This post has been sponsored by Shawgrass, but all opinions are always my own! This blog will explain why we are considering artificial turf for a background playground and what our decision is.
When we were house hunting just over a year ago, I knew that we had a few things on our “must” list. A basement, at least 3 acres, and a good space for entertaining. A pool was on our “we really want it” list, but it was not absolutely necessary. We also hoped to find a house that had a playground or was close to a playground, but again – it was not needed because we could always install our own playground for Avery down the road.
Thankfully, we were able to find a home with all of our musts, but it did not come with a pool or a playground (and the closest playground is 10-15 minutes away, ha!). We LOVE our home. The space we have is such a change from our last, the house itself is beautiful, and it truly is a place of peace. I couldn’t ask for a better home, but let me tell you something: when it is 90+ degrees out, we definitely wish that we had a pool and Avery would love a playground in our woods. The great news is this is definitely something that we can change about our house and installing a playground and installing a pool is definitely in our long-term plans. The playground shorter-term, of course!
We definitely have the space; we just want to make sure each addition is well thought through. In the “typical” spot where most people would install a pool at our home, our septic system lies. So, we have been thinking out the details long and hard before doing anything at all. I’m pretty sure we would need to do some sort of infinity pool on our “cliff.” 
The playground space is definitely easier to think through. We have a wooded section that we really do not use (aside from our fire pit area, Avery’s climber, and her trampoline), so we would put the playground area in that space. The issue with that? Ticks. There is a lot of wildlife that walks through the wooded portion of our yard because it’s not fenced in.
But, I think we figured out a solution that could help: installing Shawgrass artificial turf. Did you know that installing Shawgrass artificial turf can help reduce things like ticks and fleas? It helps create a safer space for kids, families, and pets. If you have pets, it also reduces muddy paws, as well!
Never heard of Shawgrass? Let me fill you in! Shawgrass is a market leader excelling in providing synthetic turf solutions for sports, commercial, residential, landscaping, pet facilities, parks, playgrounds, and landfill closures. Quality is the top priority to them: they have a commitment to providing you with the very best product from their world-class manufacturing facilities.
Installing Shawgrass artificial turf not only helps with fleas, ticks, and muddy paws, but it also saves time and water, too. The average resident spends 150 hours per year maintaining their yard. Synthetic turf eliminates that need, saving you SO much time. And when it comes to water, installing synthetic turf is a positive move for water conservation estimated to save 55 gallons of water per square foot per year.
So the final question: Artificial turf for a background playground? For us, artificial turf for a playground area in the woods is a no-brainer for us. It saves time, energy, water, AND reduces the risk of ticks, which is something I’m always concerned about when Avery is playing in the woods.
House projects are always so exciting, but I like to put a lot of time and effort into planning them out, to make sure that we do not have to do things multiple times. This is one of those things – I wanted to think about Shawgrass artificial turf long and hard before jumping into it and I was really pleasantly surprised! I had no idea that turf could look realistic or that it could feel so great. Ian’s also now convinced that he HAS to have a putting green, so that might be another house project coming up soon.
If you are interested in looking into Shawgrass artificial turf, click HERE to get more information.