Caring for artificial turf in your yard

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I had artificial turf installed here at The Tropical Paradise about six years ago and it's the best thing that I have ever done. If you are considering it, I would like to encourage you, and make some suggestions.

• Have it professionally installed. When the crew came out to install this, they prepared the ground, dug out the space, filled it with fine sand, tamped it down, and, well, just did it right.

• Get a small blower/sweeper. You never vacuum this surface, you care for it by sweeping or gently blowing. There are tiny little pieces of rubber down at the bottom of the *roots* of the grass, which hold the plastic grass up. You don't want to vacuum them up! I use a rechargeable Worx blower/sweeper, which is small and lightweight. Takes about ten minutes to blow away stray leaves, etc., from the patio and the turf.

• Don't be too neat. Artificial turf actually looks better with a few stray leaves on it. The cleaner it is, the more artificial it looks, so let it get a little messy.

• Hose it down occasionally. Artificial turf is not carpet, it has perforations in it to allow water to flow through. That's why your dog can do her *business* (both 1 & 2) on it. So give it a blast with the hose every once in a while.

And that's it. You never need to mow it, or edge it, or water it. You don't need to overseed in the winter, or worry about dead patches in the summer. You can leave your lawn chairs on it and it won't kill *the grass*.

Life is good.

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