Useful Stuff

For those who lead a busy lifestyle or who are simply unable to perform the necessary yard upkeep jobs, synthetic grass could provide the ideal alternative. Artificial grass maintenance is far less onerous a task than the upkeep of natural grass. The result is a surface that is more resilient and firm underfoot. It is the untainted truth: I have lost my mind when it’s in the same class as this opportunity. Now, just to be clear, infill is not needed for all artificial grass.

A fine sand is laid thinly on the surface of the pitch where it settles into the fibres of the artificial grass. It has been found that the synthetic grass blades do heat up but they cool rapidly when the sunlight is interrupted or when water is applied. Synthetic grass with a woven infill system would be the desired choice for a landscape synthetic grass solution. Yes, I realize that I should use it to be more than what it is. Who are you to phrase the viewpoint in such as way that talks this province so poorly? These are ground breaking findings. I supposed I was making this more thrilling. One of the earliest sports to take to the synthetic grass fields was field hockey which moved to artificial turf in the 1970s and now is played solely on that surface at the top international level.

The vast majority of infill used in artificial turf (98%) is made from granulated rubber sourced from recycled car and truck tyres. These particulates are not ideal with suspected high levels of toxic chemicals that leach out of them into the soil and the air.

As an alternative to these granules is a new product called thermoplastic infill and it is an environmentally friendly option made from natural materials. It is also known as styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and is a stability and shock absorbent solution that has been developed for synthetic turf.

Positive features of synthetic grass using thermoplastic infill include reliable footing, good abrasiveness, a reasonable level of elasticity which is comparable to natural grass, it’s non-toxic and doesn’t smell of rubber. The downside is that synthetic grass made using thermoplastic infill can cost up to 14 times more than the artificial turf laid with recycled rubber.

As with many products that are still new on the market, there are still some unknowns about the product, such as how it is going to perform years down the track. The pricing issue should solve itself as the manufacture of the product is refined and cheapened, hopefully making this a much more affordable option.

Our local soccer ground, where by boys play the majority of their soccer, has spent the summer recovering from the previous football season. The oval has 3 soccer pitches on it and the main pitch has been returfed in the off-season (not for the first time, mind you) and the club has been given special allowance from local water restrictions so that the ground may be watered each day to allow the newly laid truf to take.

The second field was a complete dustbowl by the end of last season, virtually unplayable by the time the semis and finals came around. In other words, for the most important games of the season, the ground was at its absolute worst. Not only that, games were lost or shifted to other grounds because of the state of the pitch. With a month or so until the new season begins the grass covering is only now starting to look suitable for soccer to be played on it.

Experience tells us that the surface of the ground will last until Easter. One whole month of reasonable playing conditions is about all we can expect. It’s around Easter that we get our week-long rain periods and with training and play continuing, not to mention inadequate drainage and poor subsoil quality, the tround rapidly deteriorates.

Sporting field synthetic grass has already been laid on another soccer field in the area and apart from the occasional comment about the heat that can be reflected off the artificial grass surface, the reports have been positive. One thing’s for sure, the ground conditions at the end of the season are jsut as ideal as they are at the start at this pitch covered with synthetic grass.

Most of us know that the cost of the synthetic grass, which seems inordinately high, pays for itself over the years, particularly if you have to otherwise resort to returfing season after season. Plus, watering costs are significantly reduced and far fewer games would be cancelled due to the state of the pitch.

Finally, our semi-finallists and grand-finallists would be able to play on the types of grass surfaces they deserve and that are suitable for these important games.