Question #6

Hi there! Thank you so much for all this great research. Curious to know your recommendation for Palm Springs CA? Small, flat area (plus some sections no more than 4″ wide), lots of sun plus dogs. I don’t want a grass that’s going to get too hot (if such a thing exists in this climate!)

by Francine

We actually had another question recently about a nearly identical situation taking place in Phoenix, AZ – which you may or may not know is exceedingly similar in circumstance to your situation. That said, there are a few details which differentiate the two and will ultimately lead us to two completely different recommendations despite the overwhelming overall similarity between the two. Still, let us go ahead and get the similarities out of the way first before we refine our search a bit better to provide the most comprehensive artificial grass to suit your needs that we can.

First, the two primary areas of climate to consider are the temperature and precipitation, and these two factors happen to provide a stark contrast to most other climates and weather patterns. For instance, as part of the Sonoran Desert, is plagued with near perpetual drought well before the specter of global warming reared its head a couple of decades ago. Getting less than 6” of rain is nothing new to that region, though the effects of the drought have not been nearly as pronounced for the institutional structures as it has for the average population.

As such, and despite laying on pretty much the same latitudinal position as Phoenix, there is actually a good bit more general flora, albeit somewhat limited in terms of the species as they must be drought-resistant and hardy. Still, when considering artificial grass in one of the sunniest places in the United States, it is important to consider what kind of cover the product can expect. For instance, you mention that the space in which the artificial grass will lay is not symmetric or regular shaped with some sections being significantly smaller than other sections.

If this arrangement provides a fair amount of shade that will shift over the course of the day, you may not have to worry about the grass fibers melting quite as much. Of course, if the fibers will be exposed for the near entire duration of the day, you will want to play closer attention t the material used for the grass fibers to ensure they will not melt.

One benefit of living in an arid desert region is that you do not have to worry about excessive precipitation allowing the growth of mold or mildew and thus do not have to worry so much about whether the artificial grass is antimicrobial. On top of that, the absence of precipitation means that, so long as you do not water the artificial grass too much while cleaning it, you will not have to worry about an infill to prevent weeds either. Though, you should still provide a weed guard sheet to prevent the generation regardless.

In terms of the irregular shape of the space over which the artificial grass will lay, this is not really a problem with any artificial grass product we reviewed as they can all be cut to custom shapes and sizes. However, the difficulty in cutting the artificial grass’ rug will often correlate to the overall durability of the product in the first place – which is one of the most important factors for your needs. Specifically, the fact that you mentioned multiple dogs means that your artificial grass will need to be exceptionally durable.

This is the primary difference between your question and the one alluded to earlier in that you will need some of the most durable artificial grass available. That said, you do not necessarily need to look for that quality alone, but this will depend heavily on the temperaments of your canine friends. For instance, if your dogs like to dig and cannot be swayed otherwise, there is no artificial grass on the market that can stand up to the persistent abuse dogs can inflict. On the other hand, if your lovable pooches are liable to just run and chase and wrestle each other on the grass, there are a couple of models that should offer enough strength and resilience.

This does still leave you with a few options which we will detail and contrast with one another since we do not necessarily know the full extent of the space and environment. For instance, the iCustomrug is by far the most durable product on our list, though you may not need to worry about all of the protections afforded, especially those relating to water. Still, in terms of heat and UV resistance, there is not another product that we found which can really come close to this level of durability. On the other hand, the Synturfmats offers some unique advantages of its own, specifically that it does not release VOCs. This gets a bit more headlines than it truly deserves, especially in an open-air environment where the problem resolves itself within weeks not years. However, it does not change the fact that VOCs are known carcinogens and can contribute to the development of cancer. Though the effect in this situation is small, Synturfmats is still the only artificial grass on our list that removes this problem altogether.