When you hear the word “turf” or the phrase “artificial grass,” what is the first thing that comes to mind? Perhaps it is the playground, with soft and evenly cut blades of grass that seemed perhaps too perfect to be natural. Of course, sports fields also probably pop into your head – it is hard to avoid them when we discuss this topic.
Today, though, I would like to offer some perspectives on why people decide to have artificial grass used for their lawns back at home. It might seem a bit odd at first, seeing as there is somewhat of a negative stereotype surrounding it, but do keep an open mind. There are a surprising number of benefits that come with it!
What is it, then?
Let us start out with the basics, since I would be remiss otherwise. So – how can we define “turf grass,” then? Admittedly, it does seem to have been muddied a bit in the past few years, since the phrase can mean a few different things.
You can find an example of this phenomenon here, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/turf. For our purposes today, we can think of it as soil that is connected via grass and roots into a mat and/or as an artificial replacement for the natural grass that we are used to. Either is applicable in this context.
Why do People Like it?
Naturally, this aspect of today’s article will be a bit more nuanced. Still, it is an important one to figure out. After all, having it installed on your property likely is not going to be an inexpensive venture. It only makes sense that we want to understand why we should consider it in the first place.
So, I think that one of the main appeals is the fact that yard work, to put it lightly, absolutely sucks. There are even adverse health effects during certain times of the year, as you can see in this article. Certainly, most of us can see why we would want to reduce this workload. Still, rarely do we think about artificial grass as a way to do this.
Yet, it remains an effective manner of reducing the amount of yard work that we have to perform even on a daily basis. Wondering why? The secret is largely in the fact that it does not need to be watered nor does it have to be mowed. Obviously, both of those tasks are quite time-consuming and frustrating to perform.
Other Things to Keep in Mind?
So – we have covered some of the simple aspects to what makes it popular and what it is in the first place. Perhaps you are wondering what else there is to talk about – I understand why you may be wondering that. Surprisingly, though, there is still a bit more!
For instance, did you know that it is actually quite good for the environment? Specifically, I am referring to the fact that you can reduce and cut back a lot of your water waste if you make the switch to a lawn made of turf. There are organizations such as Biltright Turf that can offer more information on how that works, if it is something of interest to you.
There is also the fact that it works in pretty much any climate – even if you live in a very dry part of the world, you will not have to deal with droughts and other weather conditions impacting the way that your yard works. While it may not seem like the most “important” problem ever to solve, there is no denying that having a nice lawn can be a real boost to our confidence and to the curb appeal that our properties have.
Do you know what makes it so appealing for sports stadiums, by the way? There is of course the fairly obvious fact that mud makes playing much more difficult and dangerous, and the padding that comes with these artificial grasses, but there is an additional factor at play as well. When we have a natural field, there will inevitably be days in which we cannot utilize the space.
That is because natural plants need time to rest and recuperate, otherwise they will get permanently damaged. No one wants to see bald patches on a field, so the only option is to take more breaks – sometimes for several days at a time. This can really hamper practice times, so the switch to turf seemed like a fairly obvious one to make.
As you can see from what I have presented today, there is not exactly one easy answer to “should we get it installed in our yard?” Still, though, there are a lot of reasons to at least take it into consideration, despite some of up-front costs associated with it.
