Sports Surfaces: What is the best type of lawn – the variety of grass with the rich field green color that wears like the most durable of athletic turf? Today’s generation of synthetic lawn represents the ideal in field turf grass. Unlike the Astroturf of yesteryear, artificial field turf grass promises and delivers lifelike looks and texture. The plastic polyethylene “blades” of synthetic field turf grass are long like a real lawn, supple and not stiff, colorfast and engineered not to fade even after years of sun exposure. Unlike sod, artificial field turf grass is not a living thing so it needs none of the conventional maintenance or TLC. The faux field turf grass never needs watering or mowing, fertilizing or weeding, and looks great every day, year after year, rain or shine. From a performance standpoint, synthetic field turf grass possesses a distinct advantage over a natural lawn in that it is warranted for eight years or more – guaranteed not to lose its color, assured not to fall apart – by its manufacturer. The artificial field turf grass typically is more expensive than sod … at the time of installation. The cost of synthetic field turf grass is all “up front,” where a natural lawn is a continuous expense including the cost of water, chemicals, labor, even seed. Usually a field turf grass lawn’s break-even point compared to sod is Year 4; every year after that is virtually cost-free landscaping, guaranteed to look great for years after it’s paid for itself.