In the beginning was the grass, just grass. Fluffy, soft and uneven grass covered extensive grounds, gardens, sports fields around the world. At least until men decided that imitation of nature (and go along with it) was cost-effective, and tried to reproduce grass in the laboratory.

The discovery can be traced back to 1965, when a group of researchers from North Carolina State University created the first field of artificial grass, which was installed in the domed Astrodome sport stadium in Houston, Texas.

This constituted a revolution because, as we will explain later, it meant significant savings in terms of maintenance costs.

At the beginning, the production costs of artificial turf were not so low, this meant that the large-scale diffusion began about five years later than the first trial. The first sport fields entirely resodded with artificial turf were in the United States, then some English football companies decided to try this new solution (we are in the 80s), until it was prohibited by English Football Association, in 1988.

UEFA and FIFA followed the decision of the English Football Association and forbade the use of artificial turf, without giving up the chance to conduct experiments on this technology, in order to improve it and make it available. This passage leads directly to the early 2000s, when the rewards coming from decades of study were reaped and many football fields were entirely resodded.

To date some of the most important Italian stadiums are fully covered with artificial turf. Some of the most well known are the "Luigi Ferraris" in Genoa, the "Carlo Castellani" in Empoli and the "Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)" in Milan.

What is artificial turf

Before giving a definition of artificial turf we must emphasize that today the idea of open spaces and how to live them has completely changed. Probably, indeed certainly, your grandparents never dreamed of hearing about "fake" grass someday. They, who lived close nature, who gave nature most of their life and in return received sustenance for a living

You know, today is no longer the case. The time for outdoors seems to have reduced by magic, let alone the time for taking care of all that lives outside our door.

Reread carefully the previous paragraph and combine it with the need, now obvious, to spend a few hours in the open air in order to improve your lifestyle, take a simple walk, play with the kids in the park or just play sports. Here served the recipe behind this invention.

So what is a synthetic lawn? It is nothing but a faithful reproduction of a natural lawn, of the "real" grass, with different levels of similarity that vary in quality.

Artificial turf is also called outdoor carpet because it is increasingly used in private homes, in addition to the sports facilities, and by virtue of this great spread it is more and more frequently chosen as an ornamental element for gardens, flowerbeds, path borders and poolside. A real alternative flooring, which combines elegant styling features, durability and comfort.

Artificial turf filaments are made from textile material, coated with a latex compound and baked in the oven (via the process of vulcanization) to make sure that the latex adheres perfectly to the textile material and lasts long.

This process allows you to create a finished product not unlike natural grass, which reproduces the main strengths and eliminates most of the defects or, if you prefer, the discomfort associated with it.

Types of artificial turf

Many and very different synthetic grass types are available on the market They may differ for a number of aspects ranging from the length of the filaments to color and density, up to the use for which they are designed.

Take for example a layer of very short grass, otherwise defined baize. It is rarely used in an outdoor space like a garden, not just because it aesthetics and quality would make it not well adapted to the context, but mainly because you can find better solutions on the market for that specific use.

A baize turf could instead cover the top of a billiard table.

In the same way you would choose a fitted carpet for an indoor space, such as the elegant corner of a restaurant or the games room for children. Conversely, if the turf has to be installed in an outdoor garden, you should opt for natural grass-like type, then with longer fibers.

The length of the fibers, therefore, can be a discriminating factor not just when selecting. The most common types can be classified into three categories:

1. Turf mats: which are divided into short mats and 14 mm mats
2. Fitted carpet
3. Professional

Turf mats (turf rugs) are more similar to carpets than to real grass. They are a cheaper solution that should rather be used, for example, indoors, or in other places where there is not real grass to be covered.

This may be considered valid for both types of mats since, although the one 14mm mat has a better aesthetic impact, they can not be compared to the models with longer fibers.

Also the carpet isn't so thick, in fact it is characterized by the smoothness of the surface, a good resistance to light and the absence of protruding tufts. These characteristics make it obviously better than mats from a qualitative point of view, although the intended use could be comparable.

Professional turf, in most cases, has a root made ​​of straw that must be anchored to the underlying surface, whether it be the ground or any other material. On the external surface the fibers are coated with polypropylene, a durable thermoplastic material, particularly suited to limit the damage of the adverse weather conditions

Professional grass length is definitely larger than that of a mat or a carpet, but may, however, vary according to the occasion of use (such as an outdoors private lawn or a sports field, for which there are specific regulations and very precise dimensions).What really distinguishes a professional artificial turf from the others is the softness and the all-round similarity with the natural grass, features that are possible thanks to longer and twisted fibers.

As we said there are many factors that help us to identify the various types of turf and we do not rely only on the length. Let's see more.

If you've already seen a synthetic grass carpet, you certainly wondered if and how much it actually looked like natural grass. The answer to this question is also sought in an analysis of the thickness of each fiber, as well as their density, that is the total number of filaments present on the carpet in comparison to its size.

You can easily guess that the larger the thickness (measured in millimeters), the higher the density, the better the similarity to real grass. In some cases the mat may be composed of thicker fibers but with low density; if so the grass would be subject to a unaesthetic flattening effect, resolvable with the insertion of a substrate to hold the filaments and thicken the whole structure.

You should not overlook that, in the case of professional artificial turf, you can choose a double color, or a gradient color. That is to color the fibers with different shades of green throughout their length; This gives the surface a better optical effect and a higher similarity to natural grass in all lighting conditions and from every possible perspective. Here you can see some examples of professional turfs for elegant gardens, each one is made taking into account all the factors listed above.

In case verisimilitude is not among your priorities, because the carpet is intended for a children's play area, because you simply want to place it in a less visible place or just for a pure aesthetic preference, you will even be able to choose alternative and imaginative colors for your rug, ranging from white to black, passing through a bold red or blue.

Special features

Not all the people who decide to install artificial turf are looking for a purely aesthetic function, in many cases the needs to be covered are the most disparate and are related to specific usage occasions, special destinations, atypical environmental factors and so on.

Fortunately, technology is evolving rapidly and state-of-the-art turfs are able to satisfy even the most demanding people.

Let's try to make a short list of cases where the grass should have particular characteristics, trying to summarize the most frequent requests we receive from customers; but do not forget that, in the event that the information provided in this guide will not appear extensive, you can visit our contact page and explain to us your specific need.

Draining artificial turf. It looks like a concept taken for granted, but it is not granted at all. Not all synthetic turfs are draining and if they are, not all are equally draining. There are situations where you need that grass is able to absorb, and drain in fact, large quantities of water. For example, the reason could be linked to a particular geographical location (try to think about the countries of northern Europe, where it rains almost every day of the year, or nearly so). In these cases the turf must be equipped with a greater number of holes in order to drain the water rapidly, even in the presence of pouring rain. The unit of measure for drainage capacity is given by the ratio between the volume of liters per hour, calculated for each square meter. An efficient drainage system is essential to prevent the formation of floods, swamps and mudflats. As a side note it is fair to point out, even though it might seem unnecessary, that the turf drainage capacity is closely related to the type of surface on which it is placed. It goes without saying that there is a difference between a turf installed on the ground, that is a draining surface, and a concrete platform, an absolutely waterproof surface.

Artificial grass for dogs. The dog is the best friend of man, this is what they say. More and more families choose to share their lives, and their own garden, with a faithful four-legged companion. This could be a problem for the maintenance of artificial turf, always put under stress and tramped down. Fortunately, there is no shortage of solutions, just need to know what you want and follow a few simple tips. First it must be considered the shape of the fibers. Some turfs available on the market have filaments with a form different from the typical flattened one. More precisely there are "C" shaped filaments or filaments with a polygonal shape (for example as a diamond). These fibers, when placed in a mantle with a high density and a compact structure, help to prevent the rapid deterioration and the need for short-term replacement. It's very important to pay attention also to the length of the filaments: in the case of a synthetic lawn for a dog would be advisable not to go beyond the 3 cm, in order to make cleaning easier and decrease the risk of squashing.

Antishock turf. An anti-trauma flooring can be used in many ways and different contexts. For example, it's perfect for children's zone in which to install games, slides, seesaws; whether it was a public place, such as a kindergarten, or a private garden. Similarly you can imagine using a synthetic grass carpet in a place to do fitness exercises, aerobics and play other sports. The possibility of having a soft, lightweight, elastic, non-slip, shock-proof and extremely comfortable surface it is essential for this kind of use.

Hybrid turf. The hybrid grass is nothing but a union of synthetic fibers with real grass. It is used mainly in the sport facilities, especially for football fields, in which you need to mix the features of a natural grass pitch with the strength and the durability of artificial turf. Here are some detailed photographic examples that show samples of fields made with hybrid turf.

Horizontal and vertical installation

Close your eyes and imagine: big city, traffic, confusion, smog, widespread shades of grey. Well, if you live in a context like this one, you can hardly afford the luxury of having your own garden, there are no available spaces.

Fortunately the technology is evolving rapidly and new solutions are quickly developed. You've probably already heard of vertical gardens, that is a compelling alternative to interrupt the monotony of gray, inserting a touch of green on the facades of city buildings.

Vertical gardens are not just very beautiful to look at, but involve a number of additional remarkable advantages: they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, help regulating the temperature by acting as insulation, mitigate the noise impact knocking down the noise from outside and above all, improve the physical and mental condition of the residents, promoting leisure and relaxation.

On the other hand you can not underestimate some minor inconveniences of a real grass vertical garden. First, the cost of installation which, if you want to alternate the lawn with plants and flowers, may even reach 1000 € per square meter. The high cost is absolutely justified by the need for an irrigation system, essential to watering the wall in an automated way after refilling the water.

The installation must be absolutely perfect, impeccable, to avoid the risk of water leakage into the walls and even worse problems.

Also not to overlook maintenance costs, that also are quite high. The irrigation system must be continuously monitored for the reasons mentioned before; real grass needs to be cut from time to time, just as if it was on a horizontal ground, the only difference being that in this case you hardly can easily deal with it by yourself.

Then? We imagine you're wondering what the ideal solution to have a beautiful vertical garden should be. Actually the answer is a very simple. You just have to think about a vertical lawn as if it were horizontal, and then think about all the advantages related to the artificial turf. Now combine them.

Just this simple step to see vertical installation costs drop dramatically, from about a thousand euro per square meter you can easily reach 100€ per sqm.

You don't need to water or periodically cut artificial grass, although vertically installed. Furthermore, considering that it would be hardly trampled frequently, it should not be raked or maintained to avoid flattening and crushing.

At the same time you can realize pretty impressive and very beautiful artificial walls with the synthetic grass. You can create special weaves and designs, at the request of the client.

Thermal and acoustic insulating remains unchanged and, above all, the fact that the grass is artificial does not affect the emotional component. So well being and relaxation are guaranteed, and these are the main reasons to install a vertical garden.

Installation is very important, it must adequately prepare the underlying surface and make sure the work is done in a workmanlike manner not to defy the laws of gravity and the risk of sudden failure.

In addition, it is preferable to choose a turf with filaments long at least about 4 cm, to ensure optimal aesthetic effect. The hue of the color have to be chosen depending on the exposure of the individual walls to sunlight, since a different level of exposure can make the colors brighter or darker.

Where to use synthetic grass

What are the main areas of use for the artificial turf? Where to use it? To what end?

To answer these questions it is necessary to start from an original distinction and say that, beyond the occasional irrelevant circumstances, a lawn made of synthetic grass is created for decorative use, sports use, or in place of the common anti-trauma plastic carpets.

Artificial turf field or natural grass field

We already said that the most used materials in football field are: natural grass on top of the professional players' preferences, and artificial turf often used for five-a-side or seven-a-side football fields, especially because, as we shall see, it requires less maintenance.

Maintenance is the main disincentive to use natural materials, because it must be done frequently and may condition the needs of the sporting calendar.

Among the main factors that can damage natural grass there are the intense and prolonged use over time, the scarcity of nutrients, the attack of pests and grass diseases, as well as the almost complete absence of sunlight. All of which have no effect on the integrity of a synthetic turf.

The natural grass must be cut, one or twice a week depending on the season, at a height of between 25 and 35 mm, must be treated to prevent disease and soil permeability, cleaned, fertilized and watered (very more often in summer and winter), and finally it must be resodded when necessary. These and several other sporadic interventions to eliminate excessive compactness of the soil.

It is clear that all these measures mean a very costly annual investment, between thirty thousand and one hundred fifty thousand euro.

In contrast, artificial turf maintenance is much less expensive. It obviously depends on the construction material, polyethylene. It's very durable, resistant to wear and to adverse climatic conditions, such as frost and UV rays. Irrigation is only casual, limited to the warmer periods to lower the temperature of the turf, this means a considerable saving of water.

Routine maintenance consists essentially of a careful cleaning, with brushing or blow molding machines and infilling sand and granular filler.

Every field needs its grass

Field hockey is a sport in which now the artificial grass is undoubtedly the host. The motivation of this decisive turn towards a non-natural product lies primarily in non-excessive size of the playing field, allowing installation costs relatively low. The cost, together with a sporadic and casual maintenance, allow to have a perfect ground for fast passages and a precise control of the ball without special efforts.

The artificial turf for hockey field should have an elliptic shaped fiber, with a lens-shaped profile and curled effect. These features ensure an absolute uniformity of the non-directional surface and exceptional durability.

Hockey Gold Field fully complies with all these requirements, and is also available with water-based or sand-based infills, to meet your needs.

Football, however, is not a sport very practiced in European countries. It is a popular sport in the United States, in some ways similar to our rugby, at least in its basic concepts.

Anyway, ad hoc solutions are available for both these sports, in which the strain is high and slipping and tackles are very frequent. Because of high strain, natural grass rugby pitches often have muddy areas and some portions of the field lack grass. Obviously this not facilitates the playability and the show, in addition to endangering the health of the players, who can get hurt more easily.

The XTR and XM flooring, for example, seek to respond to these needs by developing a mixed infill system, a two-layer system, with SBR glorified rubber and silica sand. This allows you to increase the softness and favor dampening.

The Optimum floorings are designed for the same purpose. They have a soft and durable monofilament fiber that must to be enduring and long-lasting. This is combined with a cutting edge extrusion process, a 3-layer clogging process and a concave and ribbed fiber section, which gives natural look.

A further important feature, often necessary for rugby fields, is the presence of an elastic base layer, inserted below the turf, in its entire length. The elastic base layer help to cushion athletes' falls, often ruinous. Although they act almost imperceptibly, they also have a minus. Some professionals athletes have indeed expressed the emergence of small back pain after long training periods on fields equipped in this way. The correlation between the two phenomena could also be random, but the search for continuous improvement in this area focus on trying to delete every little minus.

Classic HD solution provides, among the various options, the presence of an elastic sub-layer in combination with the classic infill (glorified or termoplasthic rubber). This combination is recommended for multipurpose fields, football fields and hockey pitches. It's not necessary, however, for small indoor football fields.

Speaking of multi-purpose sports facilities it opens up a whole new world, because when we talk about it we are referring not only to the training fields where different professionals train and play. A multipurpose field could also belong to a school or an oratory.

All the examples cited have something very important in common: the very high levels of stress and wear for the grass. And of course the need of a sod that is not suitable just for one sport at the expense of the other. That is why you can take a look at the F360 flooring among the available alternatives. It has a concave, notched section with a thickness of 360 microns, designed to ensure maximum durability (up to 150,000 cycles tested in the laboratory).

Tennis is a sport in which the bounce of the ball is a decisive factor. This is demonstrated by the fact that tennis involves several international circuits divided according to the court surface: grass, clay or concrete. Moreover, all greatest tennis players can not excel on the various surfaces in the same way, but specialize to be the best in each of them. The supremacy of the Spanish player Rafael Nadal on clay, for example, is very well known since it allows him to unleash all his physical dominance during the match. At the same time were very few satisfactions for Nadal on more "technical" playgrounds, such as grass courts, where Roger Federer or Nole Djokovic have distinguished themselves.

All this preamble served to make you understand how much importance can have the manufacture of a synthetic turf for this purpose. Game speed on a tennis synthetic turf surface is very similar to that on the concrete court, but at the same time, this surface appears to be more elastic, ensuring the ball a slightly wider bounce, similar to clay. An additional fact that almost relates only to tennis is the color of the playground. Often, the tennis courts have a red or blue turf.

We come to the most loved and most popular sport in Italy: of course we talk about football.

As we said in the first paragraph there have always been many misgivings and doubts to overcome before accepting the idea that a football field could be covered with artificial grass. Beyond the first tentative experiments, sport facilities built and later deemed unusable, initiatives promoted only at the amateur level, for several years we are facing a critical step towards the use of artificial turf football fields, at all professional levels.

If we look back, in fact, almost all the pitches in the suburbs, where you play soccer for fun with friends, had artificial turf; Today there are large stadiums around the world using this technology, with excellent results very appreciated even by experts.

An important step was marked with the approval of some specific regulations, guidelines for the technical characteristics of turf to be installed in areas where to play official events. The most important is the standard LND Regulation, validation for all the football fields constructed to house the FIGC championships until the "D" and SGS league.

With regard to the peculiarities of realization of artificial turf for professional use, we have to say that a good resistance and a long life even under stress (due to the multiple daily workouts) are fundamental, everything must be accompanied by an extremely natural aspect. Athletes' stability and safety can't be underestimate and the type of filling affects this matters. One of the best filling is the three-layers filling, consisting of sand, a mixture of sand and of SBR cryogenic rubber. You can find it in Optimum 63 patented solution.

F360XL turf is equally well-performing, but the top quality for a professional artificial turf is the Purefill cork

This grass is the organic solution of the highest level with its infill of organic cork granules and sand.The cork is completely natural, collected from the oak every nine years, he has an exceptional shock absorption, elasticity and fire-resistance.

Regardless of the type of field and installed grass quality, there is the possibility of realizing shell to cover the structure.

Generally, coverings for sports facilities equipped with artificial turf, are designed for small structures, such as a soccer field or a tennis pitch; is not common to cover in a fixed or a semi-permanent way a whole stadium (although there are some stadium of the latest generation that are provided with a mechanical locking system of the whole vault).

The main goal for a solution like this is obviously linked to the use of the playing field year-round.

In some cases it is preferred to think about a fixed structure, which remains mounted all-year-round; in others, you may want to install a temporary structure during the winter months and left the field open during the summer.

Fixed coverings can in turn be geodesic, supported by steel pipes that form an internal reticulated structure, or stress static, whose load-bearing arch structure can be either in steel or wood, but strong enough to bear without any problems even the most adverse weather conditions , such as snow or strong wind. Stress static coverings are made to be permanent.

For those who want a temporary solution, there is the possibility to cover the field in a few hours (24 to 36) with a pressostatic structure.

All these solutions have as a common characteristic a PVC cover that, if it is an high-quality covering, must be resistant to fire, mold, fungi and prevent the formation of condensation.

Football shoes for artificial turf

All people who play or have played football at least once in their lives, but also those who are simply "from the couch" lovers, are well aware that one of the indispensable accessories for practicing this sport, at any level, are good football shoes, the right ones. Yes, that's right. Even if you're an absolute layman about football we do not think we tell you a sensational secret telling you that the performance of a football shoe depends very much on the type of pitch.

In this perspective, the different manufacturers have tried to develop new models of shoes over the years. This is good not only for the improvement of technical skills of the players, but also to avoid the occurrence of situations where it is really impossible to play. Imagine the differences that may exist between a dirt field and a grass field, between the natural grass in the summer and the same grass in the winter (when the freezing cold or heavy rainfall erose it), or even, between a natural grass field and an artificial turf field.

Here, at this point you'll definitely got the point. If before we said that every field can have a different turf, now we tell you in no uncertain terms that every field needs a different football shoe.

It is impossible to imagine to run freely without slipping all the time, and hurt yourself, with a pair of indoor football shoes on a wet grass field. Similarly you can risk incurring serious back pain problems wearing cleats on a very compact clay field.

The question is quite broad and certainly is not about all players. It is very unlikely that an amateur player does have resources (but also the necessity) of having to buy a lot of football shoes models. It is a different matter for those who play professionally or semi-professionally. In this case, it would be good to take into consideration the characteristics of the different models we're going now to analyze.

The aspect that we will consider is related to the features of outsole and studs (where present), or those parts which are directly in contact with the turf. Let's see what are the alternatives available on the market.

Firm Ground shoes. Ideal for firm surfaces, ground of medium consistency, natural ground (both clay and grass). These shoes may feature 11, 13 or 15 hard plastic studs, polyurethane studs to be precise, with average length.

Hard Ground shoes. They can also be defined multi-ground, since they are suited to different hard surfaces. They are also preferred in the case of frozen pitch having a larger number of less hard studs than the firm ground shoes.

Artificial Ground shoes. As the name suggests these shoes are perfect for artificial grass fields. State-of-the-art artificial grass is softer than that produced up to a few years ago, therefore requires shoes with very numerous and not too long small studs.

Soft Ground shoes. They have diametrically opposite characteristics compared to the artificial ground shoes: few (6 to 8), very long, hard, often aluminum-based studs. These shoes are perfect for very soft fields, also wet muddy surfaces, in which it is necessary that foot sink down to have a traction and the right balance.

Turf shoes, where "turf" means synthetic grass. These are the common shoes that you would choose for five-a-side games on outdoor fields. Studs are even more numerous and softer than the artificial ground shoes.

Indoor shoes. The name suggests that they are perfect for playing on covered concrete or wood soccer fields. The indoor shoes have no studs, but a simple flat grippy gum rubber outsole.

Synthetic grass for private homes and public places

After this large section on synthetic grass and sports facilities, with all its facets and opportunities of use, let's discover the other two situations where you may want to install an artificial surface, that is in a private home or in a public place.

In both cases the turf is chosen and positioned for a decorative purpose.

If you think about the union private home/synthetic grass it is almost inevitable that the mind goes to a beautiful garden, more or less forbidden dream to anyone living in a villa. This purpose, as we said earlier, is increasingly popular and appreciated, but is not the only possible in private homes.

In addition to the grass for the garden, in fact, there are such variants of soft artificial turf used in the terraces furniture. Obviously, it would be appropriate that there was enough available space, but just imagine the pleasure to create your own unique piece of paradise in the middle of a city, a green area where to place a beach chair and sunbathe, or read a good book and relax after work.

Of course, we know what you're thinking: "if I have to dream I prefer to have the artificial turf all around the pool"! Well, obviously, if you have a pool or plans to have one you can consider the synthetic grass for your poolside. In this case you may have the dual benefit of adding a considerable elegant touch to the convenience and the security of a completely non-slip poolside.

There are also those particularly extroverted or demanding people who want to furnish also interior areas of the house with a fake lawn, or maybe they are rich enough to afford a mini-golf area in their home.

Some of the considerations that we have just proposed to you are also reproducible in a public place. Indeed, in public places they are even more spread. Think for example about poolside turf; nearly all public facilities choose this solution to work around typical maintenance problems of a summer pool. The operating costs would increase considerably if we had to take care of the lawn also in winter months.

This example is not unique. Artificial turf is also widely used in public parks - in city areas where you want to give elegance and style to urban furniture - and in all kinds of stands for exhibitions.

All those situations relating to the external areas of some public places or businesses are worth mentioning (entrances, parking, flower beds, walkways, relaxation areas, outdoor rooms of restaurants and bars), all cases in which the synthetic grass is used to enhance the prestige in the customers' eyes.

Finally remember that artificial grass is also used in schools and play areas (or recreation ground), where children can have fun, play sports and being outdoors with confidence, thanks to the fact that this flooring is soft and anti-shock, able to absorb all impacts.

Why choose synthetic grass

Here we will try to think about situations where you really should choose artificial turf instead of natural grass. Of course, artificial turf is not always the optimal choice, each context must be examined in detail on the basis of environmental conditions, the preferences of the buyer and its economic means.

Let's start by clarifying a basic concept. If you are passionate about gardening, you have much time for your lawn or you are lucky enough to afford a full time gardener, maybe you should think twice before considering the artificial turf, it may not be the choice for you.

We want to add some variables to this simple consideration, variables that can change the balance of your evaluation. To better appreciate the natural grass of your garden, it would be appropriate, for example, to prevent insect infestation; for those who live near a water course the warmer seasons can be a real ordeal from this point of view, the garden could become a playground for mosquitoes, flies and ants.

Your geographic location also matters. Too hot or too cold area mean the inevitable death for natural grass. Even if you put a lot of effort into the care of the garden, you can not do anything against a blazing sun or a sudden freezing cold that strike it.

Any health problems can get you in trouble. Nothing serious, God forbid, but if you have lay allergy, wouldn't it be nice to lay on the grass without sneezing every ten seconds?

Well, if all these problems do not concern you and you're a die-hard supporter of natural grass, then maybe it's time to continue to take care of that.

Before making your final choice, we recommend that you read the short list of pros and cons of using synthetic grass below, it will definitely help you to have clearer ideas and to fully understand the pros and cons of this solution.

Advantages and disadvantages of synthetic grass

We start from the list of strong points common to all kind of artificial turf:

lawn is always tidy
cleaning is simple and immediate
no muddy or flooded areas
quick-drying after the rain
respect for the environment by saving water and because you do not need to use pesticides and herbicides
great aesthetic value
added value for the house, even in economic terms
easy, or nearly absent maintenance, that also means saving time and money

As regards the points of weakness, the disadvantages of a synthetic grass oriented choice, we must necessarily make a major premise. Many of the cons that we will summarize are closely linked to the quality of turf you choose, so they can be avoided with a thorough and informed assessment, but especially with an investment that is not "saving", but forward-looking. Now let's see what nasty surprises an artificial garden can hide.

Risk of discoloration, especially after years of exposure to UV rays.
Flattening and loss of flexibility of turf fibers.
Excessive overheating. Although it can be easily fought with a quick splash of water.
Off-site or not uniform clods, that is the result of a not perfect installation.
In any case, to avoid all these problems, you might also check the guarantees (and their duration) offered by the retailer at the time of purchasing.

Reinforcing natural grass with the artificial turf

This procedure is mainly used on those lawns subjected to heavy use with a high risk of rapid wear.

On soccer fields, rubgy and baseball pitches, as well as in the arenas where there are concerts or other events frequently, you may want to consider the idea of ​​investing in insertions of artificial turf into the natural grass.

This solution can be considered an alternative to re-sodding the ground with super professional artificial turf, because it can ensure similar results from a qualitative point of view. In fact, when artificial fibers are implanted, they are tied to the roots of natural grass, toughening the structure as a whole.

In this way you can extend the playing field's life, increasing almost three times the number of hours of use before disposal. The increase in the drainage capacity and water absorption without bogs during heavy rains is another positive aspect.

Last but not least, cost savings due to the reduced need for maintenance and the invigoration of natural grass, bound to a more rapid vegetative growth.

Maintenance

Throughout this guide we have referred so many times to maintenance activities, we believe it is time to clarify the matter. We show you now the main differences that characterize these procedures, comparing the situations where you have to manage real grass or artificial turf.

Those described below are extreme cases, much more frequent in football pitches than in a private garden, but will help to clear your ideas about the differences between the two alternatives.

Maintenance of an artificial turf field

Although the synthetic turf requires an easier management compared to the natural grass, this does not mean that it does not require small maintenance interventions to make the best and prolong its life.

For routine maintenance it you just need to procure synthetic bristles brushes and rake the fibers from time to time. Just repeat the procedure two or three times a month when you use turf frequently, otherwise do it once a month.

When it's hot it is also necessary to water every so often to reduce the surface temperature of the artificial turf.

Last aspect that we want to highlight is related to infilling. If you choose an infill turf you must consider the possibility that a part of the material used to infill could be lost due to brushing procedure. For this reason, after a long run, you might consider to integrate the infill, in order to preserve the original functionality of the grass fibers.

Artificial turf installation

Unless it is a very large surface for professional purposes, as a football field, artificial turf installation is not difficult.

If you have manual skills and familiarity with the DIY you could think of buying everything you need and just install your garden by yourself.

We do not recommend it to those who do not really feel able to do so. First of all, because you are likely to get a poor result and, in an effort to save money, there is nothing but wasting the money you spent for mats and other materials.

Secondly we must consider that, even on a small lawn, you need the necessary equipment to carry out certain steps because it can make the difference between high quality and an approximate result. It is clear that for many people is not convenient to buy specific equipment and they intend to resolve doing everything by hand. This is not always possible if you aspire to excellence, to a perfect result.

Let's see what are the steps for the installation, whether carried out by experts or by enterprising "do it yourself" enthusiasts.

1. The very first thing to do to have a good result is to prepare the bottom impeccably. This means: remove weeds, use herbicide to prevent reborn of unwanted plants, compact the ground, level it and give it an inclination to favor the outflow of excess water.
2. Although not mandatory, we highly recommend the use of a geotextile TNT layer. It is intended both to prevent that the sand used as infill can obstruct the holes in the turf and to avoid that any herbs or other soil elements can ruin the carpet.
3. Spread a layer of gravel or sand to increase vertical drainage. In this case we recommend to use gravel, if it has a small diameter and is crafted presenting no pointed faces. Of course the gravel must be finished and leveled with the help of a vibrating plate and a hand roller.
4. Place the artificial turf rolls. The rolls must be laid accurately and cut at the points where obstacles or unforeseen irregularities come out.
5. You need to insert a jointing strip at the junction points between a roll and the other.
6. Now can proceed spreading the glue on the jointing strips. Application must be done with a spatula that spread the product uniformly.
7. Finally, the rolls can be pasted. The bonding procedure does not allow errors, you must be extremely precise because once the turf is fixed can not be moved without the risk of break it.
8. We are almost there. After anchoring the mantle just have to spread a layer of sand (or other materials) to infilling. As already said for the gravel, the sand can also be spread by hand or with the aid of a motor brush.

Now you are ready to enjoy your artificial turf lawn. Before moving on to the next section we introduce another case: one in which the carpet should be placed on a hard surface (such as tiles or cement). In this case you have to pay close attention to installation steps, a double-sided adhesive tape is often preferred to glue. Above all we must take into account that the drainage capacity is necessarily lower than a non-paved ground.

Prices

Ok, we reached the climax. If you avoided to read the rest of our suggestions to get directly clear information on prices you may be disappointed. Unfortunately we can not give an unambiguous and definitive price because, as we have explained above, there are too many variables affecting the price.

Depending on your needs and intended use the turf price can vary from 4 € up to € 70-80 per square meter, without considering the cost for installation.

Some frequently asked questions and some final advice

How long does an artificial turf grass lawn last?
The duration depends on the weather and frequency of use. Let's say that in a private garden it can last for many years, without much difficulty, on the other hand in a sports facility it needs a lot of care for long-term durability.

Is it difficult to clean?
Absolutely not. Just use water in most cases. When the dirt is very persistent (if for example there is a dog going around the lawn) you can also use detergents.

Does it discolor in the sun?
Modern technologies have reduced this risk, but in the long term (at least 8 years) discoloration is inevitable. Specific guarantees are released for cases in which this trouble is prematurely present.

Can moles or other soil creatures damage the grass?
This risk is very low for two reasons. First of all because the turf is set on a mat, hard to pierce for any animal, secondly there is an additional protection installed directly on the ground, the TNT geotextile layer.

To keep the artificial turf in top condition a few small precautions are also necessary, such as to avoid throwing objects or flammable products on it - for example burning cigarettes - do not obstruct the drainage channels and do not use chalk or spray paint to marking the field.

Make sure that the material chosen for the infill is not toxic. Many times we tend to prefer an infill made ​​from recycled tires instead of sand or other material, without taking into account that the tires, if not subjected to appropriate treatments, contain hazardous substances such as heavy metals.

Finally we want to give you some advice, perhaps obvious but not least: always verify every aspect before buying, ask questions to verify the professionalism of your seller, ask for information on the guarantee and, above all, ask to touch the samples of turf. Nothing better than this test can give you an idea on the actual quality of the turf and the features of the product that you will install in your garden.