Artificial Grass demand on the rise

The popularity of artificial grass has completely skyrocketed in recent years. Changes in the UK climate, combined with a decline in the amount of free time average people have, has made synthetic turf the material of choice for many with an outdoor space that they just don’t have the time to maintain. All of this has led to gains for companies providing AstroTurf and a large increase in the size of the artificial grass market. A company in London reported in 2016 that they saw a 220% increase in sales compared with 2015 and this is only set to rise. In addition to this, the synthetic turf market is projected to grow at 6.8% from 2017 to reach a value of $4.45 billion by 2022. The industry is certainly on the rise, with the demand for AstroTurf, expanding outside of traditional sports field uses. Landscape gardener Paul Wackett told The Guardian in 2016 that 99% of his customers using the product are both large and small houses. With artificial grass lasting for up to 20 years, it is more cost-effective in the long run to install artificial grass – find out how much artificial grass costs. Related reading: How do I lay artificial grass? How much is artificial grass? How to clean artificial grass? Why is artificial grass becoming more popular? With all this growth, there must be a reason why more and more people are going for synthetic solutions in their outdoor spaces. There are in fact two primary causes. First is the ease of maintenance that comes with synthetic turf and the lack of free time that modern professionals have. AstroTurf requires little to no effort in terms of upkeep and preservation. Natural grass, on the other hand, needs to be cut, weeded and fed. The unfortunate truth is that people nowadays simply don’t have the time to do this. A Virgin Trains poll in 2017 found that Britons, on average have just 17 days of free time a year. The top ways in which people would spend this free time included: travelling, visiting family and friends, walking and going to the cinema/theatre. 80% of Britons would not spend their free time gardening and with plots taking up 45002 km of the UK, there is a large demographic of yard owners with no interest in gardening who need to be catered for. As well as changes in the behavior of consumers, the weather and climate change makes natural grass even more difficult to preserve then it has been in the past. Weather is becoming far more extreme in the UK with hotter summers and colder and rainier winters. The average temperature is estimated to rise by 4C by 2080, making preservation of grass lawns a potentially tortuous affair. A more volatile climate could lead to patchy gardens in summer and decay in winter. Because of this, far more Britons are going for AstroTurf, which does not require watering or trimming.