Running a home can be a tedious job. The time and cost it takes to maintain it can sometimes be overwhelming. Unlike apartment dwellers where the bulk of their maintenance work is internal, homeowners with an outdoor lawn also have to worry about keeping the exterior looking the best it can. This means regular lawn mowing, trimming, watering, fertilizing, and cleaning.
If you have a gardener in the family or you have your own green thumb this may turn out to be an exciting chore but for the rest of us, it can easily become another exercise that steadily eats away at our time and money.
For those people, there are alternative options that will allow you to keep a beautifully landscaped yard and save time and money at the same time. Many people decide to use synthetic grass instead of natural grass to keep their yards looking beautiful. However, if you’re considering making a purchase and retooling your yard with it, there are a few things that you need to know before you making a final decision.
It is Not Maintenance Free
While you may not have the additional chore of mowing your lawn every week or the expense of watering it every day, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have to do anything to keep your lawn looking good. Just like anything else you purchase, if you don’t take care of it properly, it will not last and it is only a matter of time before it begins to lose its beautiful color and looks. Here are just a few things that can not only keep your artificial grass looking fresh and new but save it from having to replace it before its time. With proper care, your new lawn could easily last you for up to 25 years before it needs to be replaced.
First, you need to understand that your new turf is made from nylon, polyethylene, or polypropylene; all synthetic fibers so you can’t expect it to respond like real grass. This is important to keep in mind when deciding where you want to use it. Because the filaments that are threaded in the backing are spaced far enough apart to allow water to run through, it must be placed in an area where the ground has some sort of drainage. If there is no drainage, then it is possible that mold, mildew and rot can set in causing discoloration to appear in the grass over time.
If you have pets, you may think that it will be easy to walk your dog on the convenience of your new lawn but because it is synthetic it does not have any absorbent properties. That means it will not absorb or break down pet urine. So, unlike natural grass where the natural elements will break down any deposits left over time, with synthetic grass, you will have to wash and clear away any urine or feces left behind by your family pets. This will also prevent any type of pet odor to get trapped in the lawn making your yard an unpleasant place to be.
You will still have to weed your lawn on a regular basis. This is true especially in the fall of the year when leaves begin to fall. Removing leaves quickly can prevent them from accumulating and rotting, which creates the perfect environment for new weeds to start to take root.
Benefits of Synthetic Lawns
Still even though it won’t remove all of your maintenance responsibilities, it will remove the big jobs. You will be able to save money on your water bill and the amount of time you spend in your lawn will be greatly reduced. And as for cost efficiency, an artificial lawn may cost more upfront to buy but over time that savings will show in many ways. It is estimated that a homeowner will have to use around 55 gallons of water every year for every square foot of natural grass. That could amount to a pretty hefty bill. And don’t even begin to calculate how much you’ll have to pay in time saved on mowing, watering, and trimming.
There are of course, many pros and cons to purchasing artificial turf but when laid out and analyzed side by side, many have found it to be a smart decision to buy synthetic turf and save both precious time and money in the process.
