Synthetic Grass?

Sure they weren't "synthetic" for the "real grass" look...

I went with both options I’m just finishing off the landscaping at my place now.

My aim was to reduce water use (at home) and also reduce the time & effort spend on maintenance (especially weed control). At the same time it should look good and the kids should be able run around & play.

After reading a lot (mainly thanks to Fu) I went with Empire Zoysia in the front area where it is relatively large area and gets full sun. To me, this is the best grass I came across so far. I put the off cuts on the nature strip and it is doing well even though I didn't do any preparation!

Then, I put the artificial turf on sections of areas where it is difficult to mauver a lawn mower (or shaded area where grass can’t grow). All my family members like the look of the synthetic grass. I like it where it covers small/narrower areas. However, next time, I would create a garden bed out of a larger area and surrounded it by the synthetic. I guess the 'bigger area' looks a bit too perfect and way too green.

From the same post


I think you have missed my point made in earlier posts.

A lawn can only do one thing nothing else can. That is kids can play on it. That is all. Now if a turf area as we discussed is shaded in an area that kids play where lawn won't grow then yeah it maybe an option.

As for using it as an alternative to paving or concrete in situations where more responsible alternatives should be used then I feel it isn't a great idea. It isn't something that should be an aesthetic answer only. ie, nature strips, front lawns. Just the same, our indiscriminate use of large paved areas contributes just the same if not more to the heat absorbed by our cities. Black roofs as well. If paving or syn lawns must be used then have shade structures in place or good tree plantings to cool exposed areas and reduce the heat absorbed.

In the case of your example then I would imagine you'll have shade over the area for the kids to play.

Being a Greenkeeper myself, if i had to look at fake grass i would probably puke every time.

yep I was just laughing because the OzBreed folks haven't gone to that extent of information with the Zoysia web site

Other than that it is a very good summary of what a few others and myself have been saying.

How often do you see syn turf used for areas mentioned, more often than not it is for front verges, front lawns, back lawns. Such is peoples reception of the product. I do agree there is a time and a place for it and that shows it right on the money.

Thanks for the links Grasshopper.

The eco-movement is full of ironies: "I care about the environment, so I'm going to cover my yard in huge sheets of complex plastics."

I'm seeing lots of school playgrounds being covered in this stuff. I'm talking massive hockey field size areas.

A lot of bowling greens are removing it. They need to wet them to make them more playable. So after installation they have increased water use dramatically.

The water used to produce it is huge.

Be very aware that what you perceive to be saving in water is superficial.

When it comes to your domestic budget, this stuff hides a bite. What you save on your water utility will be well and truly eaten away by the increase on your electricity bill. The increase in electricity costs, on a whole, is going to hurt far more in the long term than the water utility costs. The additional heat this stores through the day means that the area around your home gets hotter. Far hotter. Close to the same as a road surface. That heats the walls of your home and you run your AC for longer and harder to cool the home. Hotter nights are also going to happen as the enormous surface areas they have release that stored heat all night.

To reduce this, they really should be well shaded, by shade sails or better still is well chosen trees which do far more than cool a landscape.

Then we look at how that latent heat affects your neighbours electricity bill. One neighbour with this is contributing to a hotter environment. Then next door is running their AC more or having a reduced comfort of living.
I know if one of my neighbours wanted it, I'd object to it formally. If they installed it, I'd also paying for it by them making my house hotter than it was and me having to offset that. How many people have thought of that before?

Gardens need to be a homes passive air conditioner. Cooling the home, reducing utility costs, making a more valuable property and a property that adds value to other homes near it. they will also contribute to cooling our cities. Cooling a city is of great importance to governments, councils and residents.

Instead we are making landscapes heat our homes, increasing utility costs and complaining about how big the electricity bill is.

Perth is an excellent example of what a hot city does to reducing rainfall. As more and more people make their little patch of land hotter, (bit by bit, house by house) we are making the city hotter. On a hot day, thunderstorms often move in from the North or NE with an active west coast trough. As that rainfall moves over the city, more often than not, the water simply evaporates before hitting the ground. On the BoM radar we can see the outline of the city with rain all around it. Saving water? The hotter we make a city, the less of that vital summer rainfall we are getting and that amounts to a huge amount of water not being saved.

Of course many other things contribute to this as well such as landscapes with out trees, dark roofs, unshaded carparks, unshaded roads, dark hard surfaces. Overall there is far too much of that and nowhere near the wonderful, cheap cooling gardens we need to cool homes, reduce utility costs, cool the city, reduce carbon footprints, slow winds, reduce evaporation and increase precipitation. Every landscape counts.