Excerpts from:

The Sunday Times | July 23, 2006

The Grass is dead - Long live the plastic lawn

Yuba Bessaoud and Tom Baird

THE royal parks may have been scorched the colour of biscuits, while Open golfers toil round a dustbowl on the Wirral. Now growing numbers of suburban gardeners are beating the heatwave by resorting to plastic turf to keep their grass green.

With the Met Office forecasting the heatwave to continue for at least the next week, the country’s biggest makers of artificial lawns have reported — to the horror of gardening purists — a doubling in business as householders despair of keeping their grass presentable.

There is no respite in sight: Thames Water, which is seeking a drought order, has warned that the existing hosepipe ban could last well into the winter.

Thames is anticipating that David Miliband, the environment secretary, will give it permission within the next two weeks to impose a drought order on London and other areas. Restrictions would include bans on filling private swimming pools, use of car washes and washing the outside of buildings.

Meanwhile, three of the biggest plastic turf companies reported this weekend that their sales had doubled in the past year, with householders buying more than 2.7m sq ft so far this year to replace parched turf. The figure is equivalent to about 35 football pitches.

Terence Crispin, 56, from Beckenham, Kent, decided to go plastic in March this year, prompted by the imminent hosepipe ban in the Thames Water area. He said: “From a cosmetic standpoint and also regarding the saving of water I think it is an ideal solution.”

Crispin, whose four-year-old grandson, Joshua, is a keen footballer, added: “For smaller gardens, I think it is a must.”

The grasses are made of synthetic rubber and come in various lengths and colours. Longer “pile” looks more realistic and is the most popular, while shorter lawns are easier to maintain.

Artificial lawns use a special colouring that resists fading from sunlight. Some of the more expensive ranges are also designed to be fire-resistant and soft if fallen upon.

The “easy-wipe” qualities, particularly of shorter varieties, make them attractive to dog owners clearing up after their pets.