Concrete landscaping, include the infamous "exposed aggregate" driveways, is a funny thing where I live. Looks great on day 1 and gets progressively worse with time and cannot be repaired. Winter kills concrete driveways.

Artificial grass is pretty good choice IMO. Although fake, no watering, no mowing, no weeds, and it never looks terrible.

Not sure what size area you are thinking about, but artificial grass over concrete.

Also, why do you say pavers are higher maintenance than concrete? Pavers will look better over time, as ground shifts underneath, concrete will crack. Pavers can have a little movement to adjust to the shifting ground.

Area approx 20'x30' What is the advantage of putting artificial grass over concrete? Why not over dirt?

In my observations pavers look great for the first few years. They definitely look better compared to the cracks in the concrete, but the cracks in concrete are not hard to fix. Cracks may look slightly ugly but compared to how bad pavers get after a few years (5-10) I am prefering concrete over pavers.

Have the artificial grass installed per manufacturer's directions. Then mow it once a week with an electric lawn mower that is not plugged in and see if the neighbors notice.

We did artificial grass and mostly love it. Most can’t tell it’s fake. However it does get hot when it’s really hot outdoors. Ours was professionally installed

We have a lot of neighbors with artificial grass and weeds definitely grow along the edges, so it's not entirely maintenance free.

Make a yard, or make a parking lot. Jeeeeeesh

Concrete is for sidewalks and garages, not back yards.

I didn’t mean to install the artificial grass on top of the concrete, I meant chose the artificial grass over the concrete.

Over = Rather Than

There is nothing attractive about a concert yard.

IMO a concrete back yard would be a complete turn off for me. I understand the use of artificial grass since I really think real grass is very bad for our environment , it wastes water, all the chemicals to keep it nice , just bad. But to install artificial turf is expensive we were thinking it for our large dog run and forget it. But to choose between your 2 choices go fake grass for sure and certainly for kids.

Concrete is not “landscaping” for goodness sake! Its hardscaping. Big difference. It’s a repulsive dead mall parking lot, baking in the sun, with weeds growing through the cracks and broken glass at the edges. It’s impervious, adding to runoff. It’s a heat sink, adding to your AC load and inability to use your yard for recreation after dark. It’s the grumpy old man in a trailer in AZ who wants “no maintenance” and paints the driveway green and rocks outlining it white. It’s cheesy, and tacky, and lowbrow, and whatever other adjectives you want to add to describe something that detracts from any appeal that the house might otherwise have. It’s an offense against the planet to not have green things growing. As Mother Nature lets you know, by sending in her army of invaders that will slowly triumph.

Artificial grass in a drought area is one thing, although xeriscaping and native plants would make more sense. In a yard of a 90 year old homeowner, it’s another, although a lawn service would be better At a home for almost anyone else, it’s questionable, as the expense is not small. It adds no oxygen output. It’s hot. It’s not that soft as a play area. And it is not cheap.

Plain old turf and plants, you know, actual landscaping, will be cooler, softer, cheaper, and add way more home value. You need not have a monotonous monoculture maintained with chemicals to have some greenery and add oxygen to your home. Your home will look and feel more like a home with greenery, instead of a sad attempt at a prison yard.

My father has a concrete double driveway that he installed in 1966 and it has no cracks. Niagara Peninsula so it has all 4 seasons.

A hard surface as a play area has its advantages, depending on your climate. You can ride a bicycle/tricycle/rollerblades on it. It doesn't get muddy after a rain. But I wouldn't set up a swing set on it. And it can be very hot, unless it's well shaded by trees.

It also depends on how you are landscaping the rest of the yard. If there is attractive landscaping and grass to play on elsewhere, and the concrete is attractively coloured then it would just be a large patio for play.

If you give us the rest of the plan you'll get more useful advice.

I would choose pavers instead of poured concrete. Yes pavers are more expensive up front, but look better in the long run and are easier to repair.

We have a large driveway with cement pavers and after 8 years we had some tree roots that heaved up part of the driveway. We called the guy who installed it and he sent 2 guys who pulled up the pavers, cut back the roots and then put the same pavers back in place. You can not tell we did a repair at all. A patch/repair on a concrete driveway will never match the original.

I would do a mix of pavers and artificial grass for a backyard.

When we moved into our old house the entire backyard was concrete. It was awful. We tore it all up and put down sod. Best decision ever.

Where we love artificial turf is super popular for smaller spaces. Give the look of green with an upfront cost but then it stays solidly awesome.

I have three kids and for us key to enjoying tie backyard is having multiple spaces. So we do have real grass on most but then we also have a concrete patio because it’s from the walk out basement and paving stones patio from the deck. Each section gets used differently and I’m so happy we have them all.

I am curious as to why you would not plant real grass for your children. Are you in a drought area? I am in California and if I could afford the fake grass I would get it but I am over the age of having little ones needing to play outdoors.

Do you have a dog? Will the children one day want a dog?

artificial turf like they use on football fields? Our son has played football at schools w/turf fields a time or two. It's hotter than blue blazes in the summer. Always ended up w/little pellets in his helmet and shoes. It's ridiculously expensive I know, so I can't imagine using it for a yard. Not that I'd like to know what we've spent on our own yard over the years, what w/flowers and plants and such ha! We had an area w/pea gravel in our backyard for the swingset etc that our kids played in often. What does your yard look like?

I am in a drought area and plus I want to avoid hiring a gardener if at all possible. Also, I read that lawns actually cause more harm to the environment due to all the chemicals, water etc.

I researched a bit into the slow growing grass, but I still feel it is tough to have a gardener come once in a couple months. Gardeners mostly refuse to be on contract unless they are coming every week or two weeks.

The weeds along the edges of aritficial lawn does concern me, but none of the artificial lawns in our neighborhood seem to have that problem.

I am planning to keep a few trees for shade and fruits or general greenery, mostly around the edge of the property near the fence.

Why can’t you just mow your own grass? We use no pesticides or chemicals in ours and mow once a week. Not a big deal and our yard is quite large!

Xeriscaping with drought resistant natives will be the low cost low care option. Not expensive concrete or more expensive fake grass.

20’ by 30’ - I’d vote for real grass and a robot lawn mower.

@jlhug which robot lawm mower would you recommend ? They seem quite pricey.