Caring for Artificial Grass During the Winter

09 Dec Caring for Artificial Grass During the Winter

Basic tips to keep your grass pristine when temperatures drop

One of the great benefits of artificial grass is the fact that it’s very low maintenance; compared to the regular attention required to keep real grass looking neat, tidy and healthy, little effort is needed when tending an artificial surface. This is particularly true in winter; there’s not much work involved in keeping your artificial grass in tip top condition, but a few pointers are worth adhering to.

Leaf clearing and other debris

Autumn and winter herald the falling of leaves, and other debris such as twigs can be blown onto the artificial surface by winter winds. It’s a good idea to keep fallen matter under control as it could compromise the effectiveness of the drainage if left unchecked.

Snow and ice clearing

Unless you have a particular reason to want to clear snow or ice from the grass, you could leave it to melt naturally. Modern artificial grass can cope with a covering of snow or ice, and if it’s been installed by Essex artificial grass professionals who know what they’re doing, it will be equipped with drainage more than capable of dealing with the water produced as the snow melts.

If you wish to clear the snow off your artificial surface, then it’s best to use a plastic rather than metal shovel or similar tool. It’s possible that blades of artificial grass made more brittle in freezing temperatures could be vulnerable to a hard metal spade used a little too vigorously.

You can try using salt to accelerate the removal of snow, but don’t overdo it as too much could impede effective drainage by blocking holes and perforations.

Prevention

If particularly bad weather is forecast such as heavy snowfalls, then you may decide to protect your surface with a tarpaulin ground sheet.

Consider this action carefully though; if it turns out you experience heavy rain as opposed to snow, then you can be left with a lot of surface water that has collected on the tarpaulin. Without it, the rainwater would have naturally drained away through the artificial grass.

Monitor effective draining

When it does rain, check the water is being drained away effectively. If you notice some standing water it may indicate a drainage issue.

Using your artificial surface

It’s a case of literally ‘treading carefully’ when using artificial grass in the winter when freezing temperatures and snow abound. In icy conditions the blades can become brittle, so if walking on the grass take a little care so as not to run the risk of breaking any.

This is no different from real grass; walking on frost bound or snow covered grass can easily cause damage and affect it for when the warmer weather comes around. So long as you’re careful, your artificial grass will be able to cope with some winter use.

It should be stressed that artificial grass blades aren’t fragile and can certainly take winter use, but it pays to take a little care.

Low maintenance

The above is really all you need to consider when tending to artificial grass in the winter. Even then it’s only applicable if we experience appreciable snowfalls or prolonged icy spells, and it’s fair to say these aren’t conditions we see even every winter let alone for prolonged periods.