While it’s often straightforward to cut regular grass, cutting artificial grass requires more knowledge. In fact, learning how to cut artificial grass can be quite tricky. However, cut right, artificial grass can not only require less maintenance than a regular lawn but also look great.
Below we detail some crucial tips for getting artificial grass set up (and cut):
1. How to Cut Artificial Grass: Plan First
Like haircuts, you can always cut more down, but you can put it back. That’s why it’s so important to do your due diligence when it comes to planning your cuts.
Map out where the artificial grass will be placed. Make sure to note if it will have to curve around any landscape features like trees or gardens.
This is also a great time to look into what kind of lengths each piece of artificial turf will be. After all, long, unbroken sections mean less work. Speaking of sections, make note of where the joins will need to be as well. That will be an important piece of info when you’re actually laying everything down.
2. Lay Out the Artificial Grass
Now that you’ve mapped out how and where your artificial turf will go, it’s time to actually lay it out properly. This will give you a much better sense of how everything will fit together. Note that this isn’t the point you need to make any actual cuts, just roughly laying out how everything will fit together.
However, at this stage, the ground should have been properly prepared for installing artificial turf. This includes excavating the existing soil to the proper depth and laying down your sub-base. Both these steps can be done efficiently and effectively with the help of professional artificial turf installers.
3. Use the Right Tools or Get the Help of Professionals
Artificial grass can’t be cut with an ordinary pair of scissors. You can cut it will a regular box cutter, but it’s best to use a tool like an ox hook blade to get the job done. When cutting around landscape components an eighth of an inch of a gap is ideal.
Overall, this is often best left to professionals to handle. They understand how to guide their blades, and work around objects while still laying down turf that just leaves a small gap against the object. This is an especially tricky bit if you’re trying to do this on your own as too little of a gap the synthetic turf can bunch up over time and too much and you’ll expose too much of the ground underneath.
While you can do all the work for cutting artificial turf, the time and effort required to do so (and tools) often make it challenging. That’s why it’s best to let professional installers set it up so it looks good and lasts for many years to come.