Effortless sod is a green solution
Fake lawn costs less and saves water
By Cortney Langley
Published: Saturday, June 6, 2009 2:26 AM EDT
The Virginia Gazette
JAMES CITY — For many people the next quarterly water bill will be two or three times more than normal, the price of maintaining irrigated lawns.
But not for Steve Rosen of Chisel Run, who just replaced his front lawn with the latest generation of artificial turf.
“Being from New York City, what do I know about it?” he said of his lawn skills. “Then, over the years, I didn’t do anything about it. It started looking pretty bad.”
His timing is propitious, since JCSA’s water draw topped 6.5 million gallons Tuesday with the start of summer watering season.
Watering, fertilizing, seeding, weeding became an annual struggle for Rosen, a printing salesman. Fortunately, the neighborhood association hires someone to cut everyone’s grass.
When he heard consumer advocate Clark Howard talk on his radio show about synthetic turf, it clicked. Rosen hired Richard Sacks of Stingray Construction for installation. It looks more realistic than Astroturf, and one can’t tell it’s fake by driving by. Ironically, it will be more noticeable when the summer drought wipes out other lawns.
An installation job that Rosen thought would cost $3,000-$5,000 ended up less. That puts the effortless sod right in the price range of a typical irrigation system and could prove downright economical as yearly maintenance costs disappear.
The turf also comes with a 10-year warranty, Rosen said. It’s UV-resistant and is cleaned by either vacuuming or sweeping. Some types come with fake weeds for added realism.
“There are a lot of positive things about it,” he said. “I’m sure people can find negatives, but all I’m concerned about is that it looks good and saves water.”
In fact, while JCSA’s rebate program for water-saving measures is considered cutting-edge in Virginia, localities on the West Coast offer incentives for fake turf.
In Southern California, the base rebate is 30 cents per square foot. In water-strapped Nevada, rebates run up to $1 per square foot.
JCSA manager Larry Foster said he’s willing to consider rebates, noting that water usage doubles during the summer, even with mandatory watering restrictions in place. In March, customers were drawing just 3.5 million gallons a day.
Rosen’s yard also reduces by one 190-square-foot lawn the amount of nitrogen-rich fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide that runs into the water system.
There may be a trade-off. Some systems are pervious, meaning that they allow water to infiltrate into the soil rather than running off site. Others aren’t.
Still, since they aren’t whisking as many chemicals off site, they may do more good than harm, even if they don’t absorb water. Runoff can also be mitigated by other methods, like rain barrels and downstream rain gardens.
Warhill Sports Complex’s six synthetic-covered fields have underground drainage and a sand base, said environmental director Scott Thomas. “So much depends on where it is,” he added.
Fake greens are naturally anathema to homeowners associations, and gated communities may be particularly resistant for aesthetic reasons. Rosen had to get special permission from Chisel Run.
Certain Ford’s Colony neighborhoods forbid fake lawns, said Realtec Community Services president Drew Mulhare. In other sections, residents would have to apply for a blessing.
Similarly, in Kingsmill the association’s Environmental Protection Board reviews all significant property changes, managing director Robin Carson said.
In Chisel Run, Rosen said his neighbors are fine with it. “They thought it was sod. They couldn’t believe it.”
