Artificial Turf is catching on like wildfire, especially in areas like Arizona where keeping a live lawn will cost hundreds of dollars in water and tons of time in maintenance. While you will absolutely save in water and mowing time, it’s important to remember that artificial lawns still require some maintenance to keep them looking full and lush for as long as possible. Regular maintenance for your lawn is just as important as the rest of your house, so follow these tips year-round to keep your turf looking great all season long.
Remove Large Pieces of Debris
During the changing of seasons, you’ll probably notice more debris in your yard. Items like leaves, sticks, twigs, and even fallen branches can end up resting on your lawn during seasonal changes and after heavy storms. Before any raking or finer detail work starts, it’s important to pick up the larger items you see lying around.
We recommend scanning your yard on a regular basis for any large pieces of debris. Don’t wait until raking day to remove sticks, twigs, or rocks that may have landed on your yard. Heavy items such as these can cause your grass to become flattened and matted down, leaving a noticeable mark on your lawn until it’s time for reblooming. This can also contribute to a shortened lifespan and a more artificial look if the matting becomes noticeable enough.
As a rule, pick up heavy items as soon as you see them lying on your grass. This will prevent short and long-term damage to your turf. The longer heavy items remain on your lawn, the more potential damage is done to your lawn. Make it a point to scan your yard daily and pick up items when you see them, rather than waiting for raking day.
Rake with a Turf-Safe Tool
Not all rakes are created equally, and a regular rake for live grass won’t do good things to artificial turf lawns. Metal blades can tend to damage the blades of your grass and even the matting if used too roughly. Even if you’re gentle when a metal rake you can still do damage to your turf – you may just not notice it right away. We recommend staying away from regular metal rakes because of this issue. It’s always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your investments.
So what can you rake your lawn with? We suggest a rake made from plastic or bamboo. Look for rakes made specifically for artificial turf to give your lawn a gentle clean without doing any damage.
Once you’ve removed all large pieces of debris, then you can use your turf-safe rake to gently gather up all the fallen leaves, plant debris, flower petals, and other organic material that may have gotten onto your lawn. Raking is also a good way to help remove pet hair that can go unnoticed and eventually block up drainage holes and contribute to impacted infill.
Cross-Rake Your Lawn
Once you’ve raked all the leaves, gotten them into a pile, and placed them into your organic waste bin, it’s time to do one more raking. This is known as cross-raking and it’s where you rake against the grain of your grass, typically in the opposite direction you just raked.
Cross-raking isn’t performed to get more fallen leaves or debris – all that should be gone by now. This part of the process is done to help freshen the look of your grass, help the blades stand full and upright, and prevent matted areas from remaining smushed down. You can think of this process as a mini rebloom. When you rake against the grain of your yard, you’ll notice blades start to perk up and the overall look and feel of your lawn improve. If you perform this step every time you rake up leaves, you’ll keep your grass debris-free and looking great all season long.
Call in the Pros
Sometimes you just don’t want to worry about raking your yard, picking up large debris, cross-raking, and getting it back into shape after a severe storm or untimely seasonal change. If you wake up one day and find that your entire tree dumped its yearly plumage on your lawn, it might be a lot faster to call in the pros.
When Dirty Turf provides a cleaning service, we’ll remove fallen debris like leaves, twigs, and other organic matter like flower petals. We’ll deep clean your lawn and rebloom it, giving your lawn the proper care it needs to stay looking lush and full. We’ll even provide a special cooling technology to keep your lawn cool to the touch for the feet and paws that enjoy walking around on it.
Our cleaning service provides far more than the simple removal of seasonal leaves. Cleaning provides the kind of maintenance your lawn needs to ensure years of use with it looking full, healthy, and vibrant. When you just don’t have the time to rake up all those fallen leaves, calling in the professionals is an excellent second choice with the added benefit of providing some TLC for your lawn.
Schedule Regular Maintenance
Regular maintenance is key to the longevity of your artificial turf. While it’s essential to regularly check for debris, perform raking, and remove larger pieces of debris as you notice them, scheduling regular maintenance is important, too.
Think of professional maintenance as a check-up with your doctor for your lawn. You don’t want to wait until your lawn is sick – when it’s matted down, not draining, and stinks to high heaven – to have it serviced. By regularly maintaining and cleaning your turf, you’ll prevent the common issues that lead to shorter lawn lifetimes, voided warranties, and lawns that look artificial.
At Dirty Turf, we’re proud to provide professional turf care services to homeowners and business owners of all kinds. We’ll help you determine what kind of cleaning schedule is right for your lawn and keep it looking great no matter what season it is. Call us today at (602) 638-8777!
