What Makes the Most Realistic Artificial Grass?

From the street, most artificial lawns look fine. Walk across one, or look at it in the afternoon sun, and the difference between a convincing lawn and a flat green carpet becomes obvious.

Realistic artificial grass comes down to a handful of details: the height and density of the pile, how many shades of green and brown run through the blades, how much thatch sits underneath, and whether the finish is matte or shiny. 

This article explains what each one does, what to look for when you’re choosing artificial grass in Melbourne, and how a good lawn holds up in every season.

What to Look for in Realistic Artificial Grass in Melbourne 

A realistic lawn comes down to six details working together. Here’s the quick version, before we dive deeper into how each one works: . 

• Multi-Tone Colour Blends: Natural grass isn’t one flat green, and ours isn’t either. We use blends of olive green, lime green, tan and faded undertones to match the real thing.
• Shaped and Textured Blades: Our blades come in C, W and diamond shapes that break up the light and spring back after you’ve stepped on them.
• Dense Thatch Layer: Real lawns have a layer of dead grass at the base, so ours do too. A curly brown or tan thatch layer gets rid of the “too-clean” plastic look and adds a bit of cushioning.
• Matte & UV-Stabilised Finishes: Anti-reflective and UV-stabilised treatments stop the turf from developing a glossy, shiny sheen under direct sunlight.
• Appropriate Pile Height & Density: A pile height between 30mm and 40mm provides a lush, natural look, while proper infill such as silica sand weighs the turf down and helps blades stand upright.
• Proper Installation: Even the highest-grade artificial grass can look fake if it wrinkles, seams show, or the grain points in the wrong direction. Proper laying and brushing ensure a natural grain direction.

Let’s dig a little deeper into some of these factors that make artificial lawn look great in your backyard.

Colour Blends and Natural Tones

We have three types of artificial grass for you to choose from: Everest, Fusion and Ezyturf.

Everest

This style of artificial lawn uses a brown-flecked thatch layer at the base of longer, green blades. This thatch adds a layer of shadows and realism for the turf, matching what happens in nature, with green grass growing on top of a bed of dead vegetation. The technology involved in creating Everest turf helps with cooling, lowering the surface temperature of the turf by up to 30%. This makes it great for outdoor entertaining in summer.

Fusion

Fusion is made from a complex weave of seven different and alternating colours, greens and browns of varying shades. This creates a deep, texturised look that is highly realistic and looks great, even under direct sunlight. It relies on a matte finish to remove that synthetic shine you can get with some inferior products.

Ezyturf 

Easyturf blends different shades of green with some yellow-beige curly thatch that mimics Australian backyard lawns incredibly well. It fits in neatly with your typical backyards without looking too engineered and synthetic. 

Pile Height and Density

The pile height and density with artificial grass helps determine how your lawn looks, how it feels under foot and how it withstands foot traffic. Each of our three artificial grass types has a different pile height and therefore density Ezyturf.sits at around 30mm high, while Everest tops out at around 45mm in height.

In general, the shorter the blades, the tougher their structural integrity. They can stay upright longer with higher foot traffic. If you’re planning a lot of outdoor time on your turf, you would do well to consider Easyturf.

The shorter artificial blades are also more tightly packed which gives a look of being freshly cut, without exposing the mat underneath.

Longer blades, such as with Everest, have a remarkably soft and lush feel under bare feet. 

Longer turf blades regulate the heat better than shorter blades, as wind can circulate through the blades more. Sand also holds the mat down and keeps the lawn cooler on hot days.

The taller lawns require more maintenance than the shorter ones, such as a regular sweep with a stiff-bristled brush to help remove dirt and to lift the blades back into the upright position.

Thatch and Matte Finish

Thatch

For a realistic look on an artificial lawn, we rely on a thatch layer at the base of the grass, and a matte finish to the blades. This replicates the look of real grass instead of a synthetic, reflective surface.

Thatch in artificial grass is made up of secondary fibres that are shorter and curlier than the primary blades of grass. They’re usually brown, tan or olive in colour to look like the dead foliage which is found at the base of most lawns.

Thatch adds physical weight to your turf, helping to anchor it to the ground and keep the blades upright. It adds cushioning, which makes it more comfortable underfoot.

Matte Finish

Sun reflecting off synthetic grass is not a good look. It screams plastic and fake. Our turf has a matte finish to reduce that plastic sheen you get from low-quality artificial turfs.

The matte finish scatters light rather than reflecting it. This helps give your lawn a natural look when you’re outside and it is bright and sunny.

With multi-tone colours and a good thatch, the matte finish is the final piece in the puzzle to get as natural a look in your artificial grass as possible.

How Does Realistic Artificial Grass Feel Underfoot? 

Good artificial grass feels soft, springy and cushiony underfoot, a lot like a healthy natural lawn. Modern polyethylene and polypropylene fibres have replaced the stiff plastic blades of the past, so they bend comfortably under bare feet. And unlike a real lawn, there are no bumps, holes or soggy patches. The surface is even all the way across.

Does Installation Affect How Realistic It Looks? 

Installation is everything. You could have the highest-grade artificial grass money can buy, but if it’s installed haphazardly, it will look fake, sloppy and unappealing.

A bad installation can give you:

• Bumpy grass. If you don’t properly level out the base beneath the grass you’ll end up with ripples or waves in your lawn, which is unnatural.
• Bad seams. Poorly laid artificial turf will show the obvious seams between rolls, making it look terribly fake.
• Wrong grain direction. Artificial turf has a grain to it, to mimic what a real lawn has. If you lay rolls in different directions, you end up with unsightly stripes across your lawn. This really stands out if you lay just one roll in the wrong direction.
• Not enough infill. If you skimp on the sand or other ceramic-coated particles for the base of your lawn, you risk your lawn looking bare and plastic, with the blades not springing back to attention after use.
• Lifting or wrinkled edges. If the roll doesn’t go all the way to the edge, it can lift up. Or if there is too much roll, it can get bunched up and give you a wrinkled effect, neither of which look good. 

Here’s what a proper installation from us looks like:

• Firm and flat. The foundation will be levelled with finely crushed aggregate to give a natural contour to your lawn.
• Correct orientation. All turf fibres will flow in the same direction. We brush infill down deep to give the artificial grass natural angles, not a uniform, carpet-like finish.
• Hidden joints. The turf is precisely cut to fit, and professional seaming tape makes any joints virtually invisible.

Synthetic Grass for Every Season in Melbourne

Melbourne can throw four seasons at your lawn in a week, and natural grass often cops the worst of it. Synthetic grass stays green through all of them, and you don’t need to mow, water or fertilise it.

Our Everest range has UV protection built for Australian conditions and is designed to reduce surface temperature by up to 30%. It also comes with a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Here’s how it holds up through the year:

• Low maintenance: No mowing, no edging and no watering, even when the dry spells and water restrictions roll in.
• Shady spots: That patch under the tree or along the fence where grass never takes? It stays lush and even.
• Wet winters and hot summers: It drains well after winter rain, so no mud, and it keeps its colour through summer heatwaves.
• Kid- and pet-friendly: Soft underfoot, with UV-stabilised fibres made for Australian conditions.

Artificial Lawn Specialists Melbourne: Choosing the Right Range

The right artificial lawn comes down to how you use your yard. A busy family backyard, a shady side passage and a pet-friendly courtyard all call for different options, and that’s much easier to judge in person than from a photo. 

We supply Everest, Fusion and Easyturf, all Australian made and backed by a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty, and we can help you pick the one that suits your property. Have a look through our gallery for ideas, then book a free measure and quote or call us on 0423 352 907.