A small patch of perfect lawn is hard to keep alive up here. Summers are dry, the season is short, pine shade and needles work against it, and at a second home nobody is around to water and mow it in July. Artificial turf gives you the green without the upkeep. The trick is making it look like it belongs in the mountains and not on a ball field.
Where turf makes sense
- Dog runs. Turf stands up to paws and drains through its base, so you can rinse it off.
- Play areas. A soft, clean spot for kids that stays green all summer.
- Shady spots under tall pines, where real grass won’t take.
- Small strips and side yards that are a pain to water and mow.
- Second homes and rentals, where low water and low upkeep matter most.
It isn’t the right answer everywhere. If you want a big lawn for the whole family to run on, and you have the sun and the water for it, real grass may be the better call, and we’ll tell you so.
Blending turf with the natural landscape
This is where the design matters most. At an elegant Suncadia home with a pool, rather than fight to keep a perfect small patch of lawn alive, we installed artificial turf and blended it into the rustic setting with river-rock borders, boulders and planted beds beside the patio. The green reads as part of the yard instead of a carpet laid on top of it. See the Suncadia artificial turf project for the full set of photos.
At a newly built home in Tumble Creek, the turf is the green center of the back yard. We cut it in a soft curve, ringed it with river rock and gravel, and ran a flagstone stepping path beside it, with dry creek beds carrying runoff around the house. That one is the Tumble Creek dry creek and new-home landscape.
A few things make that work:
- Natural edges. River rock, boulders and beds instead of a hard, straight border.
- Natives around it. Drought-tolerant native plantings in the beds keep the whole yard low-water.
- A shape that fits. The turf follows the lines of the patio, the walk and the beds, not a rectangle dropped in the middle.
They brought the vision we had for our property to life. Professional, courteous, on-time, AND on budget. These guys are the real deal.
What goes under it
Good turf is mostly base. We take out the old grass and soil, put down a compacted gravel base that drains, and secure the edges so the turf stays tight. A solid, well-drained base is what keeps it flat through freeze-thaw winters. Snow can sit on it all winter, and in spring a leaf blower takes care of the pine needles and cones.
Turf as part of the bigger plan
Turf usually goes in as one piece of a larger landscape: beside a patio or walkway, around a fire pit, or as the green center of a rock and native yard. Planning it with the rest of the design is how the edges end up looking intentional. If your place is in the resort, our Suncadia landscape design page has more on our work there.
Thinking about turf? Book a free design consult or call 509-260-3659.
