Artificial Turf Grass

You may look at golf courses and marvel at the unbelievably green putting greens. A lush-looking sports field may make you look at your own lawn and wonder how you can achieve that look. Their secret is artificial turf grass.

Artificial turf is a synthetic surfacing made from man-made materials to simulate the look of grass. Once the turf of sports professional athletic teams, artificial turf has expanded into the private sector and is popping up in homes and backyards near you. This has happened for two main reasons: one, the quality of the faux grass has improved greatly since the 1990's, and two, it requires much less care and landscaping. This makes it good for towns and cities that have to conserve water.

Artificial turf grass has a number of other benefits:

* Good for arid environments or those with little light.

* Can be used for indoor sport fields or putting greens.

* Good for people who can't devote a lot of time to lawn work.

* Great for roof-top gardens.

* Can last up to ten years.

* Some artificial turf can allow fiber optics to be integrated into the turf. This means that lighting or ads could be embedded into the surface. This can allow for custom ads or displays.

There are also some downsides:

* As far as backyard sports, the risk for injury is higher with artificial turf.

* Some turf manufacturers use heavy metals, which can leach into the ground water.

* Artificial turf is also much hotter when exposed to the sun than natural grass is. Grass is amazingly cooler, so you lose this benefit.

There are now a variety of products and services available now that will allow you to have an ever-green lawn without effort. They are manufactured now to be more environmentally friendly. They reduce the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides. They are allergen-free, recyclable, and available in a lot of varieties. They eliminate the expenditure of time and money spent on maintenance, and installation is easy.

If you're tired of mowing your lawn on your weekends off or don't have the water to properly maintain your lawn, consider artificial turf grass. It looks natural and may be better for your needs. Make sure, before you buy, that the product you are getting will help, not harm, the environment.

Which Turf Grass You Should Select For Your Lawn

Are You Worried You Might Pick The Wrong Turf Grass For Your Lawn?

Worry No More! There are Lawn Care companies that offer a Lawn Consultation Service to homeowners, landscapers, gardeners and business owners wanting advice on what is the correct Turf Grass for their Lawn Area.

So why should you get advice at all? Good question!

What you really want is Independent Advice! Problem here is that some turf suppliers and turf farms grow different types of say buffalo (St Augustine) and couch (Bermuda) turf grasses. The buffalo turf grasses, for example, Palmetto buffalo or Sapphire buffalo, are grown under licence from the companies that own the Plant Breeders Rights (aka the patent).

Now, it is these licences that are valuable to the turf growers! Any turf grower would rather sell you a pallet load of Palmetto buffalo because the profit margin of that sale is greater than that on a sale of say Kikuyu Turf Grass (where there is no PBR or patent on the product, and where just about any turf farm grows the product).

So, in some cases, it is the almighty Dollar that drives the advice given by Turf Growers to the unsuspecting homeowner and landscaper. To avoid this scenario, what you can do is get a Lawn Care company in to give you the Right (and Independent) advice on What Is The Right Turf Grass for Your Lawn. Just for a small fee you will save yourself hundreds (and maybe even thousands) of dollars by making the Right Choice or Selection of lawn! Not to mention, you will be getting the right turf for the existing site conditions such as a lot of shade, sunny aspect or whatever!

Gerry Faehrmann is the managing director of Lawn Green Pty Ltd based in Sydney, Australia.