Our Twist on a Revetted Bunker Turf Product – Stacked Turf Walls!
Stacked Turf for retaining walls is a great solution for framing in landscape beds or as transitions to deal with elevation change. The product comes from the golf world as we use it to create revetted bunker faces like you would find in Scotland’s Old Course at St. Andrews. We didn’t stop there. Esteemed Landscape Architects picked up on the possibility of using it in landscape applications. We now are using this imported and patented product to create accent walls, retaining walls and incorporating it into our golf green designs. Of course, we still build incredible looking golf bunkers with it.
Golf Bunker Revetted Bunker Faces
We started building golf bunker faces with this product 10 years ago in Jack Nicklaus’s backyard. Dozens of golf bunkers have been incorporated into design of our customer’s greens across Florida today.
Stacked Turf Retaining Walls
Evolving beyond golf, we have installed stacked turf retaining walls with that cool, soft, different look that discerning clients appreciate. We’ve mastered the installation at high-end properties giving them an option previously unknown.
Stacked Turf Accent Feature Walls
We have woven stacked turf into our designs for unique, putting courses and greens with sweeping elevation changes and transitions. It’s opened up new design possibilities for us and our clients.
FAQ
How long does artificial grass last?
Expected life of synthetic landscape, lawn turf is 15 years with manufacturer’s warranties to back it up. These polyethylene turf fibers are the most UV resistant. Certain turf styles made using polypropylene or nylon turf fibers have an expected life of 7-10 years before they start to experience fading, depending on UV exposure. Typical warranty on these turf styles is 5 years from the manufacturer.
What is your installation warranty, turf warranty?
Southwest Greens of Florida offers a 2-year installation warranty covering any defects due to poor installation or craftsmanship. Turf warranties vary from 5 to 15 years depending on the turf style.
What maintenance is required for synthetic turf?
This depends on the type of installation. Putting greens typically require regular maintenance to brush out debris that settles into the turf fibers affecting ball roll. Lawns typically require little to no maintenance other than blowing debris off with a leaf blower. High traffic areas may require periodic brushing with a power broom to fluff up the nap of the turf. Southwest Greens of Florida offers various maintenance service options for its customers.
Does all turf “matt down” or is there a turf that never matts?
This depends on the amount of traffic over the turf and the type of turf selected by the customer. Turf manufacturers have dramatically improved the resiliency of turf fibers so they have better “spring back”. However, with enough traffic over the turf by either people, vehicles or service contactors, artificial turf will matt down eventually. Choosing a turf product that isn’t too soft and has fibers shaped to resist matting helps significantly. Not all turf types are equal in this regard. Preventing matting can be improved with maintenance – powerbroom service and adding infill material.
How can I tell the difference between a good turf installation company versus a bad one?
The good one has been around for a long time and can actually show you 10 plus year old installations that still look good with a happy customer. They have an excellent reputation and have worked for years for high-end builders, GC’s and landscape architects. They don’t cut corners and leave out key ingredients to doing a quality job that lasts the test of time. Consequently, good ones tend to cost more than the cheap guy who has to leave stuff out to be low price. A telltale sign is the Turf Installation contractor who says “I can bang this out in a couple of days”. Ask…how much time it will take to complete the job? The good one will have more time in on the job. Attention to detail is important to delivering a quality finished turf job.
Does all synthetic grass get hot?
Direct, radiant sunlight is what heats up artificial turf. If your turf is in the shade and it’s 95 degrees outside, the turf will be near the ambient temperature. Direct UV can heat turf up to temps above 160 degrees. Thankfully, there is a solution to cooling turf down using HydroChill coated infill sand which retains moisture in the turf system. This polymer coated sand absorbs and retains the moisture, slowly letting it evaporate out, thereby creating an evaporative cooling effect. Southwest Greens of Florida stock and regularly installs HydroChill for clients who need 40 to 50 degree cooler turf.
What about turf for pets, dogs or cats? Does urine stain the turf grass?
Southwest Greens has specially design turf for pets, but most synthetic turf will not be adversely affected by pet urine. Turf designed specifically for pet applications has a higher, flow-through rate than traditional synthetic turf backings. Pet urine will not stain landscape lawn turf made with polyethylene turf fibers.
Does synthetic turf drain? Is artificial turf impervious?
One of the biggest myths and misnomers about synthetic turf is that it does not drain and treated as impervious by backward, closed-minded municipal governments, city councils or HOA’s. Typically, these folks already made up their minds that they don’t want synthetic turf in their communities and are going to deny their constituents from having it based on false claims. Synthetic turf drains at a much higher rate than natural sod and has been tested by geotechnical engineers to prove it. Moreover, standardized ASTM testing on the turf material itself shows it drains at a rate above 100 inches per square yard per hour using even the traditional, hole punched polyurethane backing. High-flow through backings designed for pets drains at even higher rates. Porous base materials like 57 stone topped with 89 stone ensure a high flow through rate as well. Ironically, these same naysayers are all for the product when it comes to their parks, playgrounds and athletic fields which all seem to drain fine…no problem.
