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Your yard’s aesthetics give people the first impression of your home. For this reason, even if your house is meticulous on the inside, if you’re not doing your best to maintain it on the outside and carefully select the features you want to include, nobody may realize that you take care of your home. As you’re choosing between artificial grass vs. artificial turf, you may wonder which one is the best to include in your landscaping, especially in terms of durability, drainage, and maintenance.
Durability
Especially if you have children or pets, you might be concerned about durability when you select between turf and artificial grass. You want something that’s going to hold up to what your family, no matter how many legs they have, puts it through. That way, it still looks beautiful after use.
Not to mention, you may wonder which one holds up better to the sun. Think about it… Orange County receives an average of 278 sunny days per year. You need to consider how that will impact the type of grass you choose.
Durability During Play
For the sake of this comparison, let’s say you have children who’ll play in the yard or animals that’ll dig, etc. Hands down, artificial turf is the more durable option. It consists of shorter fibers that are packed more tightly. Keep in mind that the entire purpose of turf is to withstand rough play over and over again.
Artificial grass, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same features. It’s designed for comfort and aesthetics. It’s softer under your feet than turf. And though your kids may enjoy its softness, it won’t withstand a lot of rough play day after day. You’ll notice artificial grass will become flat or matted more quickly than turf.
Durability Under the Sun
Artificial grass does well under the sun overall. It may fade a bit more than artificial turf, though. The sun can also cause it to degrade. In this case, you’ll need to replace it — or at least sections of it — to ensure it looks its best.
Overall, artificial turf resists the sun more than synthetic grass. The high-quality ones particularly have a UV-resistant coating on the fibers to prevent the sun from breaking them down or causing fading. Residents in sunnier climates, like those in OC, may benefit from choosing turf over grass.
The infill of your synthetic grass gives it added stability, and it’s usually comprised of cork, rubber, thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), coconut husk, or rubber. The sun and the heat can degrade infill for both artificial turf and synthetic grass. Over time, you’ll need to replace the infill for this grass.
Drainage
Synthetic grass is excellent at drainage because it actually has a built-in drainage system to reduce the chances of water accumulating on it and damaging it. What happens is that underneath the grass, there’s a perforated layer that allows water to pass through it. It then winds up in a base consisting of gravel or crushed stone. The drainage system of this is able to handle heavy rainfall. Some turfs have the ability to handle as much as 30 inches of water in an hour.
Artificial turf has a drainage system as well. Its backing is perforated so water can pass through it easily whenever it rains. When the installers place your turf, they’ll place it on a slope to help with drainage. The base layer consists of gravel or crushed stone to help with drainage. Turf tends to have superior drainage.
So you’re aware: the infill material could clog the holes of the perforated backing, causing it not to drain as well. However, proper maintenance, such as vacuuming and brushing, will prevent this from happening.
Maintenance
Every one to two weeks, you’ll need to brush it to prevent it from matting. This keeps it looking healthy, particularly, ensuring it remains upright. You’ll also redistribute the infill material, which will hinder it from affecting the drainage process. For this process, use either a specially designed turf rake or a stiff broom.
Make sure you remove any leaves that fall using either a vacuum, a non-metal rake, or a leaf blower. The leaf buildup could block drainage, causing puddles. Plus, the moisture could lead to mold or mildew.
Cleaning up any spills or pet urine or feces as they happen can keep your turf looking and smelling clean. Every four to six weeks, minimum, you should hose off your artificial grass. You can use a mild soap on it, by the way.
As you’re comparing artificial grass vs. artificial turf, you should be aware that turf requires more maintenance because it tends to be used more often and more intensely, so you’ll typically need to brush, vacuum, rake, and care for it more often.
Every one to two years, you’ll need to replace the infill. On a regular basis, you’ll want to brush the grass to redistribute the infill.
Anytime you have damage from accidents caused by your family or pets or the weather, you’ll want to patch or repair the turf. You can purchase patch kits that’ll consist of patches and adhesive. If enough of it is damaged, you may need to replace a large section.
Comparing artificial turf vs. artificial grass truly depends on your needs and lifestyle. If you don’t have kids that’ll destroy it, would rather have something aesthetically appealing, plan on walking on it a lot in bare feet, or want something that requires less maintenance, you’ll want synthetic grass. That said, you may want turf if you have kids and pets using the yard as they desire. No matter the choice, though, it’ll still be less maintenance and landscaping than real grass.