There’s more to the story behind artificial turf than the name implies.
Artificial turf experts Carl Walsh, landscape consultant for Hogue Landscape Services, and Kevin Lizak, Jr., general manager for Purchase Green Cleveland, explain.
Best applications
Due to the drought conditions, large mature trees and the possibility of freezes, Hogue Landscape Services realized artificial turf makes sense for many of its clients.
“In the beginning, I was not for synthetic turf, but a lot of the people here in Houston buy their houses with mature trees and then realize they can’t have grass,” Walsh says. “If you’re trying to grow regular grass here, it’ll die within a year. You don’t have to worry about fertilizing artificial grass or watering it during a drought.”
Purchase Green Cleveland finds artificial turf to be beneficial with its clients who have pets.
“The technology now has optimal drainage, antimicrobial and antistatic properties,” Lizak says. “When you have pets, your yard is taking quite the beating, plus you have to deal with the mud and muck and mess when you let them back into the house. As long as you clean up after your pet, you’re not going to have an odor.”
Lizak adds that it’s generally a safe, clean place for children to play that requires little upkeep.
“When we put in a yard, it’s a permanent, one-time installation that’s effective for 20 years,” Lizak says.
While maintenance is minimal, Hogue advises its clients to brush out the turf every one to two years depending on how much the area is being used. Walsh says clients can buy the microkernel to brush the turf or Hogue Landscape Services will offer the service.
Artificial turf technology has developed to be pet- and kid-friendly for residential yards.Hogue Landscape Services
Potential challenges
In Texas, Walsh says one challenge with artificial turf can stem from the turf's proximity to windows and the direction of the sun. In some cases, the sun’s reflection can burn the artificial turf.
“We tell them if they want synthetic turf and their windows are close that they’ll have to put a sunshade on the glass itself, which is like a window tinting that you’d do to your car,” Walsh says.
The other issue, Walsh says, can be the heat, in which case, he recommends watering the turf for a few minutes before kids and pets play outside.
To contend with the challenge, Lizak says the Purchase Green system has, by design, eliminated the heat factor by using a coated sand antimicrobial infill instead of crumb rubber.
“This is us putting basically UV deflectors and other technologies into the blades themselves,” Lizak says.
Installation tips
As far as installation goes, Lizak says it’s pretty simple: For Purchase Green’s system, contractors pull out dirt, lay stone down and roll out the turf.
When installing the turf system Hogue Landscape Services uses, crews excavate down 4 inches and regrade the subsurface to determine whether catch basins or French drains need to be installed.
“Houston is known for flooding, so the last thing you want to do is create a downspout because it’s going to do the same thing as regular grass and create a rut,” Hogue says.
Then the company connects everything via PVC pipe that runs toward the street and puts down filter cloth, or weed barrier, and fills it with 4 inches of aggregate, usually limestone.
Hogue's crews bring the synthetic turf right up to trees and then ask clients to monitor them every six months to a year to make sure the trunk can expand if needed.
“The trunk is obviously going to expand, and if you have this product on there, it will act like a girdle,” Walsh says. “But by going all the way up to the trunk, it looks more natural.”
Walsh also recommends that contractors check with their city ordinances about whether artificial turf is permissible in yards.
“Some of the cities down here are saying that synthetic turf is not a permeable surface,” Hogue says. “That’s where my argument comes into play because the water percolates down, and it’s going into the drains or into the ground.”
Hogue says this issue is further remedied because during the installation process, his company ensures the top surface pitched slightly to go away from the houses.
“You create a type of swale going down,” Hogue says. “It’s flat but not perfectly flat.”
Words of wisdom
For other contractors looking to get into the world of artificial turf, Walsh recommends they do their research on installation, and Lizak notes that training is key.
“You’ve got to find guys who know how to do it almost like they’re putting down carpeting,” Walsh says. “That’s where the specialty comes into play.”
Lizak cautions that all artificial turfgrasses are not created equally.
“People should be aware that some of the other products can be toxic and shouldn’t be used,” Lizak says.
He adds that contractors should look for a provider that offers some kind of warranty.
“You also want a company that stands behind its products,” Lizak says.
