Types of Artificial Turf (and What It's Actually Made Of)

Spec sheets make every roll of artificial grass sound like a different species, and most “types of artificial turf” guides online are written to sell you the most expensive one. So here’s the version from behind the counter: there are really only a few types of artificial turf that matter, and they sort three simple ways — by what it’s made of, by what it’s for, and by the shape of the blade. Get those three straight and the right roll picks itself.

What Artificial Turf Is Made Of

Before the types, the parts. Every roll of artificial turf is three things stacked together.

The blades are plastic fiber — the green you see. Most are polyethylene, extruded into a blade shape and tinted in a few tones so it doesn’t read as one flat color. Mixed in is a thatch layer: shorter, curly, often tan-or-brown fibers down at the base that imitate the dead-grass layer of a real lawn and help the blades stand up. The whole encyclopedia-length version of how this is manufactured is on the Wikipedia entry for artificial turf if you want the deep cut.

The backing is what those blades are stitched into. Ours is a double polypropylene layer with a polyurethane coating and quadruple drainage holes, which is what lets a monsoon downpour drain straight through instead of pooling. Cheap turf skimps here, and it’s the part you never see until it fails.

The infill is the sand or coated-mineral granules brushed down between the blades after install. It weights the turf, holds the blades upright, and — depending on the type — manages heat and pet odor. People obsess over the blade and ignore the infill, which is backwards; we wrote a whole guide on how much infill you actually need because it matters that much.

Types of Turf by Material

There are three fiber materials, and the differences are real.

The fiber material sets the ceiling on softness and durability. For a real lawn, polyethylene is almost always the right call.

All four of our landscape rolls — Lush 70, Lucky 77, Lush 80, and Lush Primo — use polyethylene blades, because for a yard you actually live on, PE is the balance of soft and tough you want. We keep nylon to the putting green product, where stiff and fast is the point.

Types of Turf by Use

Same materials, tuned for different jobs. This is the split most people actually shop by.

Landscape turf is the standard lawn product — multi-tone blades, a thatch layer, a pile around 1.4 to 1.8 inches, built to look like a healthy yard. That’s the bulk of what we sell for residential turf.

Pet turf isn’t always a different roll so much as the same durable turf paired with fast drainage and the right infill for odor control. What matters for dogs is permeability and a base that drains, which our pet-friendly turf is set up for.

Putting green turf is its own animal: short, dense, tightly stitched, and directional so a golf ball rolls true. No soft thatch, much shorter pile. It’s the turf behind a backyard putting green, and it doesn’t cross over to lawn duty.

Sports and playground turf leans on safety — a shock pad underneath and a specific infill to cushion falls. The university research on how these surfaces behave, including heat and wear, is covered well by the University of Illinois Extension.

Types of Turf by Blade Shape

This is the one buyers rarely ask about and should. The cross-section of each individual fiber changes how the turf wears and feels.

A W-Blade has a ribbed, W-shaped profile. It stands up to foot traffic without matting and its shape helps reflect some heat — which is why our Lush 70, Lucky 77, and Lush 80 all use it. It’s the blade for a yard that gets used by kids and dogs.

A C-Blade curls like the letter C. It’s softer and plusher underfoot and reads as more luxurious, which suits a front yard you want to show off. Our Lush Primo, at a 1.77-inch pile and 100 ounces, is the C-Blade in the lineup — beautiful, but not the pick for a dog run. You can see how all of this lines up against your use in our guide to choosing the right artificial grass.

Which Type Is Right for Your Yard

Short version: match the type to the job, in this order — material, then use, then blade shape and pile.

So that’s every type that matters, sorted the way we actually sort them at the counter. We stock all of it — the four polyethylene landscape rolls and a dedicated putting green turf — across the Arizona service area from our Mesa yard and across Utah from Provo, at contractor pricing for everyone. Swing by, flip a few samples over, and call Mesa at (480) 910-2440 or Provo at (385) 335-9042. We’ll help you land on the right type, which is usually the boring, durable one — and we mean that as a compliment.