A new landscaping product for stabilising hard-wear grassed areas will soon be available in South Africa. GrassProtecta grass protection mesh is a flexible, heavy-duty, thick, extruded thermoplastic grid for protecting and reinforcing grassed areas prone to becoming muddy and eroding in wet weather. Typical applications include grassed car parks and their overflow areas, emergency access routes, grass-verge protection and caravan parks. In agriculture, resting and collection paddocks at dairies, overflow spillways at dams, horse-exercise paddocks, parking areas, grassed light-aircraft runways and taxiways, emergency grassed access routes, grassed verges, footpaths and lawns.
GrassProtecta is laid directly onto the existing grassed surface. Every metre is secured with steel pins driven into the ground. If the surface is uneven, depressions should first be filled in with a mixture of sand, topsoil and seed, and then levelled. The grassroots and tillers soon grow through the mesh apertures and intertwine with the mesh filaments, creating a stable surface capable of supporting regular vehicle and foot traffic. The grassed area soon resumes a natural appearance. It’s advisable to allow this to happen – a few weeks typically – before using the surface. GrassProtecta is ideal for reinforcing grassed service-access routes, as it’s designed for high-load bearing of up to 8t per axle. For this application, a suitable sub-base to ensure adequate support must first be laid. No excavation or soil removal is necessarily required. The surface can be used immediately after installation, although it would obviously be preferable to wait until the grass has grown through and into it.
The mesh is manufactured from high density polyethylene. This thermoplastic material incorporates a foaming agent that gives the surface a rougher feel and creates a less slippery surface. As the green-coloured mesh is UV stabilised, rot resistant and chemically inert, it provides a long-term reinforcement solution. rassProtecta is manufactured in two grades, standard and heavy, to suit different load-bearing capacities, and is available in 1m and 2m wide rolls and in flat sheet packs. High levels of reinforcement – up to 8t per axle imposed load – can be laid for temporary use or for permanent applications.
Quickly installed, it’s a cost effective installation compared to paving grids. The installation of GrassProtecta is similar to that of Turfprotecta, turf-reinforcement mesh, except the edges are butted together and secured with the steel U-pins rather than incorporating an overlap. GrassProtecta is manufactured in the UK by Boddingtons, and will be imported and distributed by the new Port Elizabeth-based company IBIS (Pty) Ltd. – Chris Nel Contact Auriel Mitchley on (011) 889 0796 or at [email protected]
