Weary of lawn work? Fake it
HOMEOWNERS know that in one field of life, nothing less than perfection is acceptable. The rules of the lawn are very clear: no bare patches, Fido-induced brownouts, weeds, anemic blades or lusterless shades of green. The quest for perfect grass is grueling enough that some might sell their souls to get it. Deberoh Gruver did, and she couldn't be more delighted.
The Riverside teacher's lawn is perfect 365 days a year. Instead of fighting the Inland Empire's blast-furnace heat and two dogs for control of her yard, she sits back and watches as passersby stop to behold the wonder of flawless turf.
"People look at it, touch it, say, 'Wow, that is so pretty,' " Gruver says.
But the price was steep. She had to renounce her all-American belief in real grass. Her lawn is fake. And it set her back about $16,000 for front and back yards. Worth every penny, she says.
Gruver is part of a burgeoning backlash against the hassle and expense of the traditional lawn. A new generation of synthetic lawn, lush, soft and light-years from the AstroTurf of yesteryear, is fueling the rebellion -- and a compelling environmental case for going simulated green. Synthetic grass saves on water, eliminates the need for toxic fertilizers and requires no polluting mower. A bonus: Some brands use recycled materials, including old Nike shoes.
"We have doubled in size every year, and this year we've tripled," says Dave Hartman, who runs EasyTurf (www.easyturf.com), a distributor for FieldTurf, an artificial grass used by the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, San Diego Zoo and hundreds of colleges and high schools.
One of EasyTurf's first customers, Hartman was so enamored of the way his faux grass liberated him from mowing and watering and sent gophers packing that he joined the company. In the four years since, 1,800 homeowners from Los Angeles to San Diego have made the switch to the company's facsimile lawns, he says. Though the turf is expensive ($10 a square foot), Hartman says the investment pays off by lowering water and maintenance bills.
Despite the convenience and eco-logic, artificial turf has to overcome entrenched cultural programming that dictates it's a civic duty to sow real grass. Anything less borders on slackerhood, if not suburban treason. Hartman says that attitude is changing, along with the stigma of early artificial turf, which had an image as a hard, leafless rug. No one wants an obvious fake. But one that passes for the real thing is another story.
