Question #5

Hi I am looking for your recommendation for artificial grass in my backyard. It should survive harsh summers of Arizona. I live in Phoenix, so the grass will see extreme weather conditions. We also do lot of activities like playing badminton etc. Cost is not a factor. Please suggest best artificial grass.

by Ram

Thankfully, there are numerous people who both live in Arizona and are interested in artificial grass. If we had to take a guess, we would suspect that a drought combined with the slow evaporation of the Colorado River has led to the recent upswing in requests from your particular state. It is also worth noting that your neighbor to the west, California, is also undergoing a similar drought which has led to a recent upswing in requests from readers from that region as well. That said, the “extreme weather conditions” are mostly relegated to the heat exclusively since Phoenix rarely gets freezing temperatures and even rarer receives snow.

Still, Arizona is still host to the second-hottest average temperatures in the US, outside of Florida, as well as some of the driest seasons too. On top of that, Arizona receives more sunlight than any other state in the US – including Florida which is significantly wetter than Arizona. As such, when considering the climate of Arizona for your artificial grass, the heat and the sunlight will be the primary considerations. While these two factors may go hand-in-hand, they also require a slightly different assessment when comparing artificial grass products.

For instance, the grass fibers will fare better or worse in these conditions depending on what they are made out of and what kind of treatments they receive. In terms of sunlight, and the UV radiation it brings, you are better served going with one of the more ‘plastic’ materials. We quote the term ‘plastic,’ because all of the fibers used for artificial grass are technically plastic. However, most people would consider polypropylene and polyethylene to be ‘more plastic’ than say fibers made out of polyester or nylon. Regardless, PP and PE are generally known to handle UV radiation a bit better than nylon which will degrade if untreated and exposed to direct sunlight for significant periods of time.

Of course, this then brings us to the heat factor which technically has two considerations based on your question. First, you obviously want artificial grass which will not melt in the heat – a real possibility in Arizona where the temperatures can exceed 120-degrees. This definitely presents a bit of a conundrum as polypropylene is more than durable enough to handle Arizona heat, but polyethylene often will not. The real issue lies with the fact that many manufacturers that use one type of the more plastic fiber will often use the other as well to provide a sense of difference in terms of look or texture. Conversely, both polyester and nylon have significantly higher melting points than either polypropylene or polyethylene. As such, we would definitely recommend a polyester or nylon fiber with UV protection treatments.

It is also worth noting that due to the general climate, Arizona is one of the few regions where if a spot has shade, then the temperature can vary by as much as 20-degrees. To be fair, based on your description and warnings, not to mention the move to artificial grass in the first place, we suspect that your yard does not have many, if any, shade trees. However, if your yard does have shaded areas, especially between the hours of 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., then you do not necessarily have to worry about getting polyester or nylon and can go with polypropylene alone if you can find it.

In terms of the other consideration related to heat, specifically how hot the actual grass feels to the touch, we find the complete opposite scenario as with the melting points. As such, polyester and nylon, due to their fairly high melting points, have a tendency to trap heat better than polypropylene or polyethylene making their fibers feel hotter to the touch. I suspect living in Arizona and a society that uses both nylon and polyester extensively for clothing, you are probably well familiar with this aspect. In this case, a strict polypropylene fiber would both withstand the extreme heat of Arizona summers while also preventing the buildup of too much heat.

Our outright recommendation comes from Artificial Grass Wholesalers which is by far the most premium model of artificial grass on our list. In fact, if it were not for the fact that the fibers are made of polyethylene, this would be the unquestioned recommendation. It is worth noting that Artificial Grass Wholesalers do use a heat-treated polyethylene fiber, but customers in Nevada have noted the fibers get how or melt when a reflected light and heat is applied on top of the general heat. This most commonly occurs near windows or large metal panels which can reflect additional heat and light onto the grass. That said, in terms of how it feels in general, how durable it is, the pile height, and general aesthetics, it is easily one of the best options available. If you think the heat would be an issue, then the iCustomrug is the only other option worth considering as the Synturfmats is incredibly thin and not likely to meet your comfort or aesthetic standards.