Artificial Lawn – a synthetic, man-made surface used in residential, commercial or public landscaping to resemble natural turf grass, or sod

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Artificial lawns are the next generation of products sometimes referred to as artificial turf or synthetic turf – the materials more often associated with surfaces for sports arenas and similar uses. Particularly for residential use, artificial lawns, or synthetic lawns, represent the fastest growing market in an industry that traditionally has been known for providing surfaces for athletic fields and various sports surfaces.

Originally developed in the late 1960s, artificial, or synthetic, grass has moved rapidly beyond athletic fields to residential and commercial landscaping. This trend has been driven primarily by two functions: the quality and variety of artificial grasses that are available has improved dramatically, and cities and water conservation organizations have begun realizing the value of artificial grass as a conservation measure.

In landscaping, an artificial lawn today is nearly indistinguishable from a lawn of sod grass. But an artificial, or synthetic, lawn requires no watering, no pesticides and no maintenance. Most high-quality artificial lawns have at least a seven-year warranty and most companies in the industry offer at least three varieties to choose from.

Most artificial lawns are composed from polyethylene or a combination of polyethylene and nylon, sewn into a rubberized plastic mat or similar backing. The lawn is then "infilled" with a low layer of sand, rubber granules or a combination of both to keep the fibers upright and provides the proper shock absorbency.

Advantages and disadvantages of artificial lawns

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Advantages

• Artificial grass significantly reduces water consumption for residential homes as it is estimated nearly 80% of a homes water bill is used to water a natural lawn.
• Artificial grass can be a better solution when the environment is particularly hostile to natural grass. An arid environment or one where there is little natural light are examples.

Disadvantages

• The artificial grass can heat up more then natural grass.
• Some artificial grass requires infill such as silicon sand and/or granulated rubber which can leach into the water table.

Industry

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Companies in the industry include:

• AstroTurf
• FieldTurf
• Newgrass

See also

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• artificial turf

Artificial turf