All You Should Know About Garden Turfs
A ‘turf’ is a fancy word for synthetic fibers that are designed to look like grass. They are usually seen in sports fields or stadiums to substitute for grass as garden turfs stand up to heavy use. It does not require any irrigation or trimming either at all. The first time artificial turf was used in a stadium was in 1966, used for the Astrodome in Houston. This new turf field that replaced the natural grass field turned out to service the needs of the stadium much better than natural grass that would often fray and tear out.
While American baseball became the first sport to utilize artificial turfs, many other field-played sports disciplines found turfs incredibly convenient for use; examples include association football, rugby, American football, cricket, etc. However, we are seeing a surge in turf purchases on private home properties in recent years.
These are all examples of commercial garden turfs but the real deal is in residential turfs offered by multiple turf suppliers. The cost and the design may differ due to a decrease in space and clumsiness in the shape of your lawn, but ultimately the quality of these turfs is what makes it truly special for your landscape. The luscious greenery and the scenic beauty can make your front yard look evergreen. Let’s find out the details about garden turfs and what makes them so mesmerizing.
CHOOSING GARDEN TURFS FOR YOUR OWN HOME AND HOW TO PREPARE
Before deciding to hit the market to buy your own turf, you have to consider some questions and make some preliminary decisions. The answers to these questions will be important when it comes to choosing the right kind of turf.
Questions include whether or not it is a challenging and tough lawn that could withstand sports use or whether it is a fair ornamental lawn you want to get. Mowing prospects and how often you intend to use the mower is also an important consideration. The area over which you intend to lay turf should always be prepared beforehand. Preparation involves rotovating or tilling the soil at least 100mm deep and then raking all the rotovated soil down. Applying a low nitrogen fertilizer over the tilled land is also quite important.
Lay the turf off of scaffold planks or plastic planks to keep the turf and tilled soil even and undisturbed by your footprints. After all the turf has been laid, refrain from walking over the newly laid turf and wait for it to set in and take root firmly. This process usually takes a few weeks. Throughout the rooting process, make sure the turf is regularly watered and does not dry out. Making the turf wet allows for the rooting process to complete with better firmness. Once a few weeks have passed, complete the mowing process to finalize the setting of your lawn. Further mowing should be done at least once a week.
TYPES OF GARDEN TURFS
While there are multiple types of garden turfs available on the market, the best garden turf for you is one that suits your budget, how you want your garden to look, and how adept you are at taking care of your lawn. Some of the types of garden laws available are:
– Jubilee turf: These types are best suited for well-designed, well-ornamented lawn plans and are thus recommended highly by professional landscapers and home gardeners. As they are also well suited for hard use, they cost the most, but if you can afford it, they are an excellent choice. If good maintenance is in order, jubilee turf setups stand up to quality for years and years.
– Basic lawn turf: This is the most common choice and for good reason as they make for a strong, healthy, and hardwearing lawn. They do not cost much either, and they are straightforward to look after and maintain once installed.
– Species-rich turf: Species-rich turf is a blend of several low-growing plant species designed for low maintenance and pollinator-friendly gardens that are durable enough for children playing.
POTENTIAL HEALTH HAZARDS
There are, unfortunately, several potential health hazards associated with poorly manufactured turfs. This is a reminder to ensure that you buy your turf from a well-reputed manufacturer and seller.
Badly-produced garden turfs can include very harmful toxic heavy metals such as zinc, lead, and chromium, and hydrocarbon carcinogens leftover from the production process. The rubber used may also degrade from weather effects and microbes, which produces new chemicals. These new chemicals release toxic components that can be breathed in and leech into the surface and groundwater. This is why regular maintenance of your turf is essential. Another vital thing to remember is that since turf is artificial, it does not support decomposition, so animal droppings permanently stay there.
CONCLUSION
While garden turfs are nice to have on a home property, even the cheapest turf options cost quite a lot; expect to pay $15-25$ per square foot, making a 1000 square foot lawn cost over $20,000. As stated just previously, cheaping out on lawns can prove to be dangerous. Thus, there is a significant monetary and time investment involved as you also have to take decent care of the turf.
For mini-golf, sports fields, and surreal retirement community homes, artificial turf is reserved. Homeowners across the globe are now contemplating it. People are searching for habitats that don’t require much water and are low maintenance. And the quality of “fake grass” has risen dramatically as those criteria have become more relevant and more desirable for homeowners.
Although we do not recommend the installation of synthetic grass to cover large fields of turf, there is some merit in doing this in smaller applications. In hot areas of the garden, such as between walkway pavements or on driveway strips, false turf can be a great problem solver due to its durability. It will also bring green to the balcony gardens and inner courtyards, where it will be difficult to maintain and conserve natural turf.
Garden turfs are a serious investment for anyone looking to replenish their landscape, but despite its high maintenance costs, we’d recommend it any day for the heightened beauty it gifts to your little garden. We hope this answers all of the questions you had regarding turfs.
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