Few things are as redolent of carefree childhood days than the smell of freshly mown grass. The sight of my father with the motor mower traipsing up and down the family lawn on a bright summer’s day as we kids once again waited patiently to resume football on the hallowed turf of the family home in the old country.
Sounds idyllic doesn’t it? Trouble is it’s just a memory, just an illusion.
The reality was that the grass used to fade to brown during the occasional English drought. It would need constant expensive maintenance with sprays and chemicals, digging out the weeds and dandelions. It would turn to mush in the rain and be unusable.
Every few years, despite the constant backbreaking and time-consuming work that the lawn entailed, it would need re-turfing at considerable expense just to keep up with the Jones’ pristine patch next door.
Perhaps you can see why I’m a convert to Australian synthetic lawns now that I have come to my senses. Not only in moving Down Under, but realizing there are better things to do with my time than battle with maintaining a lawn.
Like relaxing on a Sunday with the paper and some freshly brewed coffee, looking out on the garden, the kids playing happily, Pedro the dog scampering about chasing a ball or retrieving a stick.
Now that’s idyllic!
My conversion to synthetic began when we purchased a unit just after marriage. We had just carpeted the place – another mistake when we should have gone for a tiled flooring in the heat of the tropics.
We had a fairly large balcony and I made the decision to buy some synthetic grass and put out some nice chairs and an umbrella – the best we could achieve for a garden-like area in a condominium.
It was soon apparent that the lush green grass was wearing far better than the carpet. Despite being in the blazing heat of the sun, it didn’t fade at all and after several years, looked far better outside than in. So much so that in one area of the flat, I thought it would have been better putting grass in the interior.
Okay, that might have been a step too far, but when we moved to a house in the suburbs and the family started to grow and Pedro was reclaimed from the pound, it really was a no-brainer.
We had the entire backyard laid out with a synthetic lawn including a basketball area for a bit of home fitness. If I had more space, I’d install a synthetic putting green… maybe later.
Welcome to a beautiful garden. Welcome to a quality product that is perfect for kids and pets. Welcome to maintenance-free space as “Jack” the neighbor toils with the mower.
Goodbye old memories. It was nice knowing ya!
