Maintaining an artificial turf lawn requires a mere fraction of the work required to keep a real grass lawn looking trim, but there are still a few steps you should take if you want to keep your artificial grass looking as real as possible. Without these simple maintenance procedures, the artificial grass will clump together and discolour, and may be also be beset with problems with mould and moss growth — all of which serve to make your artificial lawn look, well, artificial.

Brushing up

Generally speaking, you should give your lawn a once-over with a common household brush once a month (possibly more often in summer), to keep the leaves of grass separate and erect, and also to remove any small pieces of detritus that may have settled between them. Technique is important here — brush lightly in all directions, with minimal downward pressure, unless you want all your grass pointing in the same direction. Use a brush with the softest bristles you can find as this will minimise damage to your lawn.

This is a particularly important chore in autumn, when dead leaves and the occasional fallen twig will start to settle on your lawn. The dark, moist spaces created underneath these piles of fallen leaves are havens for moss and fungal growth that may damage or discolour your turf, so they should be removed as possible. Use a brush for this, as a conventional garden rake is too sharp and heavy and may cut nasty-looking gouges into your turf if you're not careful.

Keep it sandy

Many artificial turfs come with a layer of sandy infill, which serves to give the turf structure and resistance to deformation. It also gives it weight, keeping the turf in place during inclement weather. However, this sand requires time to settle, so for the first few months after your artificial turf has been laid you should keep foot traffic to a minimum. During this initial period you should also brush your lawn regularly to prevent the grass from settling while bent and flat.

Once settled, this layer of sand is your turf's best protection against the elements, and it should keep your turf looking fresh and springy for years. However, the sand layer will eventually be whittled away by time, weather and wind. If you have an ageing artificial lawn that is starting to wrinkle, or your grass is looking saggy despite all your best attempts at brushing, you may require a sand top up. The sand infill layer should be around 2cm deep for most turf lawns, as this provides optimum strength without being overtly visible. Use a fine sand to top up your sand levels — most turf retailers sell fine, specialised turf sands that remain practically invisible if properly laid.

Weeding out weeds

Your turf will almost certainly be backed with some kind of membrane, lying between the turf and the topsoil. These membranes are manufactured in a wide range of materials, from polyurethane to treated hemp, but they all serve the same purpose: to allow rainwater to reach the topsoil, without allowing weeds or fungus to grow through your turf from underneath.

However, these membranes are not invincible, and after a period of years they will begin to perish. The first sign of this is generally isolated patches of weed growth on your otherwise pristine lawn where the tough plants have managed to break through the infill layer to reach the sunlight. When this happens, you have three options on how to proceed:

• Remove the tops of the weeds by hand: This is by far the easiest option, and your lawn will look cosmetically fine, but it does not solve the underlying problem.
• Use a weed killer to kill the weeds at the roots and prevent regrowth: You will only need to do this once or twice a year if you do it well. However, only water-based weed killers are acceptable, as oil-based solutions can damage the artificial grass. This precludes many of the more potent herbicidal options.
• Have the lawn taken up and the membrane replaced: This option will give your turf the same long-term protection it has when it was new, but it is by far the most expensive option and will probably need to be done professional to avoid damage to the top layer of turf.

Contact a turf installer like Australian Lawn Wholesalers if you have specific questions about how this type of lawn can improve your yard.