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Pile height and weight per square metre — the rest is colour

Artificial grass, compared

Artificial grass is the one product on this site that replaces the lawn rather than maintaining it, and the corpus shows what the market actually sells under the word: outdoor carpet for balconies and terraces, in rolls cut to order, rather than the heavy sand-filled systems laid over a prepared base. Reading that distinction is the first job, and the weight per square metre is what reveals it — a light terrace carpet and a garden-grade turf differ by a factor of three in grams, and that figure predicts how it looks after two summers better than any photograph. The pile height is the headline: short piles look like a mown sports surface and stand up to traffic, long ones look softer and lie flat where they are walked on, which is why a 40 mm turf in a doorway is matted within a season. The width and length matter because these are sold from a roll — typically 100, 200 or 400 cm wide — and a terrace that needs two widths needs a joint, which is the part of the job that shows. The backing decides whether it can be laid outdoors at all: a latex backing with punched drainage holes lets rain through, a solid one holds puddles. And UV stability is the claim that separates a product that stays green from one that goes grey on its south side — makers who publish a UV rating or a warranty in years are saying something checkable, and most say nothing. We compare pile height, width, length, weight, backing, drainage and UV.

Every part here, laid out figure by figure

  1. Artificial grass mat with short soft pile

    KARAT SKY Riviera

    Soft polyethylene at 14 mm on a 1.5 m² mat — and the only listing here that never mentions drainage.

    Pile height
    14 mm
    Width
    100 cm
    Length
    150 cm
    Weight
    Not published
    Backing
    Not published
    Drainage
    Not published — the only listing on this shelf that does not mention it
    UV
    UV-resistant, stated; free of lead and cadmium
    Amazon reference
    B0GLGLWKH6 (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    4067631485794
    • Polyethylene, which is the soft fibre — the right choice for anything walked on barefoot
    • States it is free of lead and cadmium, which only one other listing here addresses
    • No drainage or backing described, and every other listing here names one

    Best for: A small balcony or a single seating area, under cover, where it will not be rained on hard

    Check price on Amazon
  2. Tall-pile artificial grass mat with latex backing

    AKCILA MAJORKA

    A 33 mm pile in pure polypropylene on a perforated latex backing — tall, and stiffer than it looks.

    Pile height
    33 mm
    Width
    150 cm
    Length
    150 cm
    Weight
    Not published
    Backing
    Latex
    Drainage
    Drainage holes in the latex backing
    UV
    UV-resistant and colourfast, stated
    Amazon reference
    B0G1JF725X (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    5907266578821
    • One of the tallest piles here at 33 mm, which reads most like grass from a distance
    • A named backing material with drainage holes
    • Polypropylene at 33 mm is stiff underfoot, and tall pile flattens under furniture

    Best for: A terrace or pool surround where it should look like grass and nobody lies on it

    Check price on Amazon
  3. Roll of green artificial grass five metres long

    Foxx 100 × 500 cm

    The cheapest square metre here and the only listing citing an EU chemical regulation — with no pile height.

    Pile height
    Not published
    Width
    100 cm
    Length
    500 cm
    Weight
    Not published
    Backing
    Not published
    Drainage
    Integrated drainage, stated to prevent standing water and mould
    UV
    UV- and weather-resistant, stated; REACH-compliant
    Amazon reference
    B08G1SRNS3 (one reference across 2 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    4251824403676
    • About 7.00 € per square metre — the cheapest on this shelf
    • The only listing here that names an EU chemical regulation and explains it
    • No pile height and no fibre material published

    Best for: Covering a long narrow balcony or a strip of decking, cheaply

    Check price on Amazon
  4. Artificial grass roll with rubber backing and microchannels

    PUCHIKA 100 × 300 cm

    Both fibre types and a named backing compound — the most complete material declaration on this shelf.

    Pile height
    25 mm
    Width
    100 cm
    Length
    300 cm
    Weight
    Not published
    Backing
    Rubber, with styrene-butadiene latex
    Drainage
    Built-in microchannels
    UV
    UV-resistant, stated
    Amazon reference
    B0BP22RKSM (one reference across 5 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    0761259155711
    • Names both fibre polymers and the backing compound — the fullest material statement here
    • A rubber backing with stated slip resistance, which matters on a smooth balcony floor
    • About 15.31 € per square metre, near the top of this shelf

    Best for: A balcony or terrace floor that is smooth and slippery when wet

    Check price on Amazon
  5. Green needle-felt grass carpet with dimpled backing

    Primaflor - Ideen in Textil Comfort 2.00 × 3.00 m

    Not tufted grass but a needle-felt carpet at 5 mm — and the only product here with a weight and a fire class.

    Pile height
    5 mm total height — a needle-felt grass carpet, not a tufted grass
    Width
    200 cm
    Length
    300 cm
    Weight
    850 g/m² — the only weight published on this shelf
    Backing
    Dimpled back
    Drainage
    Permeable structure with a drainage effect; the dimples ventilate from below
    UV
    UV-stabilised, stated; fire class Efl
    Amazon reference
    B00B5CV5YM (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    4260338841027
    • The only weight per square metre on this shelf, at 850 g/m²
    • The only fire classification here — Efl
    • It does not look like grass close up — it is a felt carpet with a grass colour

    Best for: A balcony floor, a camping ground sheet, or anywhere flat and hard-wearing matters more than realism

    Check price on Amazon
  6. Tall four-colour artificial grass roll

    ECD Germany IP-2373

    The tallest pile on this shelf, in PE and PP on a double backing — 4.5 m² in one 1.5 m roll.

    Pile height
    35 mm — the tallest on this shelf
    Width
    150 cm
    Length
    300 cm
    Weight
    Not published
    Backing
    Double backing, stated for extra stability
    Drainage
    Water-draining and quick-drying, stated
    UV
    UV-resistant, stated
    Amazon reference
    B0GVNDBYJR (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    4064649262911
    • A four-colour pile, which is what stops tall artificial grass reading as carpet
    • Both fibre polymers named, and a double backing
    • About 15.78 € per square metre — the dearest on this shelf

    Best for: A terrace or garden corner meant to read as grass, with nothing heavy standing on it

    Check price on Amazon
  7. Large roll of artificial grass four metres wide

    Mazovia 400 × 500 cm

    Twenty square metres in a single 4 m width — the only piece here wide enough to need no seam.

    Pile height
    Not published
    Width
    400 cm — the only piece here wide enough to need no seam
    Length
    500 cm
    Weight
    Not published
    Backing
    Not published
    Drainage
    Small openings on the underside
    UV
    Stated resistant to rain, frost and sunlight
    Amazon reference
    B0D11KZTQ5 (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)
    EAN
    5905285387578
    • A 4 m width — the only piece here that covers a typical balcony or terrace with no seam
    • 20 m² in one purchase, at about 13.40 € per square metre
    • No pile height, no material, no weight and no fire classification

    Best for: A whole balcony or terrace covered in one piece, where the seamless finish is the point

    Check price on Amazon

The live figure beside a product went and asked the shop for it the moment this page opened; any amount written into the text has not moved since the sentence was drafted, and it is the first of the two that counts.