The Ralph Lauren flagship store on New York City’s tony Madison Avenue sported NewGrass™ in its summer line window display.

The store, at 867 Madison Ave., is the former Rhinelander Mansion and is among the few remaining truly great turn-of-the-century homes in Manhattan. One of New York’s finest architectural treasures, the building was built in the 1890s, but was later abandoned and fell into disrepair. Ralph Lauren began an extensive renovation project on the mansion in 1983 to re-create the classic opulence of the original structure.

“We’re thrilled to have our product used in such a beautiful and prestigious setting,” said Greg Goehner, president of NewGrass.
He added that the NewGrass team at the company’s headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., were now wearing Polo brand shirts with the NewGrass™ logo.

“We have the best-looking staff in town!” Goehner quipped.

Nike is meanwhile considering installing NewGrass™ in its retail shoe display at company headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., Goehner said.

“They’re considering having their line of shoes sit on NewGrass™ Rye,” Goehner said. “We should know more soon.”

Scottsdale, Ariz. – NewGrass is excited to announce its expansion into California, which continues to be hard-hit by draught and where water authorities are encouraging alternatives to traditional, water-hungry turf landscaping.

NewGrass Landscape & Design, based in Arlington, Texas, is launching an office in Los Angeles this month.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest for NewGrass™ from California” Trevor Brooks EVP of Marketing for NewGrass said.

The Los Angeles office is headed by Larry Reno, a veteran in the synthetic grass industry. He can be contacted at (800) 516-4916 extension 11. NewGrass Landscape & Design opened its doors about six months ago and has its eyes set on New York for its next expansion move.

The expansion into California gives residents and commercial property owners up and down the West Coast access to NewGrass™ sales and installation expertise. NewGrass™ currently has distributorships in the Phoenix/Scottsdale Valley and in Dallas-Fort Worth.

All or part of Texas, Arizona and California are suffering from continued draught conditions, and several of their municipalities are encouraging water-conserving landscaping alternatives such as NewGrass™.

The Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California earlier in July immediately began offering offer homeowners what it calls a “modest” rebate to install synthetic grass.

NewGrass™ will be featured in an episode of Modern Marvels that illuminates some of the newest trends in America’s pursuit of the perfect lawn.

The episode, “Modern Marvels: Yard Tech,” premiers on The History Channel this Thursday, April 12.

“For the last half-century, the American male has found relaxation, refuge and status in his yard,” the show’s producers said. “And the center of his efforts: the quest for the perfect lawn.”

“NewGrass is a synthetic grass that’s catching on in regions where water supplies are a problem,” the producers said. “And it’s a vast improvement on the Astroturf of the 1970s and 80s.”

“Modern Marvels: Yard Tech” will premiere on the History Channel on Thursday, April 12 at:

10 p.m. and 2 a.m. (Eastern)
10 p.m. and 2 a.m. (Pacific)
9 p.m. and 1 a.m. (Central)
8 p.m. and midnight (Mountain)

Check your local television directory as well, because the times may be different depending on your satellite provider.

Modern Marvels brings to life the stories of the companies and people who are the “doers, dreamers and sometime-schemers” who have created everyday items, the program’s producers say.

“Modern Marvels: Yard Tech” unveils the ingenuity, invention and imagination of modern yard technologies. It shows how NewGrass™ is an attractive and environmentally conscientious alternative in the quest for a beautiful lawn, especially in regions where water conservation is a growing concern.

The episode highlights NewGrass™ installed at the Arizona State University Campus Day Care Center, said NewGrass president Greg Goehner.

“We’re thrilled that a show like Modern Marvels features NewGrass™ as a valid alternative to natural turf,” Goehner said. “City after city in the West and Southwest is either restricting water use or offering residents incentives to replace sod grass with artificial grass … or doing both of those things.”

“Being recognized first by Bob Vila and now by Modern Marvels makes us feel good about what we have to offer and that NewGrass™ really is a lifestyle choice for people,” Goehner said.

NewGrass™ was recently featured on Bob Vila, the nationally syndicated home renovation and improvement show. When Vila was helping a young Massachusetts family add usable space to their suburban Boston home without adding on to their property, one solution was to replace their natural sod backyard with NewGrass™, one of the new generation of synthetic grasses.

“Modern Marvels: Yard Tech” will re-air on Friday, April 13, Saturday, April 14, and several times after that. Check your local listings or the History Channel Web site for these dates or any other information about this program or the series.

Based in Scottsdale, NewGrass™ features three varieties of synthetic lawns that have the look and feel of natural grass, without the maintenance or need for watering.

TEMPE, Ariz. – NewGrass™ has made a world of difference at a school for youngsters with special needs, and hefty donations of materials and labor made it all possible.

“Not only has it helped the children, it’s given us a whole new teaching area – outdoors on a nice lawn,” said Patty McCartney, director of Play ABA/Chrysalis Academy, in Tempe, Ariz. “The kids and teachers just love it. We’ve been doing a lot of the group activities outside. It’s opened up a new space for us. It’s given us an outdoor learning space.”

The bulk of the cost of the NewGrass™ installation was donated through the efforts of a school parent who is the operations director for a NewGrass™ distributor, STC (Synthetic Turf Company) of Scottsdale.

Play ABA/Chrysalis enrolls children in kindergarten through fourth grade who have social, language and behavioral deficits. These can include autism and other conditions that create problems related to tactile stimulation and reactions to certain environmental surroundings.

Playgrounds composed of dirt or lose ground coverings, such as bark or rocks, can pose considerable problems for these children. McCartney said many of her students would continually put the playground material in their mouths. Children with autism and other conditions are prone to do that even though they are at an age when other children have learned not to.

Natural turf grasses pose another problem as well. Many special needs children suffer more than normal from allergies. Play ABA/Chrysalis suffered from both challenges. They couldn’t grow grass because of the hot climate, poor drainage and tough soil. And the little grass they could maintain caused allergic reactions.
The school’s new artificial lawn has solved those problems and provided the unexpected benefit of adding an outdoor teaching are as well, said McCartney said.
Chris Harlien, operations director for STC (Synthetic Turf Company) of Scottsdale, was responsible for arranging the work to do the actual installation and the materials for the base and in-fill to landscape 1,450-square-foot play area at the 24-student academy.

Harlien’s daughter, Presley, is autistic and began attending Play ABA/Chrysalis this fall. When Harlien first visited the school, the surface of its play area was a combination of the dismal remains of traditional sod grass that had failed to thrive, a ground covering of bark chips, and even the deposits of an earlier attempt to apply a cover of rock and chipped rubber.

Harlien said the school approached him about the feasibility of synthetic lawn, when they learned he sold it for a living. The school knew a synthetic lawn would be a major improvement, but it didn’t have the money to buy one, McCartney said.
Harlien arranged for three of STC’s vendors to provide the backing and infill material for the installation. Harlien and a couple of friends installed the yard. The school paid for the cost of the NewGrass™.

The bottom line: Play ABA/Chrysalis got a $9,700 synthetic grass play area for $3,000.

Rockmart Landscaping Materials, in Chandler, donated nine tons of aggregate stone for the base material, said Tracy Stafford, assistant to the vice president of Rockmart.

For the installation’s infill, CRM of America donated 2,000 pounds of rubber crumbs and Atko Building Materials donated 4,000 pounds of sand.

“We’re thrilled with the result,” McCartney said. “The surface is ideal. If we move into a bigger space, we would definitely install this from the beginning.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – NewGrass™ artificial lawn is featured on an upcoming episode of Bob Vila, giving a young Massachusetts family a backyard they can finally enjoy.

“We planted sod three years ago,” said homeowner Sarah Monzon, whose two-story 1921 home in Melrose, Mass., casts a shadow over the small backyard. The yard also suffers from poor drainage and plenty of wear and tear from Monzon’s two young sons.

“The first year, we had dead spots,” Monzon said. “The second year, it was worse. The third year, it was nearly all dead. It looked terrible.”

Worse than looking bad, the backyard gave Monzon’s boys, ages 4 and 6, nothing but hard and scruffy dirt to play on. That also meant they were tracking dust and dirt – or mud - into the house year-round.

“Now, they have a lawn to play on, and they love it, even though we’ve had snow and it’s been cold lately,” Monzon said. “So I think they’re really going to love it this summer, when they can be out there all day long.”

She also said NewGrass™ is standing up to the test of daily wear and tear by her boys.

“Their bicycles don’t hurt it, and, neither do their scooters,” Monzon said. “They’ve brought the big guns out to play on it.”

And, it looks great, too, Monzon said. “It really sort of brightens your day to look out there and see a bright green grass outside the window,” Monzon said. “That was wonderful.”

The episode of the nationally syndicated home improvement and remodeling show airs the week of January 1 and marks the first time synthetic grass has been used as a landscaping alternative on Bob Vila. (To find out when the episode airs in your area, check the schedule at BobVila.com)

Based in Scottsdale, NewGrass™ features three varieties of synthetic lawns that have the look and feel of natural grass, without the maintenance or need for watering. Company president Greg Goehner oversaw the installation of Monzon’s 500-square-foot backyard.

“We’re very excited about this, to be a featured product on Bob Vila,” Goehner said. “And we’re thrilled with the family’s reaction to their new backyard.”

Re-landscaping was one strategy to create more useable space for the Monzons, without adding on to their home. Monzon’s landscape designer suggested synthetic grass for the backyard.

“I pooh-poohed it,” Monzon said. “But she told me that a natural lawn really is one of the highest maintenance things you can have. And ours hadn’t worked.”

Still, Monzon was skeptical. Her idea of artificial grass was of something from the ‘70s or ‘80s, the old- style short, stiff and unnatural-looking products that were more like “outdoor carpeting” than natural grass.

“But then I saw samples – they showed me NewGrass™ - and I was surprised at how real it looked,” Monzon said.

That didn’t end her skepticism, however. She’d heard rumors that artificial grass could be unhygienic.

“I did a lot of research, looking at all the pros and cons, and that was the one thing that I was concerned about - about sports teams that had had problems because of artificial grass,” Monzon said. “It turned out that the problem wasn’t the grass, it was the hygiene of the players. So, I was totally comfortable with it.”

Then, when the grass was installed, “it was incredible,” Monzon said.