A properly maintained turf is great for the aesthetic value it offers, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When a lawn or turf stays healthy, it provides a lot of social and environmental advantages that will make you view your landscape differently.
Whether you are a homeowner or a commercial garden manager, these benefits are worth knowing as you will discover below.
Healthy turf is beneficial in three main ways: functionally, recreationally, and aesthetically.
Functional Benefits
Bioremediation
Pollutants, which include harmful metals and hydrocarbons, end up in the soil where microbes like fungi and bacteria break them. This reduces the chance of them affecting humans. Microbes are very important in this way and healthy turf, through its strong fibrous root system, provides a home to them.
Turf also provides food for the microbes so that they grow and multiply. These microbes are responsible for the bioremediation of the environment we live in since it is heavily polluted and therefore a danger to our health.
Soil stabilisation and enhancement
Turf helps stabilise the soil by binding it and this stops soil erosion. When rain hits the ground, it does not meet bare ground but healthy grass, which allows water percolation. This reduces surface run-off that could wash away fertile soil and overwhelm the drainage, streams, rivers and other water bodies.
Lawns help improve soil structure through periodic shedding of roots that add useful organic matter to your soil. It results in healthy and pleasant-looking thick turf.
A strong soil structure means water infiltrates efficiently into the soil and microbes thrive better. Roots loosen the soil for better soaking and storage of water. They also enter the soil, holding it together for stability while trapping important nutrients.
Air coolant
A vibrant turf in your compound not only cools it but also lowers temperatures in the hottest of weathers. Lawns are much cooler than cement, asphalt, and bare soil which do not affect or increase temperatures. It is a natural air conditioner that reduces the usage of air conditioning in your home.
Where lawns are surrounded by trees or flower bushes, they can lower temperatures through evaporation in their environs by up to 50%. They do this through evaporation and offering shade to your house and compound.
In urban areas, they will cool the temperatures and make it more appealing to venture outside even when it’s hot.
Recreational Benefits
Safe surface
Turf is a safe surface for all types of recreational activities, be it sports, picnics, games, or child play. It cushions players from incidences of injuries. Your children can run around without much worry that they will hurt themselves when they fall. Even your pets are safe on grass lawns.
Turfs also clean up blood, fluids, and bacteria that result from various activities like sports, parties, or BBQing. Any spills will be soaked up by your turf.
Enhanced health
A well-maintained turf together with trees and elegant shrubs provide many health benefits to people, for instance, they;
- Reduce noise pollution: lawns absorb and deflect sound that could otherwise affect us negatively
- Lower light reflection: turf acts as an anti-glare barrier that reduces light reflection that can be very annoying especially when you’re relaxing or trying to read
- Strengthen socialization: draws the neighbourhood to your home particularly during communal functions during which you share fabulous backyard memories
- Purify air: grass and other plants clean the air you breathe by capturing dust and smoke particles. They also absorb carbon dioxide, replacing it with oxygen. They also cause transpiration which raises humidity and rids the air of pollutants
- Control allergy: a healthy turf smothers weed growth which encourages dust pollen that attracts insects. It reduces chances of allergic reactions in sensitive people
Aesthetic Benefits
Property appreciation
Nice landscaping can increase the value of your home by up to 11.3% over base. Even if you don’t want to sell it, you’ll still be increasing the value of what you have. Plus it gives your home some extra curb appeal that’s going to be attractive to most people.
Trees and shrub complement
A natural landscape encompassing turf and other greenery complement each other and offer much-needed satisfaction to people. Being around nature can boost your own well-being. Many people find it therapeutic which can lead to decreased blood pressure, better wellness, and reduced anxiety. You can become more relaxed and potentially less capable of falling into depression or having high blood pressure.
Final Thoughts
A healthy landscape can give you all the benefits above. Investing in professional landscaping and maintenance is usually the easiest way to get a healthy landscape for your home.
The Garden Men specialise in landscape design and development, as well as maintenance. Want to chat about your landscaping? Get in touch!
