There are plenty of choices when it comes to playground surfacing but one of the most popular is artificial grass. Ideal for both playgrounds and sports surfaces, it’s become a go-to solution for nurseries, primary and secondary schools. If you are considering installing artificial grass in your school, here, we’ll look at the benefits you’ll receive.

1. Low maintenance surfacing

While there are a lot of good things about natural grass, it requires high maintenance to keep it in good condition and looking after it properly doesn’t come cheaply. During the spring and summer months, grass grows incredibly quickly and to be of any use as a sports or playground surface needs cutting weekly. Paying a gardener to cut large areas of grass consistently throughout the school year can be a significant cost. Artificial grass, on the other hand, never needs cutting and removes this financial burden.

At the same time, natural grass areas can create health and safety issues that need maintenance to reduce risk. Constant use and the effects of weather can lead to uneven or slippery surfaces and raised divots that children can trip over. Again, putting these issues right leads to further maintenance costs.

Heavy traffic is another maintenance issue for grass as it causes the turf to be worn away. It’s easy to spot unsightly pathways across school grassed areas or bald patches in front of the goal on football pitches. If left untreated, the erosion would spread and the soil underneath get worn away until the surfaces become unusable.

Artificial grass is purposely designed to be low maintenance, providing a safe, robust surface that is easy to look after and lasts for years.

2. All year, all-weather use

British weather being what it is, there are always times of the year when grassed surfaces become a no-go area. Periods of prolonged or heavy rain can quickly turn a sports field into a quagmire and a safe play area into a slippery hazard zone. There’s an increased risk of injury, soil gets trampled all over the school and PE students and their kit end up caked in mud. In many cases, the PE curriculum will be disrupted and areas of the playground made out of bounds – and it can take days for the grassed areas to dry out.

The weather resistance of artificial grass removes this problem. It won’t stop the children getting cold or wet, nor, unless you have underground heating, will it stop snow from settling; however, for the best part of the year, the surface will remain useable without having to worry about children slipping or getting a mud bath.

3. Increases opportunities for play

Artificial grass has become an integral element of modern playground design used to improve the aesthetics of the playground, creating a stimulating outdoor environment that inspires and motivates children to participate in a wider variety of outdoor play. It can be used to create specific, all-weather play zones and provide more suitable surfaces to surround and put under play equipment.

4. Safer surface for play equipment

The modern school playground makes increasing use of play and outdoor learning equipment. Today, you can expect to see play towers, climbing frames, creativity and roleplay apparatus, sports equipment, messy play areas, nature zones, playground markings plus a wealth of outdoor classroom equipment installed in a schoolyard.

One of the benefits of artificial grass is that it provides additional safety for children using much of this apparatus. This is because it can be installed with a shockpad underlayer that absorbs impact if a child trips or falls and reduces the potential for injury. This makes it the ideal solution for putting underneath equipment like play towers, traversing walls and climbing frames.

5. Put nature where there isn’t any

Many schools simply don’t have any green space available for them to use and this means the children are bereft of nature when playing outdoors. Over the last few years, there has been increasing demand for nature zones to be incorporated into playground designs, often to create a quiet, calming space for children and to improve the provision of science.

Although artificial grass isn’t real nature, it can provide the perfect surface on which to install planters and trellises to create a green zone in your playground. Trellises can be used to grow climbers or shrubs that create living walls and planters can be used to add colourful plants. Add a water feature, a bird feeder and a bug house and the area can be completely transformed. The artificial grass provides a low maintenance, complementary surface that is usable all year round and comfortable to sit on during drier weather.

Conclusion

Artificial grass is a practical solution for school surfacing. It needs little maintenance, can be used all year round, provides safe surfaces for physical activities, increases opportunities for play, improves the aesthetics of the playground and enables the creation of green spaces in places where this is normally difficult to achieve.

For more information, visit our Artificial Grass page.