Why I Say Most People Don't Know How To Choose Artificial Grass For Their Garden?

By Author: Lesley Qu
Total Articles: 1
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Before joining in this business, I already had the first experience of artificial grass. That was the second year after I graduated from college, and I didn't realize that was artificial. It was a soccer field in a college near my apartment. I was trying to lose some weight at that time, also to reduce the pressure from the daytime work through exercise. If you were young and living in China, you probably wouldn’t have money to spare for the expensive gym. So I choose to jog on that soccer field with my girlfriend before dinner. One day, after running, we sat on the pitch, and I casually pulled the grass as everyone would do. But I can't for the “leaves” were too tough, almost like some kind fibrous material. Then I dug up some rubber from the pitch, which I thought should be soil, then I said, ''Oh! It is plastic ''(I did not know the material of the infill at that time). However, this prompted me to think that this kind of product may have a big tomorrow.

For many reasons, I entered this field later and joined the biggest artificial grass company named CCGrass. Three years ago, one executive in my company bought ...
... a house with a big backyard in our city. Then he decided to use artificial grass to finish the flooring. At that time, landscaping grass was developed. Unlike the soccer field grass which comes in different yarn structures and appearances, it is much more suitable for garden landscaping. Later, I got a chance to film the installation process and made an introductory video of landscaping grass.

When we finished, I started to think what makes good landscaping grass. After the installation, any microcosmic difference becomes not that important. Indeed, you still need good-looking grass and realistic looking. But the typical characteristics of the grass such as the shape of the yarn and the color of the backing become almost indiscernible to me when finished. I did consider about them a lot when we were trying to make the decision of model picking. In fact, on some level, the latest artificial grass is too refined to be used for landscaping because the color is greener and shape flatter than real grass. Many R&D departments were putting too much focus on microcosmic looking because when people try to make a purchase decision; those characteristics are often the priority.

I realize my best experience of artificial grass was the first time I sat on the soccer field near my apartment. I did not immediately find out it was actually synthetic. That's just enough for the product appearance. People choose artificial grass because it needs much less water and maintenance than the nature one, and you can put it anywhere without applying chemical fertilizer, it is safe and evergreen. I said to myself, that's what people need, their real need.

Because of my job, I get to visit many countries to see and learn the artificial landscaping in the world, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Vietnam, Peru, Chile and the United States (That's right, our sales network is all over the globe).

I must admit, not every landscaping site proves to be good. Many of them were installed many years ago and were constantly exposed to heavy sunlight for 8-10 hours per day. Even in some cases, the lawn obviously was crushed by vehicles frequently and became some kind of shabby carpet. Of course, if you drive on real turf, the result would be the same. The lawn in the garden is much better. People care about its appearance, and make necessary maintenance. Nevertheless, there are still striking differences among the projects I’ve seen. Some samples faded and were worn out in quite short time (less than 6 months). Again, they became some kind of shabby carpet, totally not the same as when they were new.

Convenient, safety, and long-lasting freshness are the key advantages of artificial grass. If the turf needs to be changed every 6 months, you’ll have a horrible product experience. And I notice that, if the landscaping lawn is good-looking and well-maintained, people are more likely to sit and lie on it because it feels good, just like real turf. But you do not want to get allergies when you touch the lawn. Many people are allergic to heavy metal, and if the turf was not manufactured right, they may contain heavy metal, clearly you don't want your child to sit on turf like that.

We tested some of the faded samples and did find some heavy metals and high-concern chemical substances, which are very unhealthy to human body. Obviously, those samples were not our products. But why did the turf end like this? Why does it contain those chemicals and heavy metals which are not healthy for people? I want to find out the reason. Later on, I discussed with my friend and colleague Dr. Zhao. He majored in polymer chemistry and has served in the industry for over 20 years. He said," Many evidences point to the fact that some irresponsible manufacturers, in order to reduce the cost, they use recycled materials to produce landscaping turf. Recycling itself is not the issue, it’s healthy and environment friendly. But how to use the recycled materials is the problem. Using them to make outdoor chairs, trash cans, and things like that is ok because their structure and use require less durability and contact. Even for those applications, you have to make sure the recycling process is correct to reduce heavy metals and other high-concern chemical substances in the recycled materials. " He did not mention the durability, because at that time, our company did not care about it, either. We used to think the appearance is the only selling point for landscaping grass like everyone did. But I think the market would care about the durability. Recycled materials also could cause poor durability, especially, reduce UV resistance. That gives the answer of fading and ageing of the samples.

From that time, our R&D started to research about how to improve the durability and how to ensure 100% health. For me as a marketing man, I started to think how to introduce to the world market what is durable and healthy landscaping lawn. Both of us have achieved our goals, and the answer is below：UV Defender & Health Protector. If you see those two logos, they mean that：

The product model was tested by SGS (world's leading testing and certification company) with the official test report
After over 3000 hours of UVA&UVB exposure, the product has no fading
The product is lead-free
No 8 heavy metals are detected in the product
No 72 high-concern chemical substances are detected in the product