Grass Pitch For UEFA Champions League Final

Imagine if you can ... 28 refrigerated trucks carrying 8,000 m2 of grass turf on a journey over 7 days covering more than 1,000 miles - and all for just one football match! This was the scenario ahead of the new natural grass pitch installation at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium - the 'stage' for the UEFA Champions League Final on 21 May 2008 where Man Utd play Chelsea.

In what promises to be a classic, all British final, there's no question that the pitch will play a vital role. Providing a pitch suitable for world class players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Andriy Shevchenko and Didier Drogba is no easy matter but thanks to Support In Sport (SIS) and to the 10-man strong SIS team who installed the new natural grass pitch, there should be plenty to smile about when the match finally gets under way.

“The operation went very smoothly,” said George Mullan, SIS Chief Executive Officer. “The surface was levelled using box grade lasers to deliver levels that will allow both teams to play a passing game.

Nice to think too that the involvement of SIS makes it an even more all British affair. Should be a night to remember!

Photograph courtesy of Support In Sport

Luzhniki Stadium pitch installation - full story with Slide Show

EUFA Champions League Final Pitch - SIS Official Press Release

Is Artificial Grass As Good As Grass?

Every day our artificial grass sales team deals with enquiries and orders for our artificial grass products. One of the most common questions we are asked is whether artificial grass is as good as grass. So we thought we would dedicate this blog article to the subject and demonstrate how it's not only as good as grass but, in many ways, is much better.

Artificial grass offers a whole range of advantages - here are just a few:

• Saving time that would otherwise be spent on mowing the lawn


• Saving money:
  a) by not having to use pesticides and lawn improvement products
  b) if you're on a water meter, you won't have to water the lawn in hot weather


• Helping the environment:
  a) by using less water in the garden - it has been estimated that in the summer, around 3/4 of the UK's residential water is used on people's lawns
  b) pesticides can be damaging to the environment so best to avoid them
  c) grass cuttings contribute to air pollution - according to Australian scientists, the moment you cut your grass, an antibiotic type gas is released contributing to the hydrocarbons in the surrounding air.
  Read more about "Grass Gas"
  We also have our own page Environmental Benefits Of Artificial Grass
  
• A strong, "all year round green" is offered by artificial grass because, unlike real grass, it does not go yellow and discolour in hot weather, nor does it go brown and muddy after a lot of rain


• Artificial grass is easier to keep clean and maintain where pets are concerned - real grass areas can suffer serious degradation by pets
  

Whatever the application you're considering for your artificial grass - at home for a play area, an artificial lawn, a pathway or as grass carpet around a swimming pool or perhaps in the commercial sector as display grass for an exhibition area - the advantages are considerable. If you don't believe us, read some of our customer testimonials - see our page: "Is Artificial Grass As Good As Grass"

Fake Grass To Astro Turf: Artificial Grass Terminology

Grass is a word we all know. Simple, clear and unequivocal in meaning. As a manufacturer of artificial grass, however, we are very much aware that there is no, one, single accepted term that describes the product we manufacture.

For example, we have some customers who never use the term artificial grass but instead call it fake grass and some who prefer the phrase synthetic grass; there are even people who call it plastic grass or faux grass. As if all of this weren't enough to confuse the issue, there are those who don't even use the word 'grass' but prefer the word turf - hence we find ourselves referring to an artficial turf email request or a telephone call about synthetic turf. There are also people who, in a similar way to using the term hoover for a vaccuum cleaner, use the term astro turf. Already in this one paragraph we have used no less than 8 different sets of terminology - and all to refer to the same thing!

All of this of course is at the consumer end of the spectrum and there's an entirely different set of terms used on the production line such as we have in our artificial grass factory here in the UK. On any given day you will hear a range of terms bandied about amongst our technicians - words that most people will never have heard of - such as creel, collector board, yarn sheet, dtex and fibrillation.

As the only UK artificial grass manufacturer selling direct to consumers, we enjoy a unique position of authority when it comes to understanding and explaining artificial grass terminology. This has enabled us to write our own artificial grass glossary which brings together both everyday and manufacturing terms. Hopefully it will benefit both our customers' understanding of artificial grass and also that of our growing network of distributors. Apart from that you never know, you might get asked at the next local pub quiz what a creel is!

Pesticides - To Use Or Not To Use

A number of recent news articles have touched on the subject of pesticides and the arguments for and against their use in domestic gardens. Everyone wants an attractive garden of course and especially a nice looking lawn but at what price? Moreover, we’re not just talking about the cost of buying pesticide products but the question of potential hazards to human health and the environment.

Two major websites that cover the issue of safety with chemicals and pesticides are:

The Pesticides Safety Directorate official website – a UK Government backed website with lots of guidelines on the subject.

http://www.chem-tox.com/ - a US site with lots of detailed information. “Poison In The Grass” is the heading of one of their alarming reports which covers the hazards and consequences of lawn pesticides (http://www.chem-tox.com/pesticides/pesticidereport.htm).

Whether you believe the reports or not, you must ask yourself:

Do you have time to study all this information, then go into the local garden centre to delve through all the options of what’s available only to then have to commit to trying something out, not knowing the outcome?

Sounds like an awful waste of time and energy particularly when the real lifestyle choice of artificial grass offers a simple and effective solution.

Vivarium Grass

Today we thought we would cover one of the more unusual but increasingly popular uses of fake grass - for reptiles. Over the last year we have received a surprising number of enquiries from owners of snakes and lizards in search of some type of lining for their vivariums.

From what we understand, here are the reasons why fake grass works well in a vivarium:

• many reptiles like its strong green colour
  
  
• fake grass is easy to clean - unlike traditional carpeting (a popular alternative); a clean vivarium is important for the health of the reptile
  
  
• fake grass does not need replacing often - unlike newspaper (another popular alternative)
  
  
• when you do need to replace the lining, it should not be often and will not expensive as there is only a small area involved
  
  
• a quality fake grass product with a dense weave will be suitable for lining not just the vivariums floor but also the walls and back of it - areas where some reptiles like to climb and which will need to withstand their weight when climbing.

Our most popular product for use in vivariums has so far been Lifestyle® Multi Grass, a heavy duty fake grass with a 13mm pile height.

Just in case you don't believe what we're saying, here is a completely independent web page all about caring for iguanas which mentions the benefits of fake grass:
http://www.reptileexpert.co.uk/KeepingIguanasAsPets.html

Installing An Artificial Grass Lawn

Imagine looking out onto a luscious lawn that's soft and clean underfoot, green all year round and never goes yellow, hard or muddy. Moreover, imagine having that AND not having to get the lawn mower out ever again! This is the scenario with an artificial grass lawn.

Not only that, but by having an artificial lawn you will avoid using pesticides in the garden - something that has to be done very carefully to avoid potential environmental and human health hazards. The Pesticides Safety Directorate official website offers detailed guidelines on the subject.

We receive many enquiries from people considering the idea of an artificial lawn; indeed many of them are nervous as to whether their garden might even be suitable. In truth there are very few instances where it's not possible to have an artificial lawn installed.

If it's a small area with no odd shape to it, it's possible for you to install the artificial grass yourself. Just be sure to buy quality artificial grass such as our Lifestyle® Lawn grass and the correct type of tape and adhesive. Visit our artificial grass online store to see what we recommend. We also offer an Artificial Grass Installation Photo Guide that you can download plus a set of written Artificial Grass Installation Guides to choose from.

Conversely, if the area you want to convert to an artificial lawn is quite large and/or has an unusual shape or incline etc, then you should consider having a professional installation company do the work. As the UK's leading manufacturer of artificial grass have our own network of installers, stockists and distributors. You can search for a local installer on artificial-grass.com or alternatively feel free to call our Customer Service Department for advice - UK Freephone 0800 6521281. If you want to see a professional team at work, we even have a Slide Show of the step by step process undertaken in a recent artificial lawn installation done by one of our installers.

FIFA President's Pitch For Artificial Turf In 2010

Artificial turf recently received one of its biggest 'thumbs up' yet for use in high profile, world class sport: the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The event will take place in Africa and the climatic conditions that prevail there have been causing concern to its organisers for some time. With natural grass turf, the weather has to be considered and in many African countries the rainy and dry seasons make it difficult to produce and maintain top quality soccer pitches. The quality of the playing surfaces is always a crucial factor in top level soccer; indeed the final outcome of an important game can sometimes be influenced by how a pitch is playing. With these factors in mind, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has publicly suggested that artificial turf pitches are worthy of consideration for use in the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Commenting on the disappointing quality of the 2008 Nations Cup grass pitches in Ghana, Mr. Blatter pointed out that an artificial turf pitch offers players the same conditions all year round. In other words it's a matter of consistent quality.

As President of FIFA, Mr. Blatter is well aware of the importance of all he says. It is therefore been all the more surprising to many sports critics and fans that he went so far as to say:

"Artificial turf is the future"

Not surprising to us however! Within our Group we have a specialist company (SIS) that builds both natural turf and artificial pitches.

A more detailed account of Sepp Blatter's recent comments can be found on Eurosport.

Photograph: Artificial soccer pitch installed by SIS.