The Ultimate Guide to Buying Artificial Grass

The popularity of artificial grass is growing. More and more people are opting for this route due to the ease of artificial grass maintenance in comparison to that of a natural one.

As specialist suppliers of artificial grass in the UK, we want to make the process of browsing and buying artificial grass as easy and straightforward as possible. There are however, are a few important factors to consider, so we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to buying artificial grass, so when you come to buy yours, you’ll feel armed with all the right knowledge to make the best choice for you.

The reason you’re looking into buying artificial grass will inform all the decisions that come afterwards, so it’s important to know why. There are a number of reasons why you might want an artificial lawn, including:

To look beautiful all year round – no messy mud!
To save yourself the effort of keeping a natural lawn – easy artificial grass maintenance
To stand up under the stress of kids and pets

The first thing you should do is to set your budget. Artificial grass cost will be a deciding factor on the types of products that you look at – you don’t want to fall in love with a type of grass that you can’t afford. Most grass will be sold in metres squared, so knowing how much you can afford per metre will help you filter out grass out of your price range.

Measure the space you want covered by artificial grass. Our How to Measure Guide and Plan Your Project tool explains how to do this in full.
Decide whether you’d like to handle the artificial grass installation yourself or have an installer do it for you. You will have to pay for an installer, but it will be usually be smoother than doing it yourself. If you do opt for DIY, take a look at our How to Install Guide.
There are a few factors that can increase the cost of artificial grass installation, including how much work needs to be done to prepare the ground. Artificial grass is a permeable surface, so any water will go through into the soil below and drain away. However, if your soil is very dense, like clay soil, then you may need more aggregate in order to make sure that water doesn’t pool when it rains.
If you’re doing the install yourself, you’ll need to consider whether you are able to remove the material and introduce the aggregates you need easily (the average job of 40 sqm is around 5-6 tonnes of aggregate).
It’s also worth budgeting in for the tools and accessories needed for the job. If you’re handling the artificial grass installation yourself, then be sure to check our guide to the 10 artificial grass tools you’ll need.

Get a few quotes to compare prices and decide whether an installer doing it for you is within budget. You can find your local installers here.

Time for the fun bit – choosing the right grass for you. Not all synthetic grass products are the same, so let’s take a moment to look into the different qualities of artificial grass, and what to look out for when comparing products.

Pile Height

Artificial grass comes in a variety of pile heights, depending on its intended use. Longer grasses, around 30mm mark, will give a lush, luxurious look, whereas shorter, 16-27mm products will look neater, and make for great artificial grass for dogs, pets, or kids.

Weight

Good quality artificial grass should be weighty, with a weight of 2-3kg per metre square. The weight is particularly important if you’re installing it yourself, as you will have to lift and move the roll around.

Colour

Because there are two elements to an artificial lawn, the grass blades and the thatch, there’s a vast range of colour combinations to choose from. You could go for a natural look, but whether that’s a light or a dark green is up to you and what looks natural in your garden. We’d recommend ordering samples and going out into your garden at different times of the day to see how the sunlight makes it look. Make sure that the pile is facing the house or the main viewing point. This is how your lawn will be placed and it makes a difference to the way your lawn will look.

Samples

When comparing samples, it’s important to look at the quality of the yarn and the backing. As well as the right colour, the yarn should be UV stabilised so it won’t fade in the sunlight. It should feel like natural grass too. The backing should be permeable, so water can drain through, as well as containing holes in case it rains heavily and there is a large volume of water. In fact, why not order up to four free samples from us today?

A few other questions to ask include:

Where is the grass made?

The quality of artificial grass can vary depending on where it’s made. Chinese manufacturers, for example, use C4 materials (as opposed to C6), which could be recycled polyethylene that’s sensitive to temperature and potentially unstable when it comes to UV light. This means that the product is cheap, but the quality is poor too.

Namgrass is manufactured in Belgium, using high quality, C6 materials. This means that your artificial grass is stronger, less sensitive to temperature, UV stable and softer to the touch.

What is the warranty like?

When looking at samples, or comparing manufacturers, it’s important to look at the warranties in detail. How long does it last for and what does it cover?

Namgrass’ warranty is for 10 years. Being part of Europe’s largest manufacturing group we have a very close working relationship with them so we can comfortably offer warranty on our grasses. It covers UV stabilisation or colour fade and the general integrity of the product.

So there you have it, a complete guide to buying artificial grass. If you have any more questions about synthetic grass, feel free to get in touch or ask your installer – they’ll be able to answer any questions that you may have specific to your artificial grass project.