is the majority of the cost and the entirety of the risk. A quote that is dramatically cheaper than the others is almost always cheaper because of what is not happening under the grass. Ask any installer directly: how deep are you excavating, what base material, and where does the water go?
Ten-year thinking
The fair way to compare is not the installation invoice. It is the total across the time you will actually own the place.
Synthetic: a significant one-off cost, then very little, then a replacement surface somewhere past the ten-year mark. The base normally survives, so replacement is cheaper than the original job.
Real grass: a modest start, then a steady ongoing cost — mowing, water, fertiliser, the occasional renovation — that never stops but never spikes.
Which comes out ahead depends on three things: how big the area is (bigger favours grass), how long you are staying (longer favours synthetic), and what your time is worth. On a small courtyard held for fifteen years, synthetic wins comfortably. On a big back lawn you might sell in four years, it does not.
What about resale?
Genuinely mixed, and worth being sober about. Well-installed synthetic turf in a small courtyard or a difficult side area reads as a sensible, low-maintenance solution and is generally viewed positively. A whole back yard in plastic divides buyers, and some will discount it. In an established garden suburb it can read as a downgrade; in a compact townhouse it reads as practical.
What we usually recommend
The most common outcome, and the one that makes people happiest, is a split:
- Synthetic down the side strip, in the shaded courtyard, on the balcony, and in the dead corner where grass has failed twice.
- Real grass across the main open, sunny area where it thrives and where the family actually uses it.
That gives you a surface that always looks presentable in the hard places, and a cool, living lawn in the place it matters, without paying to cover the whole block in plastic.
If you are keeping real grass, choosing the right variety does most of the work — see drought-tolerant lawns for Victoria. If you are going synthetic, read how to look after synthetic turf before you assume it is zero effort.
FAQ
Is synthetic turf cheaper than real grass?
Not upfront — it costs considerably more to install, mostly because of the base underneath. It can win over time by removing mowing, water and feeding, particularly on small areas held for a long time.
Does it get hot?
Yes. In full sun it gets far hotter than a living lawn and can be uncomfortable barefoot. Shade and a hose fix it, but it belongs in the decision.
Does it drain on clay?
Only with a properly built permeable base, correct falls and, on difficult sites, subsurface drainage. The turf drains; the ground underneath is the problem.
How long does it last?
Generally in the range of ten to twenty years, shorter in heavy traffic and full sun. The base usually outlives the surface.
Is it maintenance free?
No — but close to mowing free. Debris removal, brushing, edge weeding, rinsing where pets use it, and occasional infill top-up.
Can it go over an existing lawn?
No. The lawn and organic material must be removed and replaced with a compacted base, or it will settle and go uneven.
Synthetic turf supply and installation, plus lawn care, right across Melbourne:
Brunswick · Northcote · Essendon · Sunshine · Craigieburn · Doncaster · Southbank · and 110 more suburbs
Not sure which way to go? Contact Garden MC or call 0448 215 297 for a free measure and quote. We will tell you honestly if grass is the better answer for your block. See our synthetic turf service.
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