How to Strategically Use Turf Grass in Your Lawn?

Who doesn't love a well-manicured lawn?

It adds a certain “reconnect” value to the place where it is installed.

Turf is simply another word for artificial grass, and many people may wonder how faux grass works better than sod (real grass).

Turf doesnt need water, fertilizer, or any extensive grooming to look amazing, and as an added bonus, many manufacturers use recycled plastics to make at least a part of their turf products.

Putting green turf is easy, eco-friendly, looks beautiful, and requires little to no work? That’s a win-win-win situation right there.

Turf Vs Sod

When it comes to the turf versus sod debate, here’s the scoop: a higher initial investment will pay for itself by cutting costs in the long run.

You can expect your turf grass lawn installation to have paid for itself within 2.5 - 3 years for a moderately sized patch, and even quicker for large installations.

Here are five reasons why turf grass is better than sod:

Strategic Ways To Use Turf Grass

Once you've decided to lay down some turf, a little forethought will go a long way in ensuring its longevity and usefulness.

Mix The Turf With Sod

Contrary to popular belief, artificial grass can be mixed with real grass, and more often than not, the two manage to complement each other quite well.

There are several reasons why people might want to combine the two: a client once wanted a large, low maintenance turf grass installation, but a small sod patch for a dining area.

Whatever the case, it's quite possible to lay turf beside sod.

Important: You can lay the grasses next to each other, but you cannot, under any circumstances, layer them.

In other words, never put one on top of the other — that's just you asking for a headache down the line

Side note: Many people are of the opinion that turf and sod should be combined because turf alone isn't suitable for children and/ or pets — false, false, false.

Turf grass is nontoxic, and pets can use the turf lawns just the same as they would a regular sod grass lawn.

Things to remember when combining turf and sod grass:

• Have a demarcation: have a clear demarcation for where your real lawn ends and your turf lawn begins.

The last thing you want to do is accidentally run a lawn mower over your beautiful new turf grass installation.

This demarcation could be a simple brick inlay, or a path (both types of grass on either side of the path).

The goal is for you to know exactly where each lawn begins — do that, and mission accomplished.

• Divide the two into “zones”: Aside from the demarcation point that we discussed above, your real lawn may not always look as prim and proper as the turf side, so having a highlighted difference will not make the difference as obvious to the viewer.
• Train your pets: If you do have artificial turf, make the most of it.

Since turf can be hosed clean, training your pets to do their business on the turf side will make maintaining the lawn much easier: just take a hose to it when they’re finished.

• Don't neglect the natural grass: It's common knowledge that turf grass always looks good: it's pure all-weather, all-season, year-round low maintenance stuff.

As a result, the difference in looks between your turf and sod can become rather contrast-ey, especially in winter.

A little extra maintenance will be required for the sod to keep it looking and feeling at par with the turf.

Things That People Neglect When Laying Turf In Their Lawn

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and forget the prep when installing turf — skipping this section will result in guaranteed heart (and wallet) ache in the long run.

• A proper base: Just like how a solid foundation determines a building's resilience, much the same way, a good base determines the stability of your turf.

At a minimum, you’d want to have at least 8-10 cm of rubble spread over the entire area where the turf is to be laid.

Ensure that the rubble is well compacted and has no room to move, or else you’ll end up with sagging patches of mushy turf.

• Drainage: Not having a proper drainage system will result in you having a standing pool of stagnating water each time it rains.

Concrete (type 1) bases are excellent at removing water from puddling in your turf.

• Edging: Sure, you’ve worked really hard and ensured that no seam is left undone in your lawn, but if you forget to properly seal the boundaries of your lawn, the edges tend to unravel and curl up rather quickly.
• Heat: Just because artificial turf withstands heat better than sod doesnt mean that you can put a fire pit directly on the turf.

Interesting Ways To Use Turf Grass To Complement Your Lawn

• In the driveway: Artificial grass can handle foot traffic much better than sod, and as it doesnt need to be mowed, you can use it between pavers in thin strips to accentuate the look of your yard.
• Put it under outdoor furniture: It looks inviting, plus you don't have to take on the trouble of removing the furniture for weekly lawn maintenance either.
• By the pool: It adds an element of freshness to the area, and isn't as slippery as natural grass.

Plus, there won't be any blades of grass being tracked all over the place since artificial grass blades don't dislodge easily.

Lastly, using artificial grass as a pool surround is a much better alternative than hot concrete, especially in summer.

• Pair your turf with artificial plants: Faux plants have all the same benefits as turf grass, and really add that biophilic spark to your garden.

Using turf is a great way to reduce your workload and spruce up your lawn, and it's super easy to install too.

With regards to its higher cost, remember that only the initial investment is higher than sod, and that turf always proves to save money in the long run.

All in all, turf grass proves to be the perfect upgrade or addition to your lawn, whether you include it at home or in a commercial space.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save