How to choose an artificial turf for the country: tips and advice from experts
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Artificial turf characteristics
To make beautiful artificial landscaping, high technologies come to the rescue, since this pile is obtained from special polyethylene or polypropylene fibers.
If polyethylene is used in production, then the resulting product will have a thin soft pile, it can be easily used in areas where frequent falls are possible, on playgrounds, on a football field.
Polypropylene - more durable. These lawns are laid out on tennis courts, golf courses and other sports venues.
Externally, you can hardly distinguish an artificial lawn from real grass. This is why synthetic weed has become so popular.
Video "Laying Artificial Grass"
This video will show you how to properly lay your artificial turf.
Types of artificial turf
Landscaping specialists divide synthetic lawns into several types. You can put such grass with your own hands, improving the look of a summer cottage or a country house.
Unsaturated
This herb is very similar to natural. But she has one important drawback that needs to be taken into account: unsalted lawns are quickly damaged, you cannot run on such grass. But there are positive aspects - it does not need to be covered with quartz sand.
Half-asphalt
This type of fake grass can be easily applied to playgrounds for children or sports. The lawn is soft, aesthetic, but it is necessary to use quartz sand when laying it. This sand is poured into the space between the villi in order to increase wear resistance.
Zasypny
This synthetic grass is made from special polypropylene. The tough and beautiful material gives the coating increased abrasion resistance, which is why it is used in highly passable places such as lawns near cafes, offices, as well as on football fields.
The spaces between the villi are filled with quartz sand and a special rubber substrate. All this increases the service life of synthetic grass while maintaining the aesthetic component.
Grass lawns can be painted in a variety of colors - from classic green to original designer colors. All this brings originality to the design of the site.
Flower artificial turf
A flower lawn is considered a special option. For its manufacture, a non-filled grass made of polyethylene is used. Beautiful artificial flowers are organically added to it. All this improves the appearance of the site.
Pros and cons of artificial turf
Such a decorative material has both advantages and disadvantages.
- The grass looks beautiful and well-groomed for a long time.
- It can be used all year round regardless of the season.
- This grass is durable, it does not roll out from the soles of football players or children running on it.
- Weeds do not grow in such grass, it does not need to be weeded, watered or cultivated.
- Rain is not a hindrance to such a coating, water quickly goes through the villi into the ground, so there will be no foul-smelling puddles here.
- This coverage is quite expensive. Cheap herb won't last long.
- In the sun, this grass begins to heat up and give off an unpleasant plastic smell.
- This material is not environmentally friendly, as it is not easily recyclable.
- In the case of laying a fake lawn, you cannot radically change the type of lawn in the future, as it would be in the case of natural plants.
Selection recommendations
Before laying your lawn, you need to make the right choice.
If the lawn you are purchasing is inexpensive, it means that it is made of cheap plastic, therefore it is tougher and has a specific shine. Such grass cover should be taken only for outdoor laying. The cost of the coating directly depends on the length of the villi. The shorter the pile, the cheaper the grass.
Don't forget to buy some filler. This includes quartz sand and rubber crumb. All of them are needed to strengthen the coating, protect it from abrasion, and also to prevent injuries in people falling on this grass.
Laying the coating with your own hands
If you have never laid synthetic grass yourself, then you will have to try, because this installation has a lot of tricks.
To begin with, the surface must be carefully prepared. The entire site must be level, free from moisture and dust. A good master will do this easily.
It is necessary to take into account the number of rolls to the area of the future decoration of the site. It will be bad if there are not enough rolls or excess rolls remain. Measure everything carefully and then calculate. After all, a beautiful green lawn will delight you for a long time, and a bad one will annoy you.
Preparation of the base
Before you start laying synthetic turf, prepare an area where it will lie. The area must be level and tight, free of dirt and debris.
Don't forget to get rid of old weeds and last year's live grass, as these plants can grow through the artificial pile and ruin it.
Then it is necessary to make the ground of the site dense. For this, you can use mechanical or manual methods. Check the horizontal line using a level. It is best if the turf is laid with a slight slope to allow rainwater to drain away without stagnation.
Best of all, if you lay the synthetic flooring on dense concrete, then the canvas will fit tightly and will not creep over time. For the same reason, the use of sand for these purposes is not recommended.
Drainage facility for water drainage
Even at the production stage, special drainage holes are made in the lawn bed for the drainage of rainwater. But penetrating under a synthetic lawn, water can accumulate, rot and give off an unpleasant odor. Often, with improper drainage, even mold damage to the product occurs. Therefore, make the drainage system wisely.
If you are laying grass in your backyard, use regular medium to small gravel. To check, the area can be sprinkled with water - this will show whether the water is leaving or not.
When laying the grass in a professional manner, other methods of creating drainage are used, but ordinary crushed stone is no worse.
Installation of canvases on the site
How to properly lay the lawn bed:
- All rolls must be unrolled in the same direction. Blades of grass lying out of order are unacceptable.
- Rolls must be laid exactly end-to-end or with a small overlap, no more than 10 cm.
- After all the rolls are rolled out and stacked, they need to be kept for one day. During this period, all the bumps in the pile will be eliminated, and the grass will look beautiful.
- At the next stage of installation, connect the edges of the panels using a special tape or stapler.
- Do not forget to use filler - quartz sand or rubber granules. However, this procedure is not always applied.
- The last stage of installation will be to secure the side edges with staples or nails.
The adhesive will not come through the grass when applied using a specialized notched trowel. And so that the filler lies evenly, level it with a garden rake or a broom.
Lawn care features
If you think that you can rest after laying the false lawn, you are wrong. Of course, a living lawn will require much more maintenance. However, synthetics also need to be monitored.
Remove debris from the lawn regularly. Branches and leaves can easily damage the plastic pile of the product.
Kill weeds growing from the edges, as they can also render the green carpet completely unusable. It is best if you use a chemical weeding method.
From time to time, it is necessary to disinfect the false gas. Use the chemicals recommended by the manufacturer for this. This is especially recommended when using weed in playgrounds.
In winter, it is forbidden to remove snow and ice with shovels and scrapers. All of them will quickly destroy the beautiful green pile.
If it is very dry and hot outside, then periodically water the synthetic lawn with water so that it does not deteriorate.
To keep your site beautiful and tidy, purchase artificial lawns. Children will be happy, and neighbors will look with respect.