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Water, water everywhere….

Remember that one of the most effective conservation-related things you can do with your new home or office is to install efficient, proven landscape materials.

Artificial turf should be one of those elements.

Using ariticial turf as a part of your landscape plan:

  • Reduces water use significantly.
  • Eliminates runoff of excess water and chemicals into groundwater.
  • Minimizes the rainwater runoff.

Some simple considerations–artificial turf is a ggreat way to go.

The Grass Queen

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Choosing a Contractor: the First Meeting

So you’ve done your homework and selected the contractor you want to do the project you have outlined.

What’s next? You need to meet them to start the project planning.

That’s right–planning first. Come prepared.  Be sure and bring:

  • Any plans, notes or ideas you have for the project.
  • An idea of when work can start and when it should be completed.
  • Your budget and checkbook (if necessary).
  • The contract or documents related to this relationship.
  • Photos of the space you want reworked.
  • A list of questions.
  • Your expectations for the project and the contractor.

You are off and running.

The Grass Queen

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Six Things to Know Before Hiring a Contractor

We’ve discussed this in this space before, but it is worth the reminder. As you do your planning for home and office improvements for the coming year, be sure you know enough about your contractor before you hire them.

Here’s a list that will help you choose and make the decision:

  1. Get multiple estimates. It will help you understand what the job should cost.
  2. Read consumer reviews. Hearing what others have to say about your candidate can help sway your decision.
  3. Call Licensing boards.  Be sure they have adequate liability coverage.
  4. Get several references.  Talking directly with their clients helps you understand how the contractor works.
  5. Negotiate a maximum hourly rate.  Helps contain costs.
  6. Always demand a lien release.  Protect yourself.

We’ll go over each of these steps in detail in future posts.  In the meantime, read the article from which this was borrowed in the January/February issue of AARP The Magazine (www.aarp.com/magazine).

The Grass Queen

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Reclaiming an area with artificial turf

Have you looked around your home, office or school and seen unused space in the yard or around the outside of the buildings?

Maybe you should consider a reclamation project.

“We recently completed a project that did just that,” Tim Dvorak said. “A local private high school came to us and needed an unused courtyard reworked as a special place for the senior kids.” Our turf was a great solution and it only took a few days to prepared and install the turf in the space, he said.

Tim is co-owner of Synthetic Grass Pros and understands how to best include artificial turf in a landscaping plan.

“Especially in schools, ” Tim continued. “Artificial turf saves on water and maintenance and makes useful an area that might have otherwise gone unused.”

So, whadda got to clear up and reuse?

The Grass Queen

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Poolside: Fake Grass

And you thought the only places you could install artificial turf was on the sports filed or under your dog.

Well, think again.

Putting turf near and around your swimming pool does a lot of good things:

  • Helps drainage.
  • Eliminates mud
  • Is decorative

Here’s an example. Try it.

The Grass Queen

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