The blissful thing about getting a fake lawn installed is that you no longer have to put in the effort of maintaining a real one. That means no more Sunday morning lawn mowing, weeding, fertilizing, or trying to figure out why your lawn has died/turned into a bog/become infested with some sort of fungus yet again.
But that doesn’t mean that you can put your feet up and do nothing. While synthetic turf is a lot easier to maintain, it still does need looking after. If you don’t care for it at all, it’ll end up getting dirty, bacteria-ridden, and discolored, possibly even affecting its lifespan.
The good news is that artificial turf maintenance is pretty easy once you have a set schedule to follow. In this guide, we’ve created a schedule that you can follow to keep your fake lawn in top condition throughout its lifespan.
Weekly Checks
Your weekly checklist should include all the quick, basic maintenance tasks that help you maintain your artificial turf’s appearance and cleanliness at surface level. These include:
- Giving your lawn a quick brush to lift the blades and keep it looking fresh.
- Removing leaves, twigs, stones, and any other debris to stop them from cluttering the surface and breaking down into the turf.
- Hosing the turf down to remove any debris that can’t be dislodged or removed with brushing, especially if your kids or pets have been playing on it a lot.
Monthly Deep Clean
Giving your fake lawn some weekly attention is important, but it won’t address issues like infill redistribution and tough stains. Once a month, give your turf a deeper clean with the following treatments:
- Redistribute the infill evenly, either with a stiff broom or a power brush.
- Rinse the turf with water to flush out dust and pollen (especially important if you have pollen allergies).
- Spot treat any stains (ideally, you should do this as soon as you notice the stain, rather than on a monthly basis).
Annual Professional Clean
Your lawn should look pretty great year-round if you follow our weekly and monthly cleaning tips. That said, your own cleaning methods are always going to be limited, and that’s why many artificial grass owners also invest in annual professional turf cleaning.
If your turf is still starting to smell or show signs of age, it’s worth getting a professional clean by a company that specializes in artificial lawn cleaning, like Dirty Turf. They’ll disinfect your lawn using commercial-grade turf-safe solutions, as well as decomposing the infill and providing other treatments to extend the turf’s lifespan.
Seasonal Upkeep
Following this basic maintenance schedule is a good place to start, but keep in mind that there may be a few jobs you need to do seasonally. For instance, in spring, you might need to clear away any dirt and moss growth from winter, and in autumn, you’ll be more likely to include leaf-clearing in your weekly schedule.
Just make sure to address issues like smells, stains, and discoloring as soon as you notice them, whether that’s with your own solutions or with the help of a professional turf cleaning company.
