Choosing a synthetic grass that is right for you

There are 2 main styles of synthetic grass to choose from; long and short pile.

Short pile grasses are generaly suited to tennis courts, putting greens, basketball courts, hockey fields and bowling greens.

Short pile grasses are generally hard and rough to the touch. They wear well but are prone to give a nasty carpet burn if you have a fall on them. They are constructed using a fibre called polyproperline. When you run the back of your hand over the surface you can feel how rough they are.

Long pile grasses are generally used for lawn alternatives.

Long pile vary in pile height from 20mm to 50mm and look and feel more like real grass. They are made from a a number of fibres. The cheaper grasses are made prodominantly from polyproperline (hard and sratchy). The dearer grasses are made from polyetherline, a much softer fibre more suited to back yards where the kids are going to play. The down side is they are a little harder to install as the fibres arrive flatterned and need to be brushed upright when installing the infill. The grasses that look great and are easy to install are the long pile grasses made from soft polyetherline combined with a secondary fibre that helps the grass stay unright.

You can also get different grass fibre widths. Generally the finer the blade of grass the softer the grass will be. The grasses with added fibre usually require less sand and rubber infill making then more economical to install. The longer the pile the more pile you can leave showing which means a more natural looking grass. Any grass longer than 40mm is generally used for sports like soccer and football and require a large amount of infill to give them weight.