Mike Gaskell Landscapes

Reliable Artificial Grass Installers in Leyland

Phone Number: 07841 687 471

How Do You Maintain Artificial Grass

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  • Admin
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  • grass, Artificial, replace, maintain, look after
  • Posted date:
  • 01-08-2021
How Do You Maintain Artificial Grass

Find out more about how to maintain artificial grass? Find out more about how to look after your artificial lawn. 

How To Look After Your Artificial Lawn

Many choose to transition to artificial grass as it is a relatively low maintenance alternative to organic, natural grass lawns; however, many who invest in the choice believe that it requires virtually no maintenance at all. 

Indeed, fake lawns do not require water to grow or plenty of mowing the way traditional, natural lawns do; however, some upkeep is still necessary to ensure that it stays in a quality condition and keep it looking appealing for years to come. Much like the interior furnishing of your home, or even garden, it is vital to take care of your lawn frequently to enhance its longevity and investment quality. 

A little maintenance tends to go a long way, and you can save yourself massive jobs at the end of each year by carrying out small light work all year round. 

Take up small maintenance jobs like brushing up leaves, dust and debris, weeding in between flagstones, blades and cleaning with a jet washer will ensure that your artificial lawn continues to look good for many, many years. 

How Do You Maintain Artificial Grass?

Here are several ways you can care for your new artificial lawn that allows it to stay lush and green for much longer over time. 

Artificial grass general maintenance

ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: BRUSHING ARTIFICIAL GRASS

Brushing artificial grass

The best way to maintain your new lawn of artificial grass is first by frequently lightly brushing it around once a week or at least every other week to remove twigs, leaves or debris. You want to do this as gently as you can, not put too much pressure or force on the Astroturf, no matter how stubborn the debris or waste is, as you could risk misshaping it.

The best brush you can search for to use for the job is one with soft bristles, a medium-sized brush, as this will be gentle enough to use on your grass, but it is still effective enough to do the job correctly.

Another one of our great tips is to ensure you always brush grass in the opposing direction to the artificial fibres.

Cleaning artificial grass

The best way to clean artificial turf of any debris, leaves or twigs is to make sure you use a leaf blower, as this is the most effective and most productive method.

If possible, try to remove leaves on a day with little to no breeze or when the wind is blowing in the desired direction of where you would like your leaves to go.

Ensure the grass and leaves are dry when you do so, as wet leaves are much more challenging to remove when maintaining your garden.

ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: CLEANING ARTIFICIAL GRASS
ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: WINTER WEATHER

Winter weather

Fortunately, winter conditions such as snow and frost do not impact your artificial grass; it won't break or snap. However, icy layers can become a problem if snow is harshly stamped into your turf, so leave it to melt naturally. If you strive to remove the snow yourself, you may risk damaging the fibres. 

Fire

It may sound obvious; however, you must aim to prevent fire, hot objects or items ending up on the grass like ashes from barbeques or cigarette butts. Should it fall into contact with heated items, it can cause your turf to melt.  

Heavy items

You can place heavy items like chairs and tables on your artificial grass; however, you should strive to use castors underneath each leg; these will evenly distribute the weight and prevent any harsh damage to your lawn. Large pieces of furniture can often flatten your grass; however, if you move it, it should return to normal if given enough time. 

Ensure you frequently move about your furniture so that your grass never flattens in specific places for extended periods. 

Be incredibly careful of sharp objects, glass remains and metal furniture with tapered sides and edges on top of your artificial turf. Such can also be said about foot traffic; if your friends, family or guests are constantly walking up and down your newly installed lawn, it could damage it over time, causing wear and tear.   

Everyday maintenance tasks for artificial lawns

Removing Leaves and Debris

After long periods during the autumn season, debris, leaves and twigs gradually find their way and scrawl across your artificial lawn. 

They cannot harm your grass in any way, although it has the potential to encourage mass weed growth or could dirty up your grass when damp. 

Therefore, we highly recommend that you remove all debris and leaves from your lawn with a stiff broom, specialist rake, or leaf blower regularly. Do not, under any circumstances, use a metal rake as it could damage your synthetic turf fibres. 

Preventing Weed Growth

Fortunately, if you got your synthetic lawn appropriately installed by a service, you probably won't get any weeds growing through your artificial lawn. 

However, seeds still can nestle in the manufactured fibres and allow weeds to grow through the surface. You can quite easily remove these by hand. Other potential areas of weed growth with artificial grass are toward the very edges of your lawn. 

ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: PREVENTING WEED GROWTH

It is highly recommended that you remove all of these weeds with a specialist artificial turf rake, garden vacuum or power brush. To avoid moss or weed growth in the future, apply a water-based weed killer to your artificial grass. You can do so with a sprinkler head or a watering can, approximately twice a year. Ensure you professionally install a weed-free infill; this detail is a great way to prevent this drastic weed growth. Many companies sell you the idea that infill may be unnecessary, but it is best to ensure you have it installed to protect the fibres.  

Removing Stains

You may need to apply a granular household detergent on top of the stain. We also highly recommend using washing up liquid that you can mix with warm water and apply straight to your grass with a brush or sponge. When using a brush, ensure it has synthetic fibres because, as mentioned before, wire and metal brushes damage your turf. 

Thoroughly rinse the area where your stain resides with your garden hose or a gentle jet wash. Such will remove stains from products or liquids such as:

Ice cream

Alcohol

Ketchup or mustard

Fizzy drinks

Butter

Blood

Tea and coffee

Use a minimal amount of white spirit to rid any oil-based stains. Be incredibly careful when using white spirit; you should use it sparingly with a clean cloth to be most effective. It can take care of a wide range of spills and stubborn stains such as:

Cooking oil

Sun cream

Car engine oil

Asphalt and tar

Paint

Paint

Removing Chewing Gum

When attempting to remove chewing gum that has unfortunately gotten stuck on your artificial grass, you must ensure you don't damage the fibres. Please make sure you never tug on the chewing gum to retrieve it; you could risk pulling up a small chunk of artificial fibres and gain a bald patch on your turf. 

We recommend freezing chewing gum to prevent ripping apart your lawn. You may also wish to purchase chewing gum removers from carpet cleaning stores that sell many helpful products; these will freeze the gum so that you may remove it with ease. You can scrape it off your grass with a spatula or knife. 

Removing Dog Hair 

Frequent brushing ensures your artificial fibres stay in an upright position, and you can also brush your grass to remove any dog hair that has gradually built up over time. 

Get yourself a specialist artificial grass maintenance rake or a stiff brush so that you can start at the end of your lawn and brush in a continuous motion, making sure never to lift the broom in the cross-brushing method. 

ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: REMOVING DOG HAIR

Cleaning Dog Waste

ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: CLEANING DOG WASTE

Once you get an artificial grass installation, you may become tired of the mud bath and muddy paws that occur on your new lawn that you will have to clean up regularly. 

When grass cleaning dog wastes from your turf, you can pick up solid pet waste, and urine will drain away and not leave stains or odours. 

In the summertime, it's recommended that you occasionally hose down your lawn; however, this is something you'll hopefully be doing anyway as general maintenance. 

Removing Snow and Ice

Allow snow and ice that lands or covers your lawn to melt and drain away on its own naturally. However, if you must remove the top layer of snow from your artificial grass, you should do so with a plastic snow shovel. You can sweep away the lower layer with a broom. 

Ice is something you must be careful of; you cannot remove it manually, or else you can risk tugging and pulling out the synthetic fibres, especially if you, your pets or your children happen to slip on it or drag it with heavy shoes. Let it thaw out, and it shall drain away. 

Call a professional today to get in contact with a qualified team who can install quality artificial grass in your yard or property. Many can offer advice on the best brand or products to use when cleaning your astroturf. 

ARTIFICIAL GRASS MAINTENANCE: REMOVING SNOW AND ICE

Are you looking for artificial lawn installation in Leyland, Lancashire and the surrounding areas? For anymore information on your artificial grass needs, follow the link below: