Holiday Complex Lawns & Fake Grass

Amongst the many enquiries we receive for our grass products we have noticed an increasing number of people interested in having a fake lawn after they return from a holiday in the sun. Initially that may seem a little strange but it's because more and more holiday complexes and apartment complexes are installing fake grass in their communal areas.

This is particularly so in hot climates such as Spain and Portugal where natural grass can suffer long term punishment under the hot sun, drying out and turning hard and yellow - not exactly what you want to look out onto or experience underfoot whilst on holiday.

Recommended reading: "Where the rain in Spain is not enough" article on the UNESCO site.

Many apartment complexes have a communal swimming pool where the surrounding grass area gets a lot of wear and tear. Natural grass simply doesn't work well in this context - and that's irrespective of the climate. The answer is to use fake grass - it's soft under foot, permeable and will look green all year round.

The other main consideration for holiday apartment complexes is the shortage of water in the summer months. Therefore to maintain natural grassed communal areas they would need to water them regularly, possibly daily and that of course is a waste of a precious and expensive commodity. Again, this is where fake grass comes in as the most viable option.

Photo: An apartment complex in Mallorca where our fake grass was installed.

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!

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