WHILE many people are mourning their once-luscious garden lawns, scorched by the hot weather, Dawne Deeks is making neighbours green with envy.

Teaching assistant Dawne, 51, a married mum of two, is not facing a hosepipe ban, but should that come it is no problem as all she uses to tend her garden is a vacuum cleaner.

She spent £600 laying high-quality fake grass to transform her garden and has imitation flowers, too.

She says: “Around 80 per cent of my garden is fake, which means it’s super-easy to look after and saves me a fortune on my water bill.

“And instead of having to regularly head out with my hosepipe, I vacuum my grass.

“Walking out in my garden with my trusty Dyson, most people would think I’m going to empty it or give it a clean.

"Instead, I run the extension cord to its full length and use it on my garden.

“Within a few minutes, all the loose dirt, leaves and grit is sucked up and the grass is showroom perfect.”

Parts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are currently under a hosepipe ban, while Sussex, Kent and Pembrokeshire are set to be hit with the same shortly.

But for people such as Dawne who have already ditched real grass for fake, this will never be an issue.

Insurance firm Aviva says one in ten homeowners now has a fake lawn, while a poll of Fabulous online readers found one in five readers would vacuum their lawns if this were an option.

During the covid lockdowns, demand for artificial grass soared — the number of Google searches during May 2020 had almost tripled the number a year before.

But conservationists worry about the environmental impact of plastic grass – it can’t be recycled, removes wildlife habitat and can contaminate the soil below.

And environmental gardening experts say plastic grass can make flooding worse and also get twice as hot as normal grass.

But Dawne says her mixture of fake grass and some real plants has worked well for her.

She says: “My garden is an amazing mix of real and faux and I reckon we have found the happy medium to keep everyone happy.

“We don’t have a hosepipe ban at the moment in South Wales, but if we do get one I’ll be OK.

"Lately, I’ve been driving past people’s houses with dry gardens.

“It makes me feel lucky I have a little patch of paradise with my faux turf and flowers.

"Having the greenery in this heat is really refreshing.

“While many people may think Hoovering the lawn is bonkers, for me it has been a weekly or fortnightly ritual since we laid our fake grass.”

Dawne has lived in her four-bedroom home in Bridgend with husband Stuart, 57, a car production manager, for 27 years.

They also have sons Casey, 22, and Corey, 21 — and raising two kids while trying to keep the garden in shape had been hard before they switched to synthetic.

Dawne says: “When we first moved into the house, it had a huge backyard covered in normal grass which took hours to mow.

“But with a full-time job and two lively lads I never had much time for my gardening.

“So ten years ago I decided it was time to turn the garden into a mini-island paradise but on a budget.

“My husband watched YouTube tutorials and built our own gazebo — but that was just the start.”

The same year, Dawne and Stuart built a shed, a glass house for potting and sectioned off part of the lawn with decking.

But Dawne was still not happy with the lawn.

She says: “Bordered by the decking, it looked scruffy and wouldn’t grow properly.

“So we decided to lay artificial grass to give it uniformity and year-round colour.”

She says: “I researched the fake turf available. I learnt that if you skimp and buy cheaply it gets mouldy, slippery and doesn’t last.

“Ten years on, thanks to regular Hoovering, it looks as good as it did the day it was laid.

“It’s the perfect lawn, no matter what the weather, and doesn’t need mowing or watering, which is great with the soaring costs of water bills and the recent dry spell we’ve had.

“I just have a quick whiz over it all with the Hoover. It doesn’t have any effect on my electricity bill, it’s a minimal cost.”

At first, neighbours were shocked to see Dawne Hoovering her grass.

She says: “They thought I’d lost the plot. I would see them looking through their windows.

"One did ask me what I was doing. But when I explained, they thought it was a brilliant idea.

“Now everyone’s doing it. It means we spend less time weeding and mowing.”

Over the past five years Dawne has also spent £500 buying more than 200 fake blooms.

She says: “I get them on eBay or Amazon and in the last few years the quality of so-called plastic flowers has risen dramatically.

“They sell in bunches for around £4 and once you start using them you won’t look back. I rotate them among the real plants.

“When seedlings are slow to grow you can pop in plastic plants and it instantly creates a fuller, more lush-looking garden.

“The plastic flowers simply need a wash or dust and if you rotate them regularly they don’t fade in the sun.

“And when winter comes you can still enjoy flowers.

“Most of my friends even have trouble telling the difference between the real flowers and the fake ones.”

Her garden also has a bargain water feature she bought on sale for a third of its original price.

She says: “I’ve always been keen on saving money and wanted a water feature like the type you see in posh hotel resorts.

One did ask me what I was doing. But when I explained, they thought it was a brilliant idea.

" I finally found the perfect one, ex-display at a local garden centre. It retails for £3,500, I got it for £1,500.”

Dawne and Stuart also have a gravelled area in their garden, which they laid themselves, and a barbecue area.

She gets a lot of her garden plants and accessories free on Facebook Marketplace, or cheap from budget stores such as the Poundshop.

She says: “I see people spending tens of thousands on gardens and look at mine and am proud we’ve done it all ourselves.

“If you put in some fake grass and invest in quality plastic plants — as well as the real ones — you can see your garden take shape in just a few days.

“The garden instantly becomes usable, especially with young children, and you have more space for the family to enjoy.

“I know some people are against faux turf.

“But my garden is always sparkling, plus it can be used all year round.

“The initial cost might seem a lot but you will never have to spend it again, and it will save thousands on your water bill and always look perfect.

“All it needs is a quick vacuum — and then you can relax with a cocktail.”

SUN gardening expert Veronica Lorraine writes: Sadly, although it may look fab for the first couple of years, fake grass does absolutely nothing to encourage crucial wildlife and add biodiversity to a garden.

It strips insects of their homes, denies worms and birds food and sounds the death knell for the soil underneath.

Fake turf has a lifespan – and whether it’s five or 15 years it will end up as a dreaded landfill, as it can’t be recycled.

It also has a huge carbon footprint. And it still gets really hot in a heatwave.

With a hosepipe ban looming, and hotter, drier weather becoming the future, the fact it doesn’t need constant watering is definitely a plus – and it doesn’t need mowing, which saves on electricity.

There’s also no need for controversial fertilisers or feeds.

But ultimately I’d say it’s just not worth the cost – either financially or environmentally.

SHOULD you decide to take inspiration from Dawne, here are some deals on artificial grass to style up your garden . . . 

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