While artificial grass might not be cheap to install, it’s an absolute breeze to care for and maintain. It doesn’t call for any kind of watering, no fertilizers, and absolutely no pesticides. All you would have to do is wash it from time to time, rake or brush it, and maybe use an artificial turf deodorizer if you have pets.
The best artificial grass mat is almost impossible to tell from real grass from a distance. Some even feel as soft, if not softer, than the real thing. However, like most items you buy, there is a process that goes into choosing the best synthetic grass for your needs.
Here are some awesome tips you can use to choose the best artificial grass mat online:
The Different Types of Artificial Grass Available
There are a number of different types of artificial mats available online, all with their own special features and special prices. Here are three of the main types that you will most likely come across:
- Nylon artificial grass: This type of synthetic grass is rather strong and made out of plastic fiber. It’s the best kind of artificial grass that can withstand some abuse from your kids and pets.
- Polyethylene artificial grass: This type of faux grass is soft to the touch and has a more natural look. It’s rather affordable and needs a bit more care, including occasional brushing.
- Polypropylene artificial grass: This is often the cheapest option available and the least durable type of fake grass. This type of synthetic grass is best used on smaller decorative patches as opposed to large lawns.
What you need to remember is that you simply can’t choose your artificial mat based on aesthetics alone. There are several other factors that must come into play. These factors include:
What Kind of Traffic Will the Lawn See?
The answer to this question will determine which of the three different types mentioned above will make sense for you to buy. Typically, there are about five main reasons why you would consider buying faux grass:
- An ornamental lawn for show – this sees very low traffic and will, therefore, experience minimal wear and tear.
- Play area or family lawn – this will see a bit more traffic and therefore needs to be tough yet soft.
- Pet-friendly lawn – this type of lawn will see a lot of traffic and some excrement as well as urine
- Garden party lawn – this is occasionally trafficked and needs to be soft, attractive, and capable of handling some spillage.
- An all-rounder lawn – this will see all of the above action and then some.
This information should guide you towards choosing the best artificial mat for you. Now let’s look at the other kind of factors about the mat itself that you should consider:
Aesthetical Value of the Artificial Mat
Let’s be honest, as practical as you would like your fake grass to be, one of the biggest driving factors for buying artificial grass is their beauty. You want an artificial mat that doesn’t only look like the real thing but is beautiful to look at. Faux grass does this very well:
- It’s always lush and green
- It never overgrows and starts looking scraggly
- It doesn’t have any debris (unless you put it there)
- No matter the season, it doesn’t get bald patches that you can’t fill in
So what are some of the aesthetic factors that you must consider?
- Pile height: This comes down to personal taste. If you want something that looks like freshly cut grass, then you want a mat that is between 25-30mm. If you want something that looks more natural and slightly grown, then go for 30-38mm. Experts say that anything longer than 38mm tends to look odd since the blades begin to lie flat as opposed to standing upright with time.
- Pile density: The very first factor that comes into play when you think of pile density is how lush the mat will look – the denser the pile, the greener and lusher your mat will look. However, there is a practicality angle to it as well. If your lawn will see a great deal of traffic, then it needs to be dense as thinner mats will start getting patches much sooner.
For this reason, go for artificial mats that fall between 16,000-18,000 stitches per square meter. With ornamental lawns, you can go for something thinner (13,000-16,000 stitches). All-rounder lawns need a pile density higher than 18,000 stitches to be on the safe side as far as aesthetics and practicality are concerned.
- Color: It might seem like “green” is the obvious answer here, but like pile height, this depends on personal choice. Besides, there are very many different shades of green. The best way to go about this is to take different samples and place them on the ground where the mat will lay. The way the light hits that particular location of your house will make the different shades of green either look attractive or unnatural. This should be your guiding light.
Additionally, you can get mats that have brown strands within the lush green ones. These tend to look more natural since even real grass lawns aren’t all green through and through.
Infill and Backing
This is yet another important factor to consider. Your artificial mat will need to be infilled at some point in its lifespan. Sand and rubber crumb are often the most popular type of infill, and either one will work depending on your budget.
As for the backing, most artificial grass options either use latex or polyurethane. Polyurethane does not expand nor contract, while latex can shrink and expand by 5-10mm. Because of this, polyurethane backing might not be the best choice of backing for people who live in places with extreme weather changes.
At the end of the day, it’s all about your personal taste, budget, and the kind of use your artificial turf will endure. Finding your artificial grass mat is just a matter of researching the different types available (already mentioned here) and matching them with your particular needs.