Don’t take the benefits of turf for granted.

Even those of us in the industry sometimes forget what a miracle a simple blade of grass is. And, too often, consumers or even employees aren’t well-informed about the benefits that a well-maintained stand of turf like a lawn provides. here’s a reminder that you can share with your friends and family.

The turfgrass you may take for granted provides the following environmental, physical and social benefits:

Reduces soil erosion and runoff.

The dense leaves, thatch, mat, and roots of the turfgrass system provide an excellent ground cover that significantly reduces soil erosion and water runoff when compared to other landscape plants or bare soil. The turfgrass system can efficiently reduce groundwater and surface water contamination from fertilizers and pesticides applied by capturing, retaining and using them. Y

It provides a cooling effect and reduces glare.

Patios, concrete walks and other nonliving landscape materials used as walking surfaces reflect significantly more light than turf.  Turf provides a cool, nonglare surface that is pleasant to walk on, sit on and look at. on a hot summer day, lawns will be 30 degrees cooler than asphalt and 14 degrees cooler than bare soil.

Reduces noise.

Using turf instead of concrete on road embankments can reduce traffic noise by nearly 200 percent. Turf also increases water infiltration on slopes which minimizes water run-off, soil erosion, and potential environmental contamination.

Provide an attractive foreground.

Turf provides an excellent foreground for other plants since green is a “neutral” color and all turfgrasses are a shade of green during the growing season. Flowers or plants that have a different foliage color are good constraints when viewed adjacent to plants with large leaves or rough bark.

Adds spaciousness to an area.

Maintained turf is usually mowed at heights no greater than 3 1/2 inches. This creates an open area that makes space appear larger than if the vertical plane was broken up with plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Defines Landscape Space.

Well-designed turf areas contrast with adjacent plant heights, textures and colors that can define “rooms” in the landscape. Landscape rooms with turf “floors” can vary in size and relative scale, but in all cases, the turf should have simple straight or curved edges and be of sufficient size to simplify maintenance, allow equipment access, and use standard irrigation components.

Softens hardscape surfaces.

Including decks, patios, benches, pavers and other hardscape elements is important to complete the design of a landscape. But using hardscape elements on the ground plane can become overwhelming when they are used over large areas. Turf provides a good alternative in breaking up and softening the ground plane.