Sacramento's Ban on Artificial Grass No Longer Enforced

Sacramento's Ban on Artificial Grass No Longer Enforced

There's no reason for artificial grass to be banned in this day and age. It's practically indistinguishable from real grass, and it saves water, which is recognized as a precious resource. Cities and HOAs will soon have to lift any bans they have on artificial grass. Some cities who have bans on artificial grass aren't even enforcing their prohibition anymore. Sacramento for instance created a no-artificial-grass-in-front-yards law in the 80s. But city officials say that they aren't enforcing it anymore and even plan to have it legalized officially on the books.

"Currently artificial turf is prohibited by ordinance, however, given the current drought situation, it's not being actively enforced," Sacramento District 4 Director Consuelo Hernandez said. "Residents are not required to have live turf in their front yard under city code, but if they want to deviate they can put in half concrete or rock or paver-type materials and half live vegetation such as shrubs, plants, trees. Again, if they install artificial turf in the front yard, which at this point there have only been a few homes doing this the last couple years, code is not being enforced."

And Sacramento city council member says, "Absolutely and I plan to (change the law). And when the drought issue comes back, I plan to raise it again, I've raised it several times at council before and I think it's a great issue to keep agitating around."

San Diegans: Artificial Grass Forerunners

San Diegans: Artificial Grass Forerunners

San Diegans are the forerunners of the artificial grass movement. San Diegans who installed artificial grass recently helped the city achieve one of its lowest water usage records ever for the month of February. And more homeowners will install artificial grass. This month it will become incentivized. Starting Wednesday, the incentive program which rewards homeowners who replace their natural grass with drought tolerant alternatives like artificial grass will be revived. The program will give $1.5 per square foot replaced, and then residents can combine this amount with a state program of $2 per square foot replaced for a total of $3.5 per square foot reimbursed for San Diego residents.

Indeed, artificial grass will slowly become the standard surface material for residential areas.

The director of the city's Public Utilities Department says the city will also start to enforce the regulations they created in November. Right now they have about 200 violations that will be punished with fines ranging from $100 to $500. The fines will be issued starting now.

Be a responsible San Diegan and install artificial grass today. A great company is Global Syn-Turf. They can be reached at their San Diego warehouse in Poway.

Canadian Homeowner's Artificial Grass Under Attack

Canadian Homeowner's Artificial Grass Under Attack

A homeowner in Canada is defending his artificial grass installation at his home. He installed the artificial grass in 2013. The town started receiving complaints and then took legal action against the homeowner afterwards. They won, and the homeowner was told to replace his synthetic grass with an organic material.

Now the homeowner has taken the case to a superior court. The town says that they had no choice but to enforce their laws since it clearly says in their regulations that artificial grass, which is a non-organic material, is not allowed to be installed in yards.

The homeowner, however, says that the town's action are an injustice because they've chosen to allow artificial grass to be installed in other parts of their zoning territory, but are now singling him out for punishment. In other words he's accusing them of selective enforcement of their laws. He cites the fact that a nearby soccer field has artificial grass installed, which the owner was never asked to remove.

Indeed, the lesson here is to get your artificial grass installation approved by all appropriate organizations and individuals before installing it.

California Turns to Artificial Grass

Governor Jerry Brown announced last week the state of California's first-ever mandated water reduction measures. The state is enjoined to reduce their water consumption by 25%. The mandate is directed at homeowners who overwater their lawns. Jerry Brown even went so far as to say that the days of the nice green lawn getting watered every day is a thing of the past. With these stringent new regulations being put into effect, artificial grass is looking more and more attractive and less and less like a secondary choice.

One resident in Orange County says that she and her mother live in a house with a natural grass yard. The natural grass has been there for sixty years. However, she says that if the drought worsens, she and her mother will consider installing artificial grass. They won't however install xeriscaping because having lawn that is suitable for sportive activities is important to her family and her children.

Her mother even went so far as to call artificial grass the wave of the future. Indeed, artificial grass will soon displace natural grass as the standard surface material for residential yards.

The California Water Resources Board will announce how it will achieve statewide cuts in two weeks.

Artificial Grass in California Takes Off

Artificial grass is such a hot commodity in the wake of Gov. Jerry Brown's directive for California to reduce its water usage by 25%. It is being installed everywhere from traffic medians to residential lawns because it saves water and yet looks great all the time no matter what. Also, Governor Jerry Brown has directed California to convert 50 million square feet of natural turf to drought tolerant landscaping.

One landscape manager in Mill Valley, CA, says that the business has skyrocketed. He bought an artificial grass installation company in 2010 thinking it would be a small portion of his total business. Now he says that the business is huge and that buying the artificial grass company was the best decision he's made. He feels like a genius. However, he says that some of his affluent clients in Mill Valley are still hesitant about artificial grass because of their pro-natural grass prejudice.

Indeed, if you own a lawn care or landscape management company, adding artificial grass installation services to your business could be the best decision you've ever made. A company called Global Syn-Turf offers free consultation to professional and potential installers in California.


Artificial Turf a Hit at Nevada School

A high school in Nevada has gotten its first artificial turf baseball field and the surface is an absolute hit among the players and the coach. The coach says he's been trying to install artificial turf in the field for years but only now has the funding become available. The primary reasons for switching to artificial turf the coach says is the weather. Before, during the rainy spring season, they would have to spend hours and hours fixing the pitching mound, fixing the plate, fixing the baselines if they wanted to get their practice time in.

The field cost a quarter of a million dollars but the cost will be recouped in savings they make on maintenance and watering.

Ever since installing artificial grass, the team never has to wait around for the field to be mowed or repaired. Even after heavy rainfall, the field is playable within an hour.

The shortstop says he loves the artificial turf, too. He never has to worry about bad hops because the field is completely uniform all the time, which improves his performance. He knows exactly where the ball is going to end up during each play

Synthetic Turf Positives Outweigh Negatives in Petaluma, CA

A Petaluma, CA, park will receive two new synthetic turf sports fields. Thereafter, two high schools will also receive synthetic turf sports fields. The community, however, is concerned about the safety of synthetic turf. The main contentions are about bacterial infetions, heat conduction, physical injuries, and crumb rubber.

One parent's child suffered a staph infection after scraping his elbow on a synthetic turf field at camp in Berkeley , CA, last summer. The experts, however, say that athletes are much more likely to get staph infections in locker rooms, and that there is no strong risk of infection from playing on a synthetic turf field as long as the field is treated with bleach and cleaned regularly.

Officials are considering alternatives to crumb rubber such as organic cork or coconut infills.

Regarding injuries, experts say that athletes are at higher risk of injury depending on the size of their cleats and not because of the synthetic turf itself. Taller cleats put athletes at risk more than shorter cleats.

Lastly, officials say that the fields will be playable without intervals in between sessions for maintenance, the benefits of which outweighs all of the potential risks.

Artificial Turf Field Hockey Fields

Artificial turf is certainly more than just a trend these days. It's actually displacing natural turf as the standard sports field surface that athletes, coaches, and the public expect when playing on and visiting sports fields. High schools and sports complexes all around the country are installing it in their sports fields as a replacement for the natural turf traditionally installed. And just like these sports complexes and high schools, it is now planned for installation for use at the next Olympic games in Rio.

The artificial turf will be installed at a field that will be the sports field for the field hockey competitions. The company developing the artificial turf says that the new artificial turf for the field hockey will be a solution that is durable, low maintenance, and which provides a consistently flat surface from game to game, with no watering. This would have been impossible if natural turf were to be installed.

Furthermore, the artificial turf surface will be beneficial to the community even after the Olympic games have finished. The surface will increase playability of the field and allure visitors from out of town to come spend money locally in town.

Synthetic Turf Makes Gains

Synthetic turf is just steamrolling along in terms of its adoption by sports fields owners who install it therein. It has so many benefits to the owners of the field who install and the people who on the field after it is installed that it is quickly displacing natural turf as the surface material people expect when they step out onto a sports field.

The first town, Greenfield, Massachusetts, is eyeing synthetic turf for installation in their sports field. They have a construction project that includes many things, and synthetic turf is one of them. The entire project will cost $66 million. They will vote on the project soon. They plan to review different combinations of synthetic turf, natural turf, and other materials in different arrangements across the field. The field will be played for soccer, baseball, softball, and football.

The other town is in Canada. If they get a grant from gas tax funds, they will use the $3.45 million to install synthetic turf in their sports field. The field will be a FIFA-regulation sized soccer field and football field. The synthetic turf will extend the regular track and field season by two months.

Synthetic Turf Helps High School Teams Compete

Synthetic turf is certainly the new trend among high schools who want their sports teams to remain competitive. Teams with natural grass are at a significant disadvantage, because they are at the mercy of the whims of the weather. If it rains, the team has to cancel practice until the mud dries up.

A high school in Lee County, Georgia, converted to synthetic turf this summer, and couldn't be happier with the results.

The football coach says that his team misses less practices and that the field looks perfectly manicured and beautiful all the time no matter what the weather is like. He also says that he has noticed a marked reduction in the amount of injuries his team sustains because there are no holes or irregularities in the synthetic turf.

All of the high school's teams play on the field consecutively day after day and there is no wear, which would have been impossible on a natural turf field.

Furthermore, the soccer team's coach says that half the teams in their region have synthetic turf installed. In order to compete against these teams, it was imperative for them to install synthetic turf in their field.

Two High School Schools Observe Synthetic Turf Trend

The Board of Education in Bloomfield, CT, has joined the synthetic turf enlightenment. They will install synthetic turf in the field of one of their local high schools. The synthetic turf will prevent mud from forming and hence injuries. The entire project will cost $1.24 million. The project includes other renovations. After the synthetic turf is installed, the field will be able to host the activities of varsity, junior varsity, and freshmen football teams, two soccer teams, and three youth football leagues. Some expressed concerns that the synthetic turf fields are associated with harmful carcinogens. The chairman of the board, however, responded that there are no concerns to be had for carcinogens and that he would explain why in a presentation to be presented at a town council meeting in April.

A school district in New York has also proposed installing synthetic turf in two fields at local high schools. The fields will serve soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, and football teams. The entire project is proposed to cost $22.4 million and includes other renovations. The school district will vote on it later this week.

Two more on the list of those who recognize the benefits of synthetic turf!

San Diego Soccer League Wants Synthetic Turf

A soccer league in San Diego County is currently pushing for synthetic turf to be installed in one of their fields. The league was incited to consider synthetic turf because one of their fields, which is on a privately owned space, could potentially be built over for new construction projects.

Installing synthetic turf on the field would increase playability. The league needs more playability and feels that it's the community's duty to provide it because without it it diminishes the league's players morale, potential for more competitive play in all star tournaments, etc., and discourages physical activity. If synthetic turf is installed in the field, the closure of the privately owned field wouldn't affect them. Currently the field with natural grass has to be closed 60 to 90 days a year because of bad weather and maintenance. With synthetic turf installed there would be no maintenance and no mud side effects from rainy weather, which means that the fields wouldn't have to be closed. That's an increase of 3 months a year of playable days.

The synthetic turf would cost $700,000 to install, but would be far less expensive to maintain. The City Council will vote on it at the next meeting.

Synthetic Turf Increases Usability

The town of Middletown in Pennsylvania hired an engineer to conduct a feasibility study comparing the costs and benefits of synthetic turf and natural turf for installation in a local high school.

For one thing, synthetic turf would increase usability of the fields. The natural turf currently installed only supports 40 events per year because of the mud and dead grass that results from bad weather and intense playing. This usability is greatly increased by installing synthetic turf. The usability of the field s jumps up to 400 events per year. This is enough for all of the schools teams and clubs to rent the field whenever they wish, and for outside parties to rent the fields during down time, generating revenue for the school's district.

The natural grass would cost less to install but its maintenance over ten years would cost $595,000. Synthetic turf would be more expensive to install but would only cost $50,000 to sustain over ten years.

Interestingly it was pointed out that the fields were already being rented out for free, costing money for taxpayers. And that a system of charging for renting would have to be worked out before renting out the synthetic turf fields.

Sell Ad Space on Field Surface to Pay for Synthetic Turf

High school football teams must do everything they can if they want to stay competitive in the ultra competitive world of high school sports. One thing high schools can do is install synthetic turf in their fields. This enables them to practice on the same surface and habituate themselves to the same surface that their competitors are going to be practicing on, as synthetic turf is becoming a standard surface material for sports fields.

For many high schools, however, installing synthetic turf is prohibitively expensive. One way these high schools can garner some additional financing is to copy what a high school in Belleville, IL, has done: to raise money to install the synthetic turf, they've sold ad space on the turf itself. A company that has purchased ad space on the synthetic turf field surface is a local Chick-Fil-A.

The ad space commitment is five years, but if companies want to retract their ad from the field before then, all they have to do to remove the ads is lift the turf off and replace it with turf matching the same color as the rest of the field.

Installing synthetic turf in the field will guarantee that your teams can have access to it 365 days a year.

Artificial Grass Saves Water Amid California Drought

Artificial grass is not just a passing fad but seems to be becoming a norm in the landscaping world. Artificial grass wasn't truly tested until the past decade when the technologies had advanced to the point that a sufficient amount of homeowners were convinced to install it in their homes, and now, after a few years, the artificial grass in the yards of the homeowners who first decided to install it have proven artificial grass and tried and true groundcover for the long-term. The main benefit for Californians being that it saves water.

California has just added to their list of water restrictions.

1. Homeowners are no longer to wash their cars without a hose with a shut-off nozzle

2. Homeowners can no longer spray off their sidewalk and driveway

3. Homeowners no longer may let irrigation run off of their backyards

4. Restaurants may no longer serve water unsolicitedly.

5. Hotels must give their guests the option of not washing their linens

6. Homeowners may no longer water their lawns during storms or for 2 days after storms.

These restrictions will continue to become more stringent even if the drought abates, in preparation for similar droughts to come. Artificial grass will displace natural grass as the norm.

The Politics of Synthetic Turf Crumb Rubber Infill

Whenever any idea takes root, is sure to come underscrutiny. The latest phenomenon to take root and come under scrutiny is synthetic turf. But not synthetic turf as such, but the crumb rubber pellets that are frequently used to infill the synthetic turf fields. More people are starting

In fact, one department in Kentrucky stopped granting money to communities to build synthetic turf playgrounds and fields infilled with crumb rubber in response to the public decry of such materials, even though no conclusive research has been done to conclude that the limited exposure children have to crumb rubber while playing on these surfaces have harmful effects.

IN fact one toxicologist says that the exposure to the crumb rubber is so irregular and infrequent that it probably isn't enough to be harmful to children, even if the crumb rubber is toxic.

On the other hand, one field in New jersey which was tested was found to have unsafe levels of lead in the synthetic turf field. And another district spent several hundred thousand dollars to replace all of the synthetic turf fields in the district after just two were found to be above regular levels.

The debate will continue until conclusive research has been done.

More London Homeowners Convert to Artificial Grass

Have you ever bought plastic flowers for your loved one during a holiday? Probably not. But, this is becoming a popular phenomenon in the UK, namely London, where plastic flowers have, according to one merchant, increased in popularity by almost 75 percent since last year. The reason for their popularity is because of the advanced technologies that have arisen in the last few years. But this advancement in plastic technologies isn't limited to the flower business â€" it's also happening in the artificial grass world, too.

A flood of homes are appearing in London neighborhoods with artificial grass in their yards rather than real grass. These homeowners have been enticed to convert their lawns to artificial grass because of lowered maintenance costs, and because it saves time that would otherwise be spent on tedious lawn manicuring.

IN fact, these London homeowners like it so much that after they install it they want to share their awesome discovery with the world. It's a common thing for London homeowners to want to explain to their friends how much time and money the artificial grass is saving them, in an effort to impart the knowledge of its benefits to other people. Artificial grass is too good of an idea to keep to yourself!

Install a Putting Green After It's Approved by Your HOA

If you install a putting green in your yard, remember to get it approved by your local HOA if you are within their jurisdiction. One homeowner in Elkhorn, Nebraska, claims that he is being bullied by his homeowners association, the Fire Ridge Estates Homeowners Association. According to the homeowner, he got his putting green approved by the HOA, and that they are now bullying him into replacing it with natural grass and sprinklers.

The homeowner says that the HOA are models of selective enforcement: they connive at some violations and prosecute others according to their own fancy. If the order does not get overturned, the homeowner will have to pay to have his putting green uninstalled and put in natural grass and sprinklers, wasting his investment.

The homeowners association claim that their policies clearly prohibited fake grass. My surmise here is that the homeowner applied for the putting green and the HOA approved it without knowing that the putting green would be made of fake grass. If that's so, to ask the homeowner to replace such an expensive investment, when they themselves were partly responsible for the misunderstanding, isn't fair.

The lesson here is that you should get your putting green unequivocally approved by your homeowners association before laying one foot of turf. If not, you may have to get it removed.

New Jersey Town Opts for Synthetic Turf

Two high schools in Parsippany, New Jersey, will have synthetic turf installed in their sports fields. The sports that the synthetic turf field will accommodate are lacrosse, football, soccer, and field hockey. Students will be able to enjoy the enormous of benefits of synthetic turf fields once they are installed, which is during the summer. The synthetic turf project will be completed just in time for the start of the next sports season of the new school year.

The project will cost a total of $2.7 million with about half of the budget going to the installation of synthetic turf in each high school. With synthetic turf installed, the high schools will save money on water and maintenance. Besides, they'll be able to use the fields more often than if natural grass were installed, namely after rainfall. Students and the community will get more use and value out of the fields once synthetic turf is installed.

As you can see, installing synthetic turf is not just a fad popular right now because of its novelty, but because of its practical application and advantages. It saves high schools money, water, increases student morale, and encourages physical activity by being accessible for more hours of the season.

You Can't Keep a Good Idea Like Artificial Grass Down

If an idea is good, it will slowly catch on. Artificial turf is a good idea. Therefore, it is slowly catching on. - in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. A local high school has plans to install artificial turf in their sports fields this semester because of the enormous benefits it yields.

The installation of artificial turf will begin within a few months and will be completed by the time football season comes around in the fall. The school has been tossing the idea around but finally made a decision to install it because it will save money and make money for the high school.

The project, which will cost $1.3 dollars to complete, will save the school money on maintenance, water consumption, will allow their students to take greater advantage of the facilities by being able to use it during times when it would otherwise be unusable (e.g. after rainfall), and would also make the fields a source of considerable revenue generation - they will be able to rent the facilities out to other organizations and people in the community when the school's teams and classes aren't using the artificial turf fields, making them money.

The school will install Ecofill as an infill, which is a plastic infill made from pop bottles and plastic bags.