Mowing The Grass - A Dangerous Pursuit?

Even though it's still winter here in the UK with heavy snow in most areas, it won't be long before people start thinking of getting out the old lawn mower ready for that first cut of the Spring. Before you so, however, this might be a good time to reflect on whether you should have an artificial grass lawn installed.

”Why?” you might ask. Well, apart from the most obvious benefits of artificial grass such as saving on water, helping to reduce air and river pollution and avoiding grass allergies, mowing natural grass can lead to accidents and injuries.

According to a BBC report carried out over a period of 5 years in the USA, well over 60,000 Americans were admitted to hospital A&E because of lawn mower accidents. The most common injuries were cuts and bruises but there were cases of bone fractures, limb amputations and even a number of deaths. Admittedly, it was the ride-on type of lawn mower that was involved in the majority of these accidents and in the UK, of course, only a fraction of households can afford that type of mower. However, you should not rest on your laurels if you use a push-type mower because according to reports, over 6,000 people are injured every single year in the UK by lawn mowers of all types - a staggering statistic. Most of these injuries appear to be because the users either did not follow the mower manufacturer's instructions correctly or they misused the mower in some way.

So what's the solution? Well, you can start reading up on how to avoid lawn mower injuries OR you can decide to install artificial grass. Long term you are likely to reap far greater benefits than just avoiding lawn mower accidents – you’ll be helping the environment, saving on needless lawn watering and of course spending more time in your garden at leisure because you don't have to spend countless hours mowing the grass and emptying the grass clippings!

Grapevines Not Grass In British Gardens?

Most people are familiar with the prediction of longer, hotter summers as an inevitable result of climate change and global warming and, indeed, some people might welcome the prospect with visions of enjoying the outdoors more, but such a change in our weather could have serious consequences for the beloved British garden.

Everything from hedges to plants, trees and the traditional British lawn will face a battle for survival if water becomes scarcer, summers become drier and winters become wetter.

A wealth of information has already been published on the subject and there's plenty of advice for gardeners who want to keep a colourful and flourishing garden throughout these changing times. For example, if you grow delphiniums and lupins, you will already know that they need moisture retentive soil and do not enjoy drier weather. Therefore you might want to consider planting flowers that are more drought tolerant. Growing fruit should become easier too in warmer weather and it might not be long before we see garden centres stocking more exotic fruit trees, even grapevines and palm trees.

Serious about growing grapevines in Britain? Find out how to grow them courtesy of this BBC Gardening page.

But what about grassed lawns? Many people are already concerned about having to use pesticides to keep their lawns looking green but warmer, drier summers and wetter winters will make lawn maintenance even more difficult. An artificial lawn may well be the answer - you'll save on water and pesticides and yellowed grass in summer will be a thing of the past. Wetter winters too will be much more bearable knowing that mud from the lawn won't find its way into the house. Take a look at this recent installation of an artificial lawn for a customer in Cheshire (as shown in the photograph).

Amongst the sources of information on global warming and gardening are:
The Royal Horticultural Society's report - Gardening in the Global Greenhouse

The Met Office's dedicated section on Climate Change

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"

New Year Resolution For A Better Lifestyle: Artificial Grass

The start of a new year heralds promise of better things to come and many people have resolved to improve their lifestyle in 2008. According to a Sky Real Lives survey published on 31 December 2007, most people in the UK want to improve their lifestyle, spend more time relaxing than working (as in the photo which features an artificial grass lawn) and work towards becoming 'greener'.

As the UK's leading manufacturer of artificial grass we wholeheartedly endsorse the idea; people need to spend more time with their friends and families and less time working, including working in the garden. Having a pristine lawn requires a lot of effort; not only that, but it places a big and unnecessary demand on water usage throughout the summer months (often the time when water usage is at its most critical) and requires regular application of pesticides and weedkillers. None of this is good for the environment.

So for anyone wishing to become 'greener' this is an area to focus on and it's where our artificial grass comes in. Having an artificial lawn means no more pesticides and weedkillers, no more need to run the water hose/sprinkler for endless hours in the summer and no need to get the lawnmower out every week. These are just some of the benefits to be enjoyed with artificial grass. To read more please visit our Artificial Grass Benefits page on our website.

With surveys such as the one from Sky Real Lives being published, we expect to see a significant increase this year in the demand for our artificial grass products, especially for children's play areas, an important item for many British families. (Look out for more on that shortly in our Artificial Grass Blog).

Water Shortages - An Interview With OFWAT

The WHICH magazine recently published an interview with Regina Finn, Chief Executive of OFWAT, the watchdog for the water utilities industry. There were some key points in her interview which we felt would be of interest to our readers and we have summarised these below:

1. When asked how people can be encouraged to save water, her recommendation was water metering (an issue we covered in our "Don't Waste Water in the Garden" article). As she says, you pay for what you use and water meters make usage transparent. However, this raises another point and a potential difficulty in relying on water metering alone - if only some rather than the majority of people make the effort to save water by cutting their consumption and using water meters, then those who don't will probably face much higher costs being passed on.

2. The question of transporting water from the North of England to the South where the dry drought like conditions are strongest was raised. Her reply was that at £15 billion the cost is too high. So if you live in the South of England there is no ready alternative other than higher prices and carefully conserving water usage.

3. How much of a role a will new technology play in helping fight water scarcity? She replied by grouping together climate change, new house building and water scarcity. In other words all these forces for change acting together.

We think her views are fairly realistic and it is encouraging to see the British government recognising the challenges ahead relating to water usage. However we do think that as water becomes more scarce, those who do not cut down consumption will pay a heavy price. Installing artificial grass and thereby reducing your usage of garden water is surely going to be one of the ways to make sure that you do not pay more for your water than your neighbours do.

For more detailed information you can read the full WHICH report here.

On The Verge Of Success With Artificial Grass

Green roadside verges in Britain may be a thing of the past before long thanks to global warming. As we all know, grass is only green with a regular supply of rain or water and when the inevitable hosepipe bans are introduced this summer, it will be the lack of water for our lawns and gardens that most of us think of. The thousands of miles of Britain's green grass verges will not get a second thought and will face a summer of drying out and yellowing. Traffic roundabouts and perimeter grassed areas of car parks and supermarkets as well as inner city public parks and walkways will also face the same fate. Local councils and organisations responsible for the maintenance of these verges and grassed areas will be hard pressed to do much about it.

Q: What's the answer? Q: Artificial Grass

These key features make it ideal for this application:

• green
• permeable
• hard wearing
• needs no watering
• virtually maintenance free

Other countries are well ahead of Britain in implementing the use of artificial grass for roadside verges and perimeter grass areas, particularly in hotter climates where the arid conditions rarely if ever give rise to natural grass growing. The photo above shows a roadside verge in Oman where artificial grass produced in our factory has been used to create a luscious, all year round, maintenance-free series of roadside verges. Public response has been overwhelmingly in favour of the new idea and we expect more similar orders to follow.

A New Generation For The Older Generation

There is one very special section of our community for whom the new generation of artificial grasses offer real benefit - the elderly. Many people are today living longer and remaining independent well into their 80's and even 90's.


Spending so much time at home brings an increased importance to being able to use and enjoy a garden, yet many elderly people cannot do that.

Here are just a few of the reasons why:

1. Mowing the lawn regularly or even at all can be extremely difficult if not impossible
2. Watering the grass to maintain its condition in hot weather is just too demanding
3. Letting the dog out for exercise in bad weather brings muddy paws indoors

By installing artificial grass all the above problems are eradicated and even if there's no garden, then a small patio, yard or even balcony in an apartment block can be made more attractive and useful with artificial grass laid on it. Many residential care homes for the elderly and infirm are already installing artificial grass in their grounds; apart from lowering maintenance costs it means residents being able to use the grassed areas much more throughout the year and without risk of slipping on muddy areas after bouts of bad weather.

Having all year round green as an everyday part of life holds a very real value for the older generation in our community and the new generation of artificial grass such as the Lifestyle Grass range can offer just that.

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.