The question of greening the area around the house often leads to the idea of building a lawn. Nevertheless, a beautiful, well-groomed lawn is not a cheap pleasure, besides it requires constant competent care, consisting of systematic haircut and watering. You can not find the means and enough time for every homeowner. It is this fact that makes it necessary to search for alternative options, one of which is the acquisition and laying of an artificial lawn.
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Advantages of artificial grass cover
Before using an artificial lawn in landscape design, you should consider in detail all its shortcomings and advantages.
The most significant argument in favor of artificial cover is its decorative appearance, which is absolutely independent of weather conditions, it does not fear hot summer and scorching sun, excessive moisture in case of rainy spring or autumn, winter frost will not lead to the freezing of grass, which, unfortunately , happens quite often. Even a small piece of the evergreen field will revive the local landscape and delight the eyes with the freshness of the colors.
Laying an artificial turf has advantages even if your house is located in a zone with rather mild climatic conditions.
To buy and install such a lawn will not be difficult and does not require much time, while sowing of natural grass will require:
- serious soil preparation,
- purchase of expensive seeds,
- sowing appearing bald patches,
- feeding and lighting,
- and most importantly - systematic careful care throughout the entire period of operation.
Among the advantages should be recalled a fairly wide range of applications, often using an artificial lawn for a football field, and this coverage will provide an opportunity to train throughout the year, it will serve as an ideal cover for a small sports field located near the house or tennis court.
Practice shows that an artificial turf for sports grounds that are operated year-round and daily can serve for about 15 years, without losing its decorative qualities. Such indicators indicate a high wear resistance and durability of the coating.
The variety of artificial grass is pleased with the consumers, which makes it possible to make a choice of artificial green of a suitable shade, the density of the bristle and its height, rigidity.
What problems will the owners of artificial lawns have to solve?
Of course, you will not be able to completely rid yourself of lawn care activities. From the surface it will be necessary to remove the debris brought by the wind, the fallen leaves, in the winter - the fallen snow. Considering the surface structure for cleaning, special tools and special equipment will be required. But this approach will significantly extend the life of the coating.
Search, where to buy artificial turf not required - many companies are engaged in the supply of artificial coatings, and the range of coatings given to the attention of buyers is quite diverse, both in quality, in color and in value.
By the way, if we talk about how much an artificial lawn costs, then it can be noted that it is not expensive, in addition, the price policy for this product will allow you to choose it for your wallet. But it is not recommended to save money by purchasing a less quality coating, because this is a decrease in decorativeness and a decrease in the service life.
Unfortunately, the cost of buying a coating will add the cost of glue for artificial turf and the cost of the services of a team of craftsmen who will be able to perform the laying of the material professionally.
Artificial turf in landscape design
But it is possible to use artificial vegetation not only for the arrangement of grounds for practicing football, rugby or big tennis, it often becomes a choice of landscape designers.
Of course, a living lawn has advantages in terms of freshness and aroma, it is attractive by the natural color of plants and their uniqueness, but it is very difficult to maintain it in an ideal condition, in addition, when designing a project, designers must take into account that changes in the overall picture will occur 3-4 times per year, because with such speed natural grass changes the appearance depending on the time.
Artificial turf in landscape design allows you to keep the appeal of the created picture for several seasons.
An attractive moment is the speed of work: it is required to select and buy an artificial turf in rolls, bring it to the site and perform a simple installation procedure. The difference in natural and artificial lawn for the human eye is unlikely to be noticeable, most likely an obstacle may become a psychological barrier, the owners themselves will know that the grass is not natural.
What is the structure of artificial grass?
Artificial coating is a roll material, in structure it is quite strong and elastic base with polyethylene or polypropylene pile fixed on it, in appearance very reminiscent of live grass, the final coating is latex. The length of the pile can be from 6 to 100 mm, taking into account this factor, the purpose of the material is determined.
According to their functional suitability artificial turf is divided into several types:
- zasypnoy, the space between the villi in it is filled with a granulate of rubber or sand, ideal for laying on a football field,
- semi-filled, for the filling of which quartz sand is used, is used for equipping tennis courts and general purpose sports grounds,
- it is not necessary to use a filler when laying it, the main advantage is very high decorative qualities, it is most often used in the creation of a landscaped garden, it fits in places where large loads created by moving people are not expected.
As for the color of the lawn, it can be of a variety of colors and shades, including
- green and brown,
- red and terracotta,
- snow-white and yellow, most often used to create lines of marking the field.
The most natural looking lawn, in which the pile is painted in two shades of green.
The material of manufacture defines rigidity of a gas covering:
- fibers from polyethylene form a thin, elastic structure that allows use on children's playgrounds and sports playing fields,
- polypropylene pile gives the material rigidity, such lawns are used in the construction of golf courses or tennis, i.e. games that do not involve frequent falls.
A very important characteristic of an artificial turf is its hygroscopicity, usually its value is about 60 liters per minute per 1 sq. Km. meter, which allows you to do without the formation of puddles and stagnation of water in rainy weather or after the cut of cleaning.
Among the qualitative characteristics of lawns, the following are the most important:
- a wide range of colors, the maximum approximation of appearance to natural, the lack of shine characteristic of plastic products,
- the possibility of operation in enclosed spaces and under the open sky throughout this year,
- resistance to wear, direct sunlight, fires, temperature differences, excess moisture, chemical agents and detergents,
- elasticity, ability to maintain the shape of the pile,
- the ability to provide a natural force to the bouncing ball and the excellent grip of shoes when running along the lawn,
- color consistency and resistance to trampling,
- ease of cleaning and washing, the possibility of disinfection.
About how the artificial turf is made, we look at the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tep-yVYFqiM
Styling Features
We have already mentioned that the coating is roll, therefore, its installation is not particularly difficult, both on large sites and on small ones. First roll rolled on the surface of the site, cut, laid pieces of coating fastened with special skirting around the perimeter of the site.
To connect the strips between each other using special staples, if you want to design small interior corners in the room - use glue for artificial turf, it will well connect the fragments of the coating. If the same load on the coating is not expected, then it is possible to refuse the use of fasteners.
Laying lawns in an open area assumes:
- cleaning from debris,
- leveling of the surface layer,
- abundant watering after laying strips and fixing, which will ensure a higher adhesion of the material to the ground.
If a material with a waterproof structure is used, the base should be constructed taking into account the need for water flow, ie, to have a corresponding slope.
How to make a lawn lawn look at the video:
Where can I use an artificial turf?
The fact that an artificial lawn is an ideal covering for playing fields and grounds for classes of different kinds of variety, it is often designed areas for children's games, which is rational enough - to keep it in perfect purity is not difficult, traumatic for falls - minimal, view - in sufficient least aesthetic.
In landscape design, the cover will successfully serve to decorate the area adjacent to the pool, it can decorate the shore of an artificial pond or lake. With artificial greenery, you can rapidly improve the territory adjacent to the office, hotel or restaurant, any architectural structure.
In the interior, artificial cover is often used in the design of a winter garden or living corner, in the sphere of trade - for decorating showcases and expositions. In the case of using a coating as a decor, they are guided solely by the attractiveness of the appearance.
Care of an artificial turf
Although an artificial lawn is less whimsical than natural, but still periodically it will require care. For example, it is recommended at least once a week to water the lawn with water, this will ensure a good coupling with the ground.
It is also desirable to clean the lawn weekly, especially if it is covered with rubber chips. A nylon brush is used for cleaning. To make a sweeping motion follows in different directions, this will prevent the fall of the fibers in one of the sides.
To remove sprouting weeds on the outskirts of the lawn can only be done manually, neatly, otherwise it can damage the lawn substrate.
To remove organic contaminants should be carefully, getting stuck in the nap they will eventually lead to clogging of the drainage system. To clean such debris, you can use a whisk or a special vacuum cleaner.
Snowfall or icing on the artificial surface will not harm, but to clean snow and ice should use a special vacuum cleaner. Note that it is not recommended to exploit a snow-covered or icy field.
Twice a year it is recommended to perform professional cleaning, it is carried out in two stages:
- first remove the weeds and inspect the integrity of the surface, identifying the damage - eliminate them,
- then using special machines remove debris and filler, air the sand, which has a beneficial effect on the operation of the drainage system.
After completion of harvesting, additional sand is poured.
More about professional cleaning of artificial turf:
To permanently preserve the attractiveness of the lawn is not recommended:
- walk on the lawn in dirty shoes,
- to leave on artificial grass household rubbish, tools or simply heavy objects,
- it is not recommended to exploit the lawn in the event of a breakdown on it, until they are completely eliminated,
- it should not be allowed to move on the lawn any vehicles other than harvesting machines.