Artificial Grass Getting Too Hot in Summer: Why It Happens and What Helps

Real grass keeps itself cool by transpiring, drawing water up and evaporating it from the leaves. It is effectively an evaporative cooling system, which is why a natural lawn stays close to air temperature until it dries out and goes dormant.

Synthetic fibres have no water to evaporate, so they simply absorb solar energy and re-radiate it. Darker fibre colours absorb more, and a dense pile presents more surface area to the sun.

The base matters too. Artificial grass laid over a mortar or concrete base stores heat during the day and gives it back for longer into the evening than grass over a permeable stone base. Rubber crumb infill is another heat store, which is one reason it is used far less on domestic lawns than it once was.

Water is the most effective thing available to you and it costs almost nothing. A short spray from a hose drops the surface temperature immediately, and unlike a real lawn you are not watering to keep anything alive, just to cool it. Give it a minute before the dog goes out on a hot afternoon.

Shade is the most effective long term answer. A pergola, a sail, a tree or even a large parasol over the part of the lawn people actually use makes far more difference than any product feature. If you are planning a garden from scratch, siting the seating and the synthetic lawn where they catch afternoon shade is worth more than any specification change.

Specification helps at the margins. Lighter fibre colours, a slightly lower pile density and a free draining stone base with sand infill rather than rubber all run cooler than the alternatives, and some manufacturers offer fibres designed to reflect more heat. These are real differences, but they moderate the temperature rather than eliminate it.

The practical pattern most families settle into is simple. On the handful of genuinely hot days each year, hose the lawn before use in the afternoon, and give dogs a shaded spot they can choose instead. Dogs regulate heat through their paws and will self select shade if it exists, so providing it matters more than anything else.

Check the surface with the back of your hand before letting a dog out on it, the same test people use for tarmac pavements. Mornings and evenings are unaffected, and the issue is confined to direct midday and afternoon sun.

It is also worth keeping in perspective. Paving, decking and tarmac all get hot in the same conditions, and the comparison people should make is against what the space would otherwise be, not against an idealised lawn that stays green and cool through a drought.

We talk about aspect before we talk about product. Which way the garden faces, where the shade falls in the afternoon and what the lawn is going to be used for all shape what we recommend, including sometimes recommending a smaller area of grass with paving or planting where the sun is hardest.

We build on a free draining stone base with a sand dressed infill rather than rubber, which keeps less heat and drains properly, and we are happy to walk you through fibre colour and pile options with a straight explanation of what difference they will and will not make. Our artificial grass installations are covered by our ten year guarantee.