Faux grass spreading in lawns 
across the country
Dalton, Ga., manufacturer rolls out synthetic fescue, rye, other varieties

By SARA SCHAEFER MUNOZ
The Wall Street Journal
Published on: 05/30/08
Link to WSJ article: Click Here

Jude Albanese doesn't pay a landscaper or run lots of sprinklers to maintain his lawn. He has retired his mower, and he doesn't use fertilizer. Yet the grass in front of his New Jersey home looks so lush that some passersby feel the need to bend down and touch it.

A faux-grass lawn is smooth perfection and needs no weeding or feeding, but the neighbors may not be impressed.

A square of SYNlawn's St. Augustine sod.

The reason is simple: The grass is fake.

"You want to enjoy your yard, but it was always work and upkeep," says the Nutley, N.J., homeowner, who had JM Synthetic Grass Surfacing install his faux lawn last month. "Now it's much cleaner and neater. I should have done this years ago."

The synthetic-turf industry, known for AstroTurf and other versions of faux grass in stadiums and on athletic fields, is increasingly targeting the residential market. For several years, people have been turning to faux lawns in areas of the Southwest to conserve water. Now, manufacturers are increasingly pitching them to homeowners around the country who are fed up with maintenance, allergies,  or muddy paw prints all over the house from the family dog.  Artificial turf is convenient, the companies say, and moreover, it saves water and cuts down on fertilizer use.

Companies say their artificial-turf products are safe.

And to address the nagging problem of taste, some of the latest products are made to look more realistic, with irregular blades, color variations or a smattering of brown grass mixed in.

"I'm seeing designers and landscape architects starting to use it," says Susan Welti, a landscape designer in Manhattan and Brooklyn, who suggested it last year for an area that didn't get enough sunlight for real grass. "It can be incredibly good for these little yards." But given the recent health questions, she says she's still viewing it cautiously.

Clearly, fake grass is taking root among some homeowners. According to data provided by the Association of Synthetic Grass Installers, a trade association based in Sacramento, Calif., sales of artificial turf for landscapes and putting greens, a category that includes residential lawns, has grown at 35 percent annually for the past five years.

One manufacturer of the latest fake turf is Textile Management Associates, based in Dalton, Ga., which makes SYNLawn. It offers varieties including SynFescue, SynRye, and SynBlue. The blades are made from nylon or polyethylene, petroleum-based products. The company says it is moving toward more eco-friendly materials: It is now using soy-based backing for most products, instead of one made from petro-based products. It also recently introduced a turf product specifically for homeowners who keep pets in the yard, with an antibacterial agent to minimize odors. The company recently started selling its turf products at Lowe's stores around the Southwest.

ForeverLawn, based in Albuquerque, N.M., adds bits of fake brown grass to look like dead thatch and thus make the lawn more realistic. It also recently rolled out K9Grass, geared specifically for areas with pets. 

The latest faux grass products go for roughly $6 to $12 a square foot with installation, according to estimates by the companies. While it can cost a homeowner around $10,000 for a yard, some say it's worth it, given the savings in landscaping fees, mower gas and fertilizer — as well as the extra time they have on weekends.

"No cutting, no bagging, no push-behind mowers," says Mr. Albanese. Instead of working on the lawn all day, he says, "now we can sit outside and have barbecues."

Worries surfaced earlier this year over possible health and environmental risks of sports fields covered with artificial turf, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency began to look into the issue. But "there is still considerable uncertainty over the possible exposure to hazardous substances including lead from synthetic turf," says an EPA spokesman.

As for infection risk, faux grass hasn't been shown to be especially prone to harbor dangerous microbes such as the superbug known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, says Jeff Hageman, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, he says, athletes and others involved in physical activity on any field should take precautions against abrasion and infection by wearing protective clothing and treating cuts promptly.

The latest faux grass products for residential lawns are similar to those found on athletic fields. Ground-up tire is used in athletic turfs as infill to provide sponginess and minimize injury. Artificial turf for private lawns, meanwhile, can contain ground-up tire as infill, but sand is often used instead.

The Synthetic Turf Council, an Atlanta-based group that represents the industry, concedes that there is lead chromate in many of their products, used to help color the yarn that makes up the "blades." But only minimal amounts are used, the group says, and it's tightly encased, therefore posing no risk to the environment or to people using the lawn. The industry also says that the crumbs of ground-up tire rubber aren't hazardous and have been safely used in athletic fields for more than a decade. It points out that using them allows millions of tires to avoid landfills and be recycled.

Another drawback of the artificial turf is it gets hot. According to Stuart Gaffin, a research scientist at Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research who studies artificial turf fields, artificial turf can get about 60 degrees hotter than grass on hot and sunny days.

Mr. Karmie, of ForeverLawn, says his products aren't as cool as natural grass, but the heat "is not something that would keep you off it."

In some areas of the country, faux turf is seen as friendly to the environment because it saves water. The Southern Nevada Water Authority offers a rebate of $1.50 per square foot for permeable artificial turf as long as the area has at least 50 percent natural plant coverage and a water-saving irrigation system. Glendale, Ariz., offers a rebate for faux grass, but requires an inspection beforehand during which homeowners are briefed on the pros and cons of the product and its appropriateness for their landscape.

Dave Ewles spent about $10,000 putting synthetic turf on his lawn in Newport Beach, Calif., last year to cut water use and other maintenance hassles. But he says his homeowners' association objected for aesthetic and other reasons, and after much back and forth, Mr. Ewles recently agreed to have the faux grass torn up.

"Some people just don't like the idea of it," he says. A representative from the homeowners' association couldn't be reached for comment.

Melissa Guerin also found out that not everyone is interested in the convenience of a faux lawn. Because her children have allergies and her dog constantly tore up the yard, she last month installed artificial grass behind her townhouse in Weehawken, N.J. When she suggested to her neighbors that it might be a good idea for the common lawns, too, she didn't expect the outcry she got from some neighbors. She received a few heated emails, one asking her how she could even suggest it when others are trying to save the environment. Another neighbor feared it would look "tacky." Even though some residents were interested, the idea was eventually scrapped.

"I resented the fact they insinuated I don't care about the planet," says Ms. Guerin, who points out faux grass doesn't need water or fertilizer. "If the point is to make your neighborhood nice and uniform, a plastic lawn is one way to do it."