Best artificial grass for summer 2022: products & buying guide

2022s best artificial grass and how to make the right choice for your garden.

If you’ve chosen to install synthetic lawns, you have probably realised you have a lot more decisions to make. A variety of features and specifications make choosing the best artificial grass more complicated than the real deal.

Depending on your space, you might want to prioritise look and feel, but if you expect a lot of activity to happen on your turf, you will need the most durable option. There are also matters of preference: do you want a rough and wild-looking lawn or manicured short blades?

If you weren’t already confused, you probably are now. So, what is the best artificial grass for your garden this summer?

Our best artificial grass

We can’t offer advice on how to choose the perfect artificial lawn without a couple of recommendations. These are the options we stock here at Matshop:

Thick Pile Artificial Grass

Best for: A realistic look and feel.

This is the premium quality option. It has a high pile with a variety of colours. That gives it a luxurious look and feel that closely resembles natural grass. This artificial grass is 35-40mm thick.

Low Pile Artificial Grass

Best for: A manicured look outside.

At just 10mm thick, this is very low pile turf. The low pile artificial grass is UV stabilised, so it's perfect for outside events with light to medium traffic. This is a great option if you want something easy to maintain that will always look neat – even through light sporting events.

How to choose the best artificial grass for you

We are committed to offering free advice to everyone – even if you aren’t our customer. To help you find the perfect artificial grass for you, here are some of the criteria you should consider. Wherever you buy your new lawn, make sure you consider the following.

1. Colour

Most people want green artificial grass, but one colour comes in many shades. When mixing paints in art, you should always mix a colour with a tiny amount of its opposing colour to make it look more natural – it’s the same idea for fake grass!

The most realistic-looking artificial grass has a range of natural-green fibres that look similar to the shade of real grass near you.

2. Flexibility

When you walk on real grass, it flattens. When you lift your foot back up, it springs up again. Artificial grass should do the same thing. The most flexible fibres used to make artificial

The perfect artificial grass for you will flatten and spring back as real grass does.

3. Durability

Just like all matting, different types of artificial grass can withstand different traffic levels. You won’t find artificial grass that can withstand the heavy traffic levels other mats can. But some fake turf is more durable than others.

The best fake grass is very durable. It works well in medium traffic level environments without compromising its look, feel and efficacy.

4. Drainage

Most of our customers looking for artificial grass are planning to install it outside. If your garden or outside space is likely to see some rainfall, your turf needs to be able to drain properly. If you have pets, you will also need to drain away other liquids…

The best artificial grass for dog potty training (or rain) has tiny holes to allow water through. Check each product’s specifications against the maximum amount of rainfall you expect to get in your area.

5. Feel

Alongside the long of your lawn is its feel. If convincing your neighbours is your main goal, you want something that feels like real grass underfoot. The premium options are usually the most realistic, because of their colour and density (more on that later).

Our favourite artificial lawns always feel real when you walk over.

6. Height

In the flooring industry, carpet fibres are known as pile. The height of the artificial grass depends on the pile height. A high pile option will look like long grass. That is a favourite among home gardens. Short pile is usually preferred for sports and higher traffic events.

The ideal lawn for you is your desired height. Only you can decide that!

7. Density

With grass, density is the number of fibres (artificial blades of grass) per cm². Generally, you want more blades per cm² to make a luscious, realistic-looking grass lawn. So, look for the highest density to find the best quality artificial turf.

The highest quality synthetic turf has more fibres (a higher density).

8. Usability

Ease-of-use might be your priority if time is limited. That means the grass is easy to lay and easy to take back up again. If you want something temporary, such as for multiple events in different spaces, you need something that can be moved easily without getting damaged.

The best artificial grass has low-effort turf installation with maximum effect.

9. Maintenance

Just as you want something easy to install, your ideal artificial lawn might also need to be easy to maintain. The fake stuff is easier to keep clean than natural grass, but you still want to brush your lawn regularly – especially if you have pets.

The best artificial grass for pets is easy to rejuvenate with a stiff brush.

10. Cost

One of the main drivers for the choice our customers make is the price of installing artificial grass. While it does tend to be a cost-effective option in the long term, the up-front cost of the grass itself can put people off.

For a budget-friendly option, you might not get the most realistic-looking grass in the industry. But, if you match the colour to the natural grass in your area, you can still find something great.

Check out this cost calculator for artificial grass to work out how much you might spend.

Buying artificial grass

You might have thought choosing between real and synthetic grass was the hard part, but now you know there are even more decisions to be made. Whatever your needs, we highly recommend checking through this list and deciding what you want to prioritise.

No one knows your needs better than you, but our friendly team of matxperts are always happy to help. For a more personalised recommendation, feel free to get in touch using the chat function below. You can also reach us at [email protected] or by calling 1300 628 746.