Terminology – 3G, AstroTurf, Artificial Grass

What is the difference between Astroturf, 3G and Artificial Grass?

A lot of people use Astroturf, 3G and Artificial Grass interchangeably, however there are subtle differences between the words and they have slightly different meanings.

Astroturf

One of the most common ways of referring to Artificial Grass is ‘Astroturf’. Astroturf is actually an American company that sells Artificial Grass and specialises in large sports pitches and training grounds.
When Astroturf started selling Artificial Grass they were one of the only companies doing so. This subsequently led to the brand name Astroturf becoming the de facto term for Artificial Grass.

However, Astroturf has almost no presence in the UK and since the 1990’s the term Astroturf has evolved slightly. It is now common for Astroturf to be used as a phrase that refers only to sand-filled Artificial Grass football and hockey pitches.

astroturf-3g-muga-grass

3G

3G is an actual term for a noun and not the name of a business or a brand. 3G is an official name for the technology of using a rubber crumb in-fill on an artificial sports pitch and stands for Third Generation. The rubber crumb helps with cushioning and gives the ball a realistic bounce. Sports pitches also require longer pile heights than domestic gardens and therefore the rubber crumb is needed to support the longer blades of grass.

At Nomow, we also sell and install a product called Stadia 24. Stadia 24 is a synthetic sports pitch that doesn’t require a rubber crumb or a sand in-fill. Although there is no official definition for a 4G synthetic sports pitch, Stadia 24 could be considered as a Fourth Generation Artificial Grass.

Durability sports pitches 2

Artificial Grass

Artificial Grass would be the broad term that could be used to describe any man-made material that attempts to imitate natural grass. However, it is commonly used to refer to the types of Artificial Grass that you would see in a domestic garden. Artificial Grass comes in all different shapes and sizes. Nomow provides a full range from 7mm pile height to 45mm pile height and from realistic looking grasses to bright blue products with white flecks.

Empire in Garden

At Nomow we’re very used to the variety of different ways that people use to refer to Artificial Grass. We have 20 years of experience and our friendly staff would love to speak to you. Give the experts in Artificial Grass a call today – 0800 587 0380.

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