Artificial turf is a low maintenance product and requires no watering, mowing, fertilizing or any ordinary maintenance that a natural lawn would require. There are still, however, some recommended steps you should take to help keep your synthetic turf looking fresh and clean all the time.
High Traffic Turf: Artificial turf is known for laying down or “matting” in areas with higher foot traffic. This may be a wear pattern across the lawn leading to the side gate where you primarily travel to get from point A to point B, or, it could be an entire field or agility center that take a beating all day long. In either of these cases, “grooming” or brushing your artificial turf is recommended to assist in re-lifting the turf fiber back into a vertical position. If your artificial turf installation is a high traffic zone then the company you chose should have recommended a higher density turf and a higher infill rate. This combination will perform better but most likely will still require some degree of periodic maintenance and grooming. Simply brushing against the grain of your turf with a stiff bristled push broom, or power broom, will help in keeping your turf looking sharp. Depending on how frequently you are needing to groom your turf, it may be worth it for you to invest in a power broom.
Pet Areas: Probably the most common maintenance item with pet turf is dealing with odor caused by urine. While artificial grass is ideal for pet areas and the required maintenance in keeping up the lawn is minimal, treating the odor caused by pet urine will be necessary and ongoing. We have tested many different products over the years in search of the most effective solution for treating urine odor. Everything from bleach and water to simple green and even vinegar. We have also tested products developed specially for artificial turf and have found that a combination of a disinfectant combo’d with a deodorizer to be the most effective. The treatment process is two-fold – you must kill the bacteria that causes the odor, however, it takes a couple of days for the odor to dissipate after the bacteria has been killed. This does not give you immediate odor relief, which is where the deodorizer comes into play. Most likely your pets will be back out on the turf and urinating on the turf again which makes the disinfecting and deodorizing process an ongoing maintenance item.
Leaves & Droppings: One of the most common questions we get about artificial turf maintenance is how leaves and droppings should cleared off of the turf. Should they be vacuumed? Blown off? Raked? The answer is any of the above (with some caution). There is no set recommendation of how to clear debris from your synthetic turf, however, there are some pointed we would suggest. We find that using a broad lead rake is the most effective. You want to make sure you get a plastic rake with broad fingers. We do NOT recommend using a metal rake with thin fingers as it can snag the thatching of the turf. Vacuuming can also work however you want to be cautious as to not vacuum up the sand infill. The infill is usually tucked beneath the thatch line so it would take holding the vacuum directly onto the turf to suck up the infill. You should be fine to use a shop-vac and hold it just above the leaves. Lastly, blowing is also an option however it is not the most effective. We have found that leaves tend to skip across the lawn and repeatedly get stuck in between the turf fibers so you need to be more direct with the blower in order to dislodge the leaf
