Full Of Glee - Artificial Grass Success

We're approaching the time when people are inclined to look back at the year and reflect on events. Where Artificial Grass Ltd is concerned, we are delighted to say that 2007 has been a great year. Our thanks go to all our customers, distributors, stockists and installers as well as the AGL team and our UK factory.

March saw the company's launch into the residential market for artificial grass sales and the summer months saw a veritable queue of new distributors asking to sign up to the AGL network; in July our artificial grass products received favourable UK national tabloid press coverage and in and September the company made its first major Trade Show appearance at the Glee Trade Show. Staged at one of the UK's largest event facilities, the NEC in Birmingham, the Artificial Grass Ltd exhibition stand received many visitors over the 3 days.

The variety of visitors and the range of applications for which they were interested in using artificial grass surprised even ourselves - and that's saying something!

Here are some examples:

• Landscapers


• Homeowners - lawns, small putting greens, city life use such as roof garden terrraces


• Shops - for window dressing and displays


• Construction companies - for everything from housing development gardens, roadside verges to swimming pool surrounds


• TV Shows

The results from the trade show have been impressive - new stockists and distributors signing up, new orders placed and one contact resulted in a TV Garden Makeover that included artificial grass made in our factory. Screened in early October, the programme had many viewers resulting in a rush of enquiries about the artificial grass lawn which was featured.

Bringing 2007 to a close is our new artificial grass product Snow Grass - its launch could not have been better timed for Santa's Grottos and Christmas shop displays. Whether your Christmas is a white one or not, may we wish all our customers, distributors and website visitors a very Happy Christmas!

Lifestyle Lawn "As Seen On TV"

It's not every week that we get a chance to have our artificial grass featured on tv but recently we were invited to help with a special edition of "A Dream Come True" on the popular ITV show "This Morning" which aired this week.

Tanya Bannister, who has coped with serious illness for some time, was nominated for a surprise garden makeover and ITV brought in a specialist team with TV celebrity gardener David Domoney in charge to transform Tanya's back yard in a single weekend.

The redesign of the garden involved many people (suppliers and installers) with the planting flowers and shrubs, work on a new patio area and a beautiful new artificial grass lawn for which we supplied our Lifestyle Lawn Grass, a state of the art monofilament artificial grass of 30mm pile height that provides a durable yet soft, all year round green surface. The main reason for installing this grass was that Tanya would not have to worry about maintenance - a very important factor in her situation. Anyone coping with serious illness or disability has to think of maintenance issues if they have a garden and our artificial grass is a great solution.

When the makeover was complete, Tanya returned from a weekend trip and her delight was clear for all to see. Supplying the grass for her lawn was something we were very happy to do. The lawn especially looked beautiful - as you can see in the picture - but then we would say that!

Will We Have to Mow The Lawn All Year Round?

According to latest reports, scientists are now arguing the possibility that many of us in the UK will soon have to mow the lawn all year round.

The National Environment Research Council has said that, as a result of mild winters in the last 5 years, around 35% of homeowners in the UK are now mowing their lawns in winter.

To put this in context, 20 years ago grass would only grow during winter in milder areas of the UK such as the Scilly Isles.

When the temperature is above 5 degrees Celsius grass will grow and this January (2007) was the second mildest on record with temperatures reaching 5.9 degrees Celsius. Out came the mowers!

If the thought of keeping the lawn mower going continually over 12 months doesn't appeal to you then it's time to consider installing artificial grass and start enjoying the extra time you will save.

(This article is based on data reported by WHICH magazine)

Don't Waste Water In The Garden - Use Artificial Grass

The impact of global warming is brought home to us every day from different sources within the media. The Daily Express special feature this week on how artificial grass in the garden can combat drought problems is a good example and recent feedback from our own artificial grass customers suggests serious concern about the need to save on water, especially in the garden.

So what are the statistics on water usage in the UK?
We did some research and discovered that:

- During hot weather garden watering accounts for 50%+ of the UK's water supply, compared to 6% in normal weather conditions

- Outdoor watering (medium sprinkler or handheld hose) uses 19-38 litres (5-10 gallons) per minute

- Watering your garden/lawn for 1 hour = 1,140 litres (300 gallons) of water

So how can we save on water?

Even if you cut down on your outdoor watering to just 15 minutes 4 times per week, you would still use over 1,000 litres of water (300 gallons). A staggering waste.
We believe there are 2 realistic options for saving water. One is voluntary, the other enforced.

Voluntary
Take control of your garden and water usage by installing an artificial grass lawn. It needs no watering so for every year of its use you will literally save thousands of litres of water. (Photographed above: an artficial grass lawn)

Enforced
Water authorities will have to consider making water meters compulsory - and they have the evidence to prove their case. In the 1980's water metering was trialled in 11 areas of the UK and subsequent years showed an average reduction of 11% in water usage in the homes concerned.

Our advice is don't wait for a water meter. By installing artificial grass you will not only save on water but enjoy lots of other advantages - save time on mowing, save money on pesticides and weedkillers and have an all year round green lawn to look at.