Benefits of Artificial Grass

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Why Choose Artificial Grass?

So why should you think of replacing your natural lawn with a synthetic grass alternative? Perhaps we should start with a reminder of what’s involved with maintaining a great looking real lawn...

Well, to have a good, healthy-looking lawn there are a number of actions you need to do, ideally, each year, to ensure you get the lawn you want. Alternatively, you can employ a garden or lawn specialist to these actions for you and in these scenarios, the cost comparison for an artificial lawn is very compelling!

So let’s start with autumn activity, whether you have a real lawn or fake lawn the leaves falling from trees onto your lawn are unsightly. However, as well as being unsightly if they are left too long in a dense pile they will stop light getting to your lawn, this will result in the grass dying away and result in you having a section of your lawn needing repair – so it’s important to keep on top of this. The same urgency isn’t there for artificial grass. If you are a little less bothered about the leaves on your lawn you could leave them longer before brushing them up and when you do there will be a perfectly green lawn underneath.

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Common sense approach

to an artificial lawn

Another autumn activity is scarifying. Scarifying can be done either with a special scarifier or with a fine rake and both perform the purpose, which is to remove thatch, dead grass and moss from your lawn providing the space for new grass to grow through. The presence of moss in a lawn, as well as not looking too good, has the negative effect of restricting your grass from growing. It also has a negative effect on the drainage of your lawn. Once you’ve finished scarifying your lawn will look a bit of a mess as it will take about 6 to 8 weeks before new shoots start to grow through.

This will take you through to spring when the longer daylight hours will cause your grass to grow quicker. This is when the process of mowing begins. Mowing will stimulate the roots to spread and ideally, you should be looking to do this once every two weeks in spring and weekly in summer.

Next, you should water your lawn regularly but lightly, ideally with rainwater as it will be more costly from your mains supply. As spring creeps into summer you will need to check your lawn for weed growth and remove these. Most avid gardeners will advocate removing weeds like Plantains and dandelions by hand using a trowel or daisy grabber and for clover, buttercups and medick a rake before mowing will start the process of killing them off.

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Cleaning artificial grass

To aid healthy grass growth you do not want your lawn compacting so to aid with this it is recommended that you aerate your lawn regularly. This is done by pushing a garden fork into the ground to about 10cm and rocking the fork back and forth. This should be done across the whole lawn at about 10cm intervals.

The other activity which should accompany mowing is edging your lawn. As well as making your lawn look neat it will also prevent the spread of grass into your borders. There are several ways to do this with the most common being either an electric strimmer or edging shears.

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Artificial grass and dog pee

As well as watering, feeding your lawn will aid its growth and health. As a bare minimum, a feed in the spring and in the summer is recommended.

Depending on how well you’ve maintained your lawn will determine whether you also need to do patch repairs on your lawn which either can involve reseeding the area or removing a section and replacing with some new turf.

Well, we think that covers it. So what about an artificial grass lawn?

Well if you have pets and there are little bits of residue a clean with some warm soapy water and a hard brush rinsed off with a hose or watering can should do the trick. If you do see any moss forming near the edges again a brush with a stiff brush. If any weed does form on top or manage to find its way through a simple spray with a weed killer will do the trick but these will be few and far between.

That’s it... really that’s about it. So when you compare cost, time and effort you’ll see why more and more people are having artificial grass installations.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • How to lay artificial grass?

    Usually, an aggregate sub-base is laid to provide efficient drainage followed by a weed membrane followed by a layer of sand. The sand is then levelled off to provide a flat base on which the artificial turf is laid out. If you have a seam, a joint tape will be laid down between the seams onto which adhesive is spread and then the grass edges are laid over the seam. Additional special fake grass pegs are also used to fix down the edges.  

  • Which artificial grass is best?

    This will all depend on how you will be using your artificial lawn. For a luxurious looking thick lawn then a 40mm+ lawn will give you a good bouncy feel - but may not be so good if you are planning on leaving lots of heavy items on your lawn. Also if you have pets - dogs, you would want to choose a 30mm height at this will make clearing up after your pooch a little easier whilst still retaining a fantastic looking lawn.

    If you looking to provide a play area or add some artificial grass to decking to provide a non-slip topping then a budget, sub 10mm pile would be best

  • How much is artificial grass?

    This all depends on your individual installation and the actual grass that is chosen. Grass prices range from the budget end, which looks like green carpet rather than grass, from around £5 per m2 to longer luxury pile grasses which can be £40+ per m2. For a supply and fit of a good mid-range grass can range from around £70 per m2, for small shape installations where they may be much wastage, to £45 per m2 where there is a large uniformed area being installed.

  • Can artificial grass be laid on decking?

    Yes, it can and we've done it several times with s special underlay. We've found that this will mostly be requested on timber decking. There a two main reasons for this firstly once the artificial grass has been fixed to the decking it means that you won't be able to get to your decking to clean it - saving you cleaning chore. Whilst this may seem like a big plus side it does mean that water will have more difficulty in draining away after a downpour. So whilst water will run through the artificial turf it will run onto the decking. If the decking is in a very slight slope to assist water run off this will help. The underlay we use will also help protect your decking If not done properly, you will run the risk of shortening the life of your decking as it will not be treated regularly. 

    The other and main reason is that fake grass is fitted onto decking is that it is visually more colourful and you don't have to work about slipping if the surface does get damp - especially if you have not been good at keeping on top of decking maintenance and moss and algae have built up. 

    Before applying artificial grass on top of decking we would recommend a final clean and good quality decking treatment is applied first.

  • What is artificial grass made from?

    The quality in terms of colour fastness, durability and realness has improved dramatically in the last 1o years.  This has progressed to such a level that at first glance it can be very hard to distinguish between real grass and fake grass. 

    Most modern grasses are made from polyethylene - this is for the actual grass blade. The base to which it is attached can be made from either  polypropylene, polyethylene or nylon. For all three the process of attaching is very similar to that used for modern carpets, which is why you can now even find artificial for sale in carpet shops. A needle, or rather large sets of needles push the blades through the base to which they are attached. Additional adhesives are also used to keep the blades in place.

  • Will artificial grass fade over time?

    With the advances in astroturf manufacturing UV inhibitors are added to the artificial grass and as a result, you should expect your artificial lawn to look good for 15-20 years depending on the intensity and duration of sun exposure.

  • Which is the best border for artificial grass?

    This again similar to the question about the best artificial grass will come down to a number of factors. Firstly it will depend on where the grass will be going and what it will be butting up to. For artificial lawns surrounding trees, timber sleepers are going to be too rigid and therefore laying of bricks or stone blocks allow circles and curved edges to be used. If this is the style and design of your landscaping you don't want to be compromising on the flow of borders and lawns so this is a popular finish. When you do have long straight edges sleepers are a good option as they allow you to have a slightly raised bed, which helps bring some different levels to a garden. It's not uncommon to use a combination of the two. Part of our service is to talk through the design aspect of your garden and what features you already have so as to complement your garden design as much as possible.

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