It’s one of the more curious rituals of modern suburbia that maintaining a perfect lawn is expected of us. How many times have you driven by someone’s house and judged them a little for how kempt or unkempt their lawn is? How many times have you silently wondered if others are judging you for yours? We slavishly devote a few hours out of every week to making sure everything is mowed, weed-eatered (weed-ate?), and that not a single blade of grass is out of place. Nobody likes doing it, but we’ve all agreed that it’s something we have to do anyway.
Maintaining the lawn is a hassle. It’s exhausting, performative, and ultimately pointless given that we’ll be out there doing it all again in just a few short days. If you’re like me, and like a growing number of people fed up with the whole rigamarole, you’ve considered the nuclear option: replacing your yard with artificial turf. Let me tell you from personal experience that the decision is one you won’t regret. Once you say goodbye to your grass and hello to that sweet, manufactured stuff, you’ll wonder what took you so long to finally pull the trigger and commit. In this article I’ll go over how artificial turf has changed the game for me.
It Looks Good and Low Maintenance
Let’s get the obvious benefits out of the way right off the bat: artificial turf looks great. Gone are those days when the bright, almost sickening neon green was a dead giveaway that your grass wasn’t real. Early options were great for maintenance, but frankly garish to look at. Modern options are far more varied and natural looking, with plenty of range between that neon green of yesterday (if you like it I won’t judge you, but it’s not for me!) and tracks indistinguishable from the real thing. You can see what I mean at https://www.homestratosphere.com/types-artificial-grass/. Installation will make your yard look neat, clean, and tidy from the absolute second the last bit is laid onwards, and if you want a more natural look no-one will ever know the difference.
Of course, the main reason and greatest benefit that makes people consider the switch is that maintenance requirements for artificial turf are almost nonexistent. It’s the epitome of fire and forget; an installer lays it across your lawn, and you’re done. The only maintenance you’ll have to worry about is damage to the turf itself, but that’s also a minimal consideration. This stuff is resilient! I’ve had it for over three years now and I’ve only had to replace a single patch once. It will endure through storm, sleet, and almost anything else nature can throw at it!
It’s Environmentally Friendly and Safer
Mowing your lawn every week is, frankly, pretty terrible for the environment. Not only do they produce a higher amount of carbon emissions than you may realize, but the frequency at which you use it compounds those emissions over the course of a spring and summer season. While your mower may not have as much of an impact on the environment as your car, cutting it out of your life will certainly have a positive impact! Additionally, watering your grass consumes a lot of water. Removing the need to do so not only help the environment but saves you on the water bill as well!
An often-overlooked element to all of this is your safety. Lawn mower accidents are more frequent than you think; over 37,000 Americans suffer an accident with their mower every year, as you can see here. These accidents can be drastic, mangling limbs and making toes fly away. Removing the need to mow at all instantly reduces the chance of that happening down to zero. Plus, rising temperatures make the risk of heat stroke all the more dangerous and mowing during the hottest days of summer can be disastrous to your health.
It’s Cost-Effective
Let’s talk brass tacks. Between the cost of maintaining your mower – replacing and oiling blades, gassing it up, replacing the battery, and a list of other things as long as my forearm – and buying the right supplements for your grass, keeping your natural lawn up to standards can be costly. You probably don’t even think about it, except for maybe grumbling about how much gas costs. Artificial turf removes those costs from your ledger, and you may find that the artificial grass cost is lower than you think!
An upfront installer’s fee and very occasional maintenance for damaged tracks are all you’ll ever need to pay. While the upfront cost may seem higher than keeping a natural lawn, the time and money you save in the long run make it worth every penny. If your lawn care troubles were as numerous as mine, you may even find that your artificial grass pays for itself! There’s no downside to making the switch. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.
