Grass / Lawn

[cprted]

Greetings all,

Has anyone dealt with or created artificial grass on stage? We've looked at Syn-Lawn and although the local dealer has offered us a pretty good discount, it is still a touch on the pricey side. So I was wondering if anyone had some good tricks up their sleeves for decent artificial lawn.

Unfortunately, real turf is out as this is for one of three one-act plays and needs to be struck within the confines of a ten to fifteen-minute intermission.

Thanks in advance.

[kicknargel]

I've seen both cheesy astroturf and shag carpet transformed into really convincing grass with the aid of a good scenic artist. You have to add variation (and some browness).

Nick Kargel
www.youwantwhatproductions.com

[icewolf08]

I have worked with a faux grass product that looks pretty decent, though I can't remember what it was called. It is very similar to floral sheeting which is a vinyl product used a lot for covering parade floats. There is a grass sheeting version of this what works pretty well. If you have a good painter it can be painted to look very real.

[Van]

I just purchased Syn-lawn from a local retailer for All My Sons, there simply is no substitute, it's great. However, a really good quality AstroTurf with scenic painting for texture will get the job done. I've also used raffia grass mats. They tend to shed like a St. Bernard in Jamaica, but they do look pretty good for an unkempt lawn look.

Oh one more, slightly morbid place..... called a local funeral home or cemetary, they sometimes use a high quality astro turf like product to cover freashly dug graves....... < is it Halloween yet ?>

[cprted]

Well after weighing all the options, we're going to invest in the Synlawn. Thanks all for your suggestions. Van, those raffia mats look very cool. Definitely something to file in the back of mind mind.

[gafftaper]

A couple years ago I need some grass for "All my sons". I contacted the "Field Turf" company who do all the new football stadium fields with fairly realistic looking stuff. They gave me a piece that was about 20'x40' for free. I had to drive down to a town 20 miles south of Portland to get it (Wilsonville), but it's pretty nice. Blades are about 2 1/2" to 3" high so it looks like it needs to be mowed pretty soon, but it's much better looking than typical astroturf.

[gafftapegreenia]

Gafftaper and Van hit the nail on the head. We too looked at the Synlawn options when we did All My Sons, but it was deemed to expensive. In the end we went with the astrotturf and our student scenic did a decent job or masking it, but it wasn't ideal.