Astro Turf to Artificial Grass
10.06.2008
The first development of artificial grass was in1964 in America reputably by the chemical company Monsanto, and apparently using the catchy name “chemgrass” – note to everyone: don’t leave branding to the chemists! Monsanto filed for a patent on their artificial grass shortly afterwards. It was originally designed to give a great sports pitch surface in conditions where grass was not a great option (too much rain, too little rain, heavy snows etc). The first products were tested in schools and made it possible to play sports more often on the same pitch since it was far more durable in any climate than natural grass.
Two years later the first artificial grass was fitted to an American football stadium: the Astrodome in Houston. This is where the name “astro turf” comes from…..even the Amercians could spot that “chemgrass” was a lousy brand name!. From the late 1960’s onwards artificial grass has increasingly been used for all types of sports pitches, providing great surfaces for specific sports as well as multi use surfaces that have proved very popular around the world. Astro turf became a brand name like Hoover – it was the generic name for the sector… until the mid nineties. As time passed and markets have been developed by highly technically advanced manufacturers like Mondo in Europe, the term “artificial grass” has taken over in the industry as the description of the sector from the old American term astro turf of the prior generation.
From the mid 70’s artificial grass started to transform sports like hockey, where the “true” surface let the ball run faster and straighter than on natural grass. Artificial grass also gave a consistent performance that natural grass could not match irrespective of the weather. By the early 1980’s internationals and high profile club games were regularly being played on artificial grass. Now it is the preferred surface for the sport. Artificial grass is a key surface for the Olympics, and Mondo the supply partner of mardi grass, has installed their sports surfaces at every Olympics since Montreal in 1976.
Not surprisingly now, artificial grass is now the preferred choice for many sports, from hockey to football, from tennis to netball, from rugby to cricket, from lacrosse to volleyball.
Research & development and improvements in technology from Mondo and few other high technology companies have continued to improve the quality and capability of artificial grass. Continuous improvements in yarns, backing materials and construction have transformed the look, feel and durability of artificial grass for all applications.
Specific products have been designed for a wide variety of uses. Artificial grass is now used around swimming pools and spas, as artificial lawns for homes and businesses, in flooring for exhibitions, as display material to show off products, and even at outdoor county shows to cover natural grass that would otherwise turn to mud or parched earth from huge numbers of people walking on it.
Today artificial grass retains its key benefits of being durable, easy to maintain, great looking and cost effective. It has come a long way from the fake grass / plastic grass of the first products. It is now a highly sophisticated range of products providing artificial lawns, sports surfaces for an ever increasing number of applications, to homes and businesses alike. More recent developments include growing natural grass in amongst the fibres of artificial grass to increase the durability of natural grass. Although this helps in certain very specific applications it is an expensive option: especially as it still has to be mown!
