Suburbanites Are Installing Faux Grass That Fools Pets

Sarah Collins / Wall Street Journal 13jul01

Connie Castro always took pride in her historic Tampa, Fla., neighborhood, which has well-kept streets and big oak trees. That was until a resident ripped up his yard and laid down artificial grass.

"Instead of a synthetic lawn, I'd liken it to a pathetic one," says Ms. Castro, a 32-year-old product manager. "I'm waiting for the plastic flamingos."

And you thought green welcome mats were ugly. This summer, more and more suburbanites are installing entire yards of artificial turf. This isn't the cheesy stuff that went out with go-go boots, but faux grass so lifelike it can fool both people and neighborhood pets. While it's hardly a mass movement, phony-grass spending is expected to rise 25% this year at homes and businesses. That's about $250 million worth of turf that takes just a blow-dry to maintain.

But the grass isn't always greener on the other side. While the average homeowner can sympathize with wanting a lawn that doesn't grow or die, few can imagine installing one. No matter how improved the product, residents complain that plastic grass appears surreal in summer and too lush in the dead of winter. Some neighborhoods aren't just fighting installation of fake grass, they have banned it outright.

"It's like a toupee for your lawn," says Bruce Butterfield, research director of the National Gardening Association, a Burlington, Vt., industry group. "Do you want to be walking around on a shag rug?"

Bad-lawn jokes aside, the industry says synthetic turf is taking off for a simple reason: It takes the hassle out of lawn care and saves money. What's more, some homeowners see faux grass as a way to cut down on fertilizer and comply with water restrictions in drought areas. In Albuquerque, N.M., the city water commission offers as much as $500 to residents who convert some of their lawn to landscaping that needs little water. Similar laws are in force in places like Las Vegas and Mesa, Ariz. "For people who really just want to see green, artificial grass is an alternative," says Jean Witherspoon, an Albuquerque water-conservation officer.

The result? Firms that used to handle only commercial installation are seeing their residential-landscaping divisions grow like weeds. FieldTurf, a Montreal manufacturer, expects its landscaping sales to reach $3 million this year, up from $100,000 in 1997. In Arroyo Grande, Calif., Grass-Tech, a distributor, calculates that residential jobs this year will account for 40% of its business, double the percentage during 1999. In Phoenix, one developer thinks the fake stuff could actually be a selling point -- and may include it in homes he builds.

Get Bugs Out

For homeowners, the appeal ranges from ecological to aesthetic. In his Ridgefield, N.J., backyard, John Lembo, a sprinkler-system contractor, laid about 400 square feet of fake turf to keep his two-year-old son from dragging mud into the house. Although he had to pay $300 extra to pad the lawn so the boy wouldn't hurt himself, Mr. Lembo is pleased with his new lawn. Another plus: "Bugs don't make homes in [plastic grass]," he says.

Conchita Root turned to artificial turf after Tampa passed an ordinance banning residents from watering their grass more than once a week, a restriction that made her "yard look terrible." Inspired by the local golf course, which used synthetic turf, Ms. Root paid $6,000 to have plastic grass installed. "It looks great every day, not just right after it was mowed," the executive assistant says.

Synthetic grass got its first big push during the '70s, when professional football and baseball teams installed it in stadiums across the country. It was hailed as a low-cost, low-maintenance landscaping breakthrough -- until fans howled that it was ugly, unnatural and dangerous to boot, with athletes tearing ligaments and sometimes even breaking bones. In the past few years, as many sports teams began ripping out old fake turf, homeowners too busy for lawn care started buying artificial turf by the mile.

A Long-Term Investment

At about $10 a square foot, these plastic lawns can cost 10 times as much as a live one. A 2,000-square-foot plastic yard, for example, costs about $20,000; installing real grass would be $2,000, plus more for fertilizer, a sprinkler system and a neighbor kid to mow it. Depending on the size and care of a lawn, an investment in artificial turf can take years to pay off -- sometimes after the warrantee has expired.

But at least there are choices in synthetic sod. For his lawn in Escondido, Calif., David Hartman checked out everything from a pricey, super-short variety used for putting greens to one with a just-been-mowed look. He went with a lusher variety, spending $35,000. "You can blow it off with an airblower," says the air-traffic controller.

Compared with Mother Nature's version, the fake stuff has plenty of downsides -- as neighborhood associations and environmentalists are quick to point out. When yards ransacked by winter or drought turn brown, perfectly even, dark-green lawns stand out like sore thumbs. Some neighbors complain of the "Monet effect" -- that it looks fine from afar, but not so good up close. Another problem: It's bad for birds and bugs. "You really cut down on the biodiversity," says Ellen Thoms, an entomologist with a fake lawn in her neighborhood.

And while fake grass can help cut down on water waste during the dry season, environmentalists say that's only half the equation: Artificial turf absorbs less rainwater than grass, which could lead to flooding. Plus, they say, it sends the message that homeowners should be able to have grass in the desert. "It gives the wrong perception," says Donna DiFrancesco, a Mesa, Ariz., water-conservation specialist.

Instead, environmentalists want homeowners to plant cacti and other desert greens -- an alternative the fake turf industry says is unrealistic. "People who like green lawns are die-hards," says Mary Kay Gille, co-owner of Legacy True Turf, a Phoenix installer. "They're going to get grass one way or another."

Not if some neighborhood groups can help it. The Red Rock Country Club and the Siena developments in Las Vegas are so opposed to artificial grass that they have adopted unofficial policies against it. Others, like Sun City Hilton Head in South Carolina, have banned fake turf. It's like "painting your house purple," says Steve O'Donnell, a Sun City vice president. "It's just not the presentation you want."

Boards that turn down anything that isn't natural are going too far, says Ms. Gille. "They'd rather have rocks, even if they're painted green," she says.

Lazy Lawn Care

Putting in artificial turf isn't the only way to take the backbreaking work out of lawn care. The only question is how far you will go. From fake rocks to ceramic animals, here are some low-maintenance additions for your yard.