For anyone who has frequented a sports arena and seen the lush green indoor or outdoor pitches that are graced with professional and amateur sports players kicking the ball around or hitting the ball alike, knows what a turf looks like. Fake grass or artificial turf looks and sometimes feels like natural grass, but it isn’t. What it’s comprised of is a synthetic fiber.
What once used to be used only in the above environments of baseball pitches, football, and field hockey arenas, with recreational activities and sports clubs included, is now being used in residential properties and areas, for people’s personal use. There are several reasons why the population has chosen this over natural grass and we will investigate this, in this article.
Let us take a step back to see how this brilliant concept originated.
When Artificial Turf First Began
Records state that in 1960, a gentleman by the name of David Chaney, who was the dean of the North Carolina State University, in North Carolina, researched and created the first-ever fake turf, they called them ‘welcome mats’ at the time.
This material thereafter, gained popularity in the same decade, when it was installed in the Houston Astrodome, which was then a year old. The Astrodome was the world’s first multi-purpose facility and sports stadium, located in Texas. The construction of this building began in 1962 and it opened around 1965.
Not only was it home to a lot of the popular sports clubs and teams back then, but it was also used for events such as rodeo, and livestock shows. Because of all these continuous events, the Bermuda grass (bred for indoor use rather than outdoor use) that was grown there eventually gave way due to the lack of sunlight, and this gave them a reason to find something more durable and susceptible to all the activity.
For a few years, the ‘Astros’ (the national league team) played on dead grass and green painted surfaces. With all the issues it brought between the players such as the glare, the moisture, and so on.
The only solution was to swap all this out for some artificial turf or ChemGrass, which was renamed AstroTurf because of the team and the name stuck throughout history. Thus, along with its first-ever animated scoreboard, this was one of the only places to use this material, and the rest was history. Find out more online.
Back in the 60s, the demand for this first-generation fake grass was very low. However, nowadays it is far and plenty and can be used in any area with several different shapes, sizes, and colors.
Once the idea developed and people saw the advantages of using it, it began to spread widely across all the states in the US and also in Canada, and by the 1970s majority of the sectors knew about it or used it in their stadiums both indoors and outdoors. It has been noted that more than 12000 of these turf fields have been installed across all the nations. It gave stadiums a reason to play their games all year round even during the winter or wet seasons where they could do it inside instead.
The Evolution of Fake Grass
It may sound absurd that something as simple as this can go through various stages of innovation, however, this is not true. Even this concept has had its changes over the decades, from the 1960s, all the way up to the 21st century.
The first type of turf was the one mentioned above, the AstroTurf. This comprised of short hairs or fibers without any ‘in-fill’. After this, the second round of designs was released which had slightly longer fibers, and with in-fills comprised of sand. The modernistic version of this was a prototype that is still in use till today, it consists of a choice of both long and short fibers and the infills range from a mixture of granules and sand, with rubber crumb that is made from recycled rubber.
Nowadays it is used on tennis courts, golf pitches, rugby, airports, and even the women’s world cup in 2015 was covered entirely with the fake turf because of the natural elements causing issues. This trend has also been implemented in the gardening and landscaping sectors.
Advantages of Using Artificial Turf or Grass
Moving on to the reason why this became so popular incredibly fast, there have been a lot of advantages which we will look at below.
1. This type of lawn material doesn’t lose its aesthetic appeal, even when its summer, winter, or spring. It looks the same in all weather and all seasons. The green stays green and the tidiness and cleanliness of it remain the same too.
2. One of the obvious reasons why people invest in it is because it does not require much maintenance. For instance, it does not need watering, nor does it need trimming or fertilizer, and dare we say you don’t even need to mow it? What a relief to some of us who would rather enjoy our garden, then spend time maintaining it.
3. Did you know lawn mowers cause a considerable amount of air pollution? So, this fake option also helps with that. If you don’t need to mow it, it won’t make any noise and it will be environmentally friendly.
The Texas Commission on environmental quality did a survey in 2009 and claimed that one hour of using a petrol-powered lawnmower can produce as much air pollution as a car that has been driving for 4 hours straight https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/opinions/time-to-kill-your-lawnmower/. It releases carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and many other chemicals that are harmful to the air.
Talking about eco-friendly, it also uses less water, thus fewer water bills and no need for sprinklers – it’s a win-win.
4. It is perfect for use in places where people are not able to look after a garden by themselves, such as an old age home, retirement facility, or a care home. Did we mention it is child-friendly too?
5. It is also a brilliant idea for those who own holiday homes and only visit them once every couple of months. There is no worry of the grass dying out or drying if not attended to, and neither will it overgrow and look wild.
6. Do you have any pets? This type of covering is pet-friendly too. Your pet will not be able to dig it up or spoil it in any way. Because it does not get affected by things such as pet urine or feces, it will remain hygienic and it is the easiest to clean with some pet-friendly detergent and water. Dogs most often don’t know the difference, and they enjoy playing in it just as much as the natural lawn you used to have.
7. You will also get your money’s worth. With this fake grass being less of maintenance for you. You won’t need to spend heaps of money on several things, which include fertilizers, pesticides, hoses, irrigation systems, lawn equipment and tools, grass feed and many other things, plus considering the infinite life-span of this – up to 15 years with just normal use, you will have no problems. Just imagine the savings! You can get yourself some nice new garden furniture instead.
8. If you have a busy lifestyle and never get time to do any household chores including looking after your garden, or you may be living in an apartment block in the city and craving a ‘green space’ just for yourself to relax and enjoy a good book, but you have inadequate outside space. This can be laid out on your balcony, in a spare room or on the roof.
9. Installing it or laying it down is an easy process as well. either you can do it yourself using a few quick and easy steps, or you can hire the professional services of fake grass installers such as Heroes artificial turf installation, to do it for you within no time. Plus, they can throw in some tips on do’s and don’ts that you may never have known, had you done it yourself.
10. When looking at drainage, this option drains a lot quicker than natural grass does, for instance when it rains. The number seen is up to about 60 liters a minute, which means no water puddles for mosquitoes to breed in, either.
In many cases, this is also the ideal solution for people that suffer from hay fever. There is nothing worse than wet grass for allergy sufferers, and dry grass for that matter. Once it has dried out you won’t need to worry about any pollen or dust rising to meet your sinuses, every year at the same time. also saving you from buying those nasal sprays and medication.
11. As mentioned above, this is not only pet friendly but also child-friendly, and one advantage of this is, you won’t find these little munchkins bringing mud and filthy muddy shoes inside the house anymore. Neither will the dogs dig up any trenches in it either.
12. If you live in a country that barely gets any sunshine, this would be the perfect solution for you, in getting some green grass but not worrying about it dying out on you before you can even enjoy it.
13. If your tired of de-weeding your garden every week, due to those pesky weeds that grow just as fast as the sun comes up. You will not need to worry about this anymore. Not to mention you won’t need to purchase any weed or bug/pest killer as well.
We all know how many different types of bugs live underground and in the grass. You can get yourself some beautiful potted plants instead if you want to add a splash of color or nature to your space. Besides, lawn diseases such as Rhizoctonia, when the grass starts to rot, won’t affect this material either. Again, this will save you a lot of costs of trying to amend these issues that nature sometimes provides to grass and our environment.
14. This artificial turf or fake grass has been known to be a highly versatile piece of addition and you have a choice to pick the one you want. This product comes in a variety of styles, from the density to the yarn, design, color, and length. Something you don’t have a choice within real grass.
15. Finally, and the most important thing to note about it, is that it can be recycled. With so many environmental problems that deal with plastics and synthetic materials ending up in our oceans and landfills, it is good to know that you won’t be a part of that issue. If after the 15 years it starts to look a bit old, it can be removed and recycled into other products, making it highly sustainable and reducing any impact on our environment – does that not make you feel good?
We hope the above 15 reasons for getting this type of material installed onto your lawn or in and around your home, have convinced of how beneficial it is not just to you but also to the environment you will be leaving behind for your children.
There is nothing better than getting one of these turfs laid out in your front or back yard and being able to enjoy your garden in a relaxing manner, rather than having to work at it every few days to make it look beautiful, only to have to do it again in a few weeks. you will be the envy of the neighbors too, and who knows, you may just be a useful ‘turf influencer’ in your neighborhood, helping everyone else to get one and do their bit for the environment too!
No more lawnmowers, no more pesticides, and annoying mud stains on the carpet. This will be the best thing you would do for you and your family for the next 15 years.