Monday, September 24, 2012

Why Use Artificial Grass Bellevue

By Patrice McCoy


Green pastures are one of the loveliest aspects of nature. But science has found an alternative even for this. With urbanization on the increase, natural plants are not easy to maintain. The solution to this is for artificial grass Bellevue.

Synthetic grass made of fiber is quite like natural plants in texture and color. In 1965, the astrodome in Houston, Texas was the first to use it. From thence, this man-made pasture has come to be known as Astroturf.

Through the decades there has emerged three generations of imitated grasslands. Nothing but short, pile fibers made up this sod, with no infill in the beginning. For the second generation of man-made turf, sand was used as infill. The third generation has infills made of a combination sand rubber which is recycled.

Major league baseball tournaments have been held on this Astroturf. Football and field hockey have also been played on them. Unlike on natural pasture, the ball on these turfs picks up a higher bounce and also moves faster. Therefore, players have to adjust to these conditions. Not just sports arenas but landscapers have also been utilizing this. In the far west of the USA which has an arid climate, artificial lawns have found good use in landscaping residential and commercial places. Water being scarce here, Astroturf which requires no water is ideal. This has also resulted in maintenance being low cost.

Some of the other advantages are that artificial sod is able to endure greater amounts of use since it does not wear away easily. People choose to use it in their holiday homes since it does not require constant maintenance. People in retirement who find it difficult to mow lawns on a regular basis choose this as simpler alternative.

Swimming pools and gardens which are up on roof tops also benefit from artificial turf. An interesting fact is that in some places, fiber-optic fiber is also integrated with this grass. This facilitates lighting up the top or having illuminated advertisements on the turf.

There are a few drawbacks to synthetic lawns. Some of them use granulated rubber for their infill. The rubber particles are made from recycled car tires. The heavy metal in them could seep into the water table polluting the water.

The Astroturf becomes a good breeding ground for microbes. The absence of pathogens in the man-made plant-life allows microbes to thrive. It is imperative, therefore, to disinfect the surface whenever necessary.

Nothing can compare with natural plant-life which is softer. Sportsmen are in danger of getting abrasions or burns when their skin grazes against artificial turf. And it does not possess the cool nature of real grass since it absorbs and retains heat from the sun for a longer time. Sprinkling water before a game can help in cooling this imitated pasture.

It is not easy to adopt the same artificial grass Bellevue for different sports since line markings have to be sown into the man-made turf. Whereas in natural grasslands, temporary paint is used for these markings. This makes it easy to wash away lines before making the markings for a different game.




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