When you think of having a healthy lawn near your doorstep, you think of the cost of maintenance and the time that will take up for this. Artificial Turf is very useful because you just have to incur one time installation cost.

1. What is Artificial Turf?
'Artificial Turf' or 'Synthetic Turf' has been talked about quite a lot in the past few years. But, what
really is it? We will try and explain you what it is and how is it different from the natural turf.
Firstly, Artificial Turf, a.k.a. Synthetic Turf is a type of surface that resembles natural grass. It has
been used quite widely in sports arenas, commercial and residential properties for landscaping,
having a backyard golf course among other usages.
Artificial grass was created back in 1960 by a team headed by David W. Chaney of the Research
Triangle Park. Although, Artificial turf came to prominence in 1966 when AstroTurf was installed in
the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Due to this creation, David Chaney was declared by the Sports
Illustrated as "the man responsible for indoor major league baseball and millions of welcome mats."
After this, the use of artificial turfs became widespread in the 1970's in both indoor and outdoor
stadiums for baseball and American football in the USA and Canada. Over the years, a lot of research
went into the synthetic grass products and led to a lot of improvements in the products both in
terms of the look, feel and the safety of usage.
So, now that we know a brief history about the fake grass, let us look at what is it made up of.
Artificial grass is available in 3 different materials - polyethylene, polypropylene and nylon. The
material that is used for the artificial lawn is dependent on where is it going to be used and the
budget available to spend.
Talking about the best first, 'Nylon' is by far the strongest and highest quality artificial turf available.
It is the sturdiest materials and the grass can withstand even the weight of a vehicle (say your car) if
it is parked over it. It simply bounces back once the vehicle is removed. It is ideal for use in
playgrounds as it is highly resistant to friction created by kids running all around the lawn. But the
best quality of a nylon turf is that, it has a multi-directional interlocking design that makes it a
perfect choice for an indoor golf course.

2. The slightly less expensive option is the Polyethylene turf. The most important characteristic of this
kind of turf is that it is extremely soft in its texture. This makes it a natural choice when you are
thinking of artificial turf for play areas at home, in schools or parks. This type of grass can be cut to
different heights, but it is advisable to have a maximum height of 3 inches as it bends over on itself if
it is any longer than that. It is a great option for your front garden, but you should avoid it for your
putting greens.
Polypropylene synthetic turf is the most economical option among the three materials that has
made it the most popular and used type of artificial lawn. This turf can be a cheap option for your
backyard golf course due to its natural stiffness. Saying that, as the blades of the grass are only
manufactured in one direction, the ball also rolls easily in one direction. So, it is not an ideal solution.
Moreover, this type of material is not able to tolerate temperatures higher than 155 degrees
Fahrenheit and is prone to melting. So, please be careful about the weather in your part of the
country before choosing this kind of turf.
So, if you like this idea, why not find out more about artificial turf. The easiest way to do this is to
visit : http://www.garden-mark.com and get going.