Contents
Currently, summer residents and owners of suburban areas pay a lot of attention to the improvement and decoration of their possessions. After all, in addition to getting a good harvest, you always want to have a place to relax and realize creative inspiration. An excellent option that allows you to temporarily (after harvesting) or permanently decorate the site is artificial turf.
Modern production technologies provide such a natural look to artificial turf that it is almost impossible to distinguish it from natural grass. And if you still ensure proper installation and operation, you will immediately feel all the benefits.
Artificial turf is ideal for situations where you urgently need to improve the place for a holiday, wedding, business meeting or outdoor corporate party. Natural grass is trampled, a large number of people can quickly reduce the decorative effect of an ordinary lawn. In addition, artificial fiber is easy to decompose in places where grass cannot grow, and even indoors.
This is another significant plus of artificial turf. Such a lawn helps out well on a sports ground, in places for walking animals. With the help of artificial turf, it is easy to simulate a grass staircase or steps, beautifully beat the place under the terrace.
The choice in favor of it is often determined by such advantages, which significantly save time. Artificial turf does not require regularity:
- glaze;
- haircuts;
- additional feeding.
That is, the basic care that a grass lawn needs is not needed in this case.
Among the important advantages of artificial grass, it should be noted that it:
- absolutely moisture resistant;
- does not provoke allergic manifestations (hypoallergenic);
- not destroyed by insects and pests;
- withstands direct sunlight (although it can get very hot) and frost;
- makes it possible to draw up areas of the most intricate shapes and in hard-to-reach places.
All these advantages will be clear to those summer residents who have a natural lawn on the site. Caring for him requires not only money and time, but also constant attention.
Types and characteristics of artificial turf
Artificial turf is made from pile plastic fibers – polypropylene or polyethylene. Depending on the material used, the degree of stiffness of the lawn varies. Polyethylene fiber is more elastic and thinner, it is used in playgrounds, playgrounds, football fields. Polypropylene has a harder pile, therefore it is used for sports fields (tennis, golf), where there is no frequent fall of athletes.
The appearance and texture of such grass is very similar to a natural lawn. To see this, you can look at the photo of artificial turf.
The fiber is attached to a highly elastic latex-coated base. The height of the pile ranges from 6 mm to 100 mm, so it can be used for various purposes.
How artificial turf is made:
In addition to different heights, such a coating is distinguished by the density and direction of growth of “blades of grass”. Depending on the purpose of the coating, artificial turf is divided into types:
Nezasypnoy
Serves solely for decorative purposes. The main difference of this species is the natural appearance. It is almost indistinguishable from living grass. But you can place it only in places with a minimum load. In other words, you will have to walk on such a lawn a little and carefully. However, there are also distinctive advantages from other types – it does not require sprinkling with quartz sand, it has high aesthetics.
Semi-filled
Suitable for sports and playgrounds.
The basis is a soft polyethylene fiber, and quartz sand is poured into the gaps between the fibers. This is done to increase the strength and stability of the lawn.
Zasypnoy
The material for such a lawn is polypropylene. The villi are elastic, hard and stable. It is used in public places, on football fields, where the load on the grass is very high. The base between the blades of grass is covered with special rubber granulate and quartz sand. The rubber filler softens friction, springs and protects the players from injury.
Artificial turf has its own varieties and colors. The green lawn goes on registration of sites.
Sports grounds are available in white, yellow, blue, red, brown. This removes the need for markup.
A strip of another is wedged into a roll of one color, which looks quite natural. There is a two-color pile or one-color with different shades.
In addition to sports types of artificial turf, there are also decorative ones. They differ in the structure of the fibers. In this case, some fibers are long and straight, green in color. Others are twisted yellow. It is they who give the coating good elasticity, so this type is made without filler.
flower artificial turf
A separate option can be called flower artificial lawn. In such a coating, grass fibers are combined with decorative flowers, as in the photo:
Laying artificial turf on site
Artificial turf is sold in rolls. Therefore, laying an artificial lawn with your own hands is quite affordable and uncomplicated. Although, for the first time, you will definitely have to take the advice of professionals and be patient. The main installation steps include:
- Soil preparation. First of all, this includes putting things in order on the site. Remove debris, plant debris, stones, glass, metal parts. The site is then leveled and compacted. This operation is carried out with a log, skating rink, boards. When leveling the ground, be sure to observe a slight slope for water runoff. If the lawn is laid on concrete or asphalt pavement, then tamping is not required. But in this case, a substrate is needed. It has a small thickness (1 cm), but it softens the load on the fibers well. It does not make sense to take a thinner substrate, it can sag, which will make the surface of the lawn uneven.
- Install the drain. This is necessary in order to prevent rotting of the soil. Artificial turf is not afraid of excessive moisture, and the earth must “breathe”. Drainage ditches are located on the side of the slope, this will allow water to drain more easily.
- Roll stacking. The rolls are overlapped (about 1.5 cm). Each roll is then trimmed so that the edge matching is very precise and wrinkle-free.
- Curing and fastening. After unrolling the roll, the grass should straighten and acquire a vertical shape. This may take up to 12 hours. Then the rolls are fastened with brackets, and around the perimeter with a special plinth. In the case of fragmentary design, the canvas is attached with glue. And in some cases, this is not required.
Styling elements:
After laying and fastening, the lawn coating is shed with water. This is done for better adhesion of the lawn to the ground.
Care instructions
Maintenance of artificial turf is essential to extend the life of the surface. It does not present any difficulties, but it will retain a presentable view of the site for a long time. Basic conditions:
- Artificial turf cleaning. It needs to be washed and all dirt removed. It is desirable to carry out disinfection on the playground and indoors. This is done infrequently, as needed.
- Update. This applies to sand and granulate. They are updated no more than once every six months. If the lawn is used constantly, then more often.
- humidification. This procedure is done in a long period of dry and hot weather to improve adhesion to the base.
- Aeration. Once every two weeks, small punctures are made in the lawn. This reduces the accumulation of water, prevents rotting.
Conclusion
The main advantage of artificial turf is the reviews of the site owners. In their opinion, this is a great alternative to natural grass. It can be easily removed for the winter or moved to another place. Care is much easier and cheaper. The combination of natural grass and artificial grass greatly simplifies the arrangement of areas. By following the basic recommendations, you can achieve a very long service life and preserve the decorative effect of artificial turf. In any case, artificial turf will justify all your hopes for the quality design of the site.