Prolong lifespan of your turf

by Nov 6, 2018Turf

Artificial grass is an excellent investment in your property and there is a whole host of benefits that an artificial lawn will bring to your garden. But to get the most from your investment, it’s very important to ensure that your fake grass lasts long into the future.
If properly maintained and used correctly, a good quality artificial grass will last somewhere between 15 and 20 years, even with frequent use.
By far the best way to ensure that your artificial lawn has the longest lifespan possible is to ensure that it is properly installed in the first place.
Assuming you have chosen a good quality artificial grass, you’ll find that some of the problems that can occur a few years down the line are not due to the artificial grass itself, but to the installation.
Therefore, you should be sure to choose a good installer from the outset or, if going down the DIY route, make sure you learn about the installation process before attempting to lay an artificial lawn.

Regularly Maintain Your Artificial Lawn

The most important way to ensure your newly laid artificial grass remains in top condition well into the future is to keep it properly maintained.
Some artificial grass manufacturers and installers claim that artificial grass is ‘completely maintenance free’.

As much as we would all like it to be, unfortunately, this is not entirely true.
Anything that is exposed to the elements will have a certain degree of maintenance involved.
However, fear not, as maintaining an artificial lawn will take a fraction of the time it takes to maintain a real lawn.

The days of trudging up and down the garden mowing the grass will be a thing of the past.
There are just a few minor but essential maintenance tasks that artificial grass requires. How often these should be carried out depends entirely on the local conditions and the level of usage.
For instance, a rear garden lawn surrounded by trees that receives heavy use from children and pets will require more maintenance than a front garden. It’s inevitable that leaves and other garden debris will find their way on to your artificial lawn.

This is certainly no cause for concern as it will not damage or discolor your fake grass in any way.
However, it is advisable to remove debris on a regular basis as leaves and other dead matter can cause weed growth on the surface of your artificial grass.
Debris can be removed either with a broom, plastic rake or leaf blower/vacuum.
Should any airborne seeds land on your lawn and grow into a weed, these can be very easily removed by hand. So long as a weed membrane has been installed underneath your fake lawn, weeds will not be able to grow up through your synthetic grass.

Rotate Heavy Equipment to Ensure Even Wear

Artificial grass is great for a wide variety of activities, including sports, garden parties or just relaxing in the sunshine with a glass of wine.
To prolong the life of your artificial lawn it’s important to ensure that your AstroTurf wears evenly.
Football mad children will love playing football on their artificial lawn as they’ll feel like they are playing on the perfectly manicured turf at Wembley. Because of this, football goals are a very popular feature for artificial lawns.
You’ll need to bear in mind that goalmouths are high impact areas and it therefore stands to reason that the artificial grass in this area will wear quicker than other parts.
Therefore, it’s important to ensure that football goals are moved around on a regular basis to ensure even wear.
The same also goes for any item of garden furniture, such as sunloungers.
Its normal for the fibers to lie flat after a heavy object has been placed on top of them. However, they can be brushed back to an upright position using a stiff broom.
If your lawn is going to have objects of garden furniture on it or receive heavy foot traffic, we highly recommend that you choose an artificial lawn with Instant Recovery technology.
This will mean that your artificial grass has been manufactured using nylon fibers (the strongest type of synthetic fiber used in artificial grass manufacturing) and has been specifically designed to withstand heavy items of garden furniture and frequent usage.

Prevent Burn Marks

When choosing an artificial grass it is always important to choose one that is fire-resistant.
However, just because an artificial grass is fire-resistant, it doesn’t mean that fire or hot objects will not harm your artificial grass.
If a fire-resistant artificial grass is subjected to heat it will not catch fire, but the heat will melt the synthetic fibers.
Should this happen to your artificial lawn, it will cause permanent damage. This damage can be repaired, but it’s best to avoid it happening in the first place.
Although there are many things that can cause your artificial grass to melt, there are three main culprits within a garden environment:
Cigarettes should not be smoked on artificial grass. Burning tobacco and ash can fall from cigarettes, which can then melt the fibers. BBQs should be kept well clear of artificial grass. We recommend that they should be kept at least 10 feet from your artificial lawn as accidents can happen and the last thing you want is for your BBQ to be knocked over and the hot coals to land on your synthetic grass, causing permanent damage. The best place for your BBQ is on a patio or other inflammable surface.

We hope our tips will help you to prolong the life of your artificial grass.

Comments