Fake Turf Grass

November 1, 2019
Artificial/fake Turf

For decades Angelenos have maintained an image of the perfect suburban yard. We imagine homes with neatly trimmed hedges, colorful flower beds beneath the windows and a lush, green, well-manicured lawn rolling right up to the front door.

The perpetuation of this image has skewed our sense of natural beauty. Not only is that ideal simply not sustainable in our climate, but in order to achieve it people sometimes turn to what they think is a good alternative: artificial turf. In other words, fake grass.

It needs no water, requires almost no maintenance and is often understood to be eco-friendly because it’s sometimes made from recycled materials. But while artificial turf may seem like a great alternative to traditional lawns in drought-stressed Los Angeles, the very option of a fake lawn distracts from far better sustainable landscapes. If your goal is a truly green lawn, fake grass isn’t actually the way to go.

Why not? Living sustainably means making smart choices to support a thriving local ecosystem, and an important part of this is healthy soil. Living, healthy soil is nurtured by water, first of all, and mulched native and climate-appropriate plants and trees with deep root systems, second. These conditions create diverse communities of microorganisms, none of which are supported when people opt for artificial turf, that essentially, is just as bad as paving over our earth.

Though it may seem drought-smart, artificial turf has a big negative impact on our watersheds. Healthy soil with deep root systems absorbs water when it rains that can, depending on its location, recharge our local water supply and even clean our water. In contrast, rainfall on artificial turf creates run-off that pollutes our beaches and rivers and fails to replenish groundwater supplies, while also starving our soil of the life it needs to flourish.

Soil is home to all kinds of fungi and other microorganisms—the basis of all life, including yours. Fake grass is uninhabitable. Butterflies, hummingbirds and our other pollinator friends need nectar from native plants. They’re not attracted to plastic grass, recycled or not. What’s worse, artificial surfaces can get very hot, sometimes hot enough to cause third degree burns. If that sounds unpleasant to you, imagine how the beneficial insects and local birds feel.

Give your home a real green treatment by always choosing climate-resilient landscapes that support a healthy, livable LA. That’s the real meaning of sustainability.

Source: blog.treepeople.org



Landscaping Tips

Though your home is your castle, there is no necessity to surround it with a moat. Here are 5 tips that will help you to make your landscaping feel more warm, welcoming and cozy.

1. Put some flowers nearby your entrance. Flowers make any area look more welcoming and attractive, so greeting your guests with Petunia, Snapdragon, Lily-of-the-Nile or some other garden flowers is always a great thing to do. What is more, to add some space between your house and the entrance, you can consider adding a little white fence. It will create an illusion that your front yard is bigger than it actually is. What is more, adding fence will create a great space for planting flowers to add some color and coziness.

2. Add rambling vines to make your yard look absolutely lovely. You can not deny that rambling vines always create romantic and even magical atmosphere. So why not to use this tip while decorating your yard?

3. To hide the unattractive driveway, consider adding some color, texture, and height. You can easily do it by adding various sorts of flowers. To start, create an island of green lawn right in the hub of a drive. Then add a couple of low boxwood hedges with flowers toward the back of your island.

4. If you want your yard to blossom and flourish bust still do not have enough time to maintain it, consider planting low-fuss lilies. Such flowers look absolutely gorgeous and come in the variety of rainbow hues, so you can pick the one you love most. What is more, low-fuss lilies do not care about the sort of soil, they love the sun and welcome hot, they do not afraid of drought. In other words, Crinums is an ideal flower for all those who are looking for low-maintenance solutions.

5. The last tip also touches the low-maintenance aspect. To make your life easier, group plantings into beds and islands. This will help you to avoid mowing and trimming around each individual plant, save a lot of time and even money.

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