Oh, faux real
It's getting tougher to tell the genuine product from the imitator
By Dan Vierria -- Bee Garden Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, July 9, 2005
Gardens have gone Hollywood. Landscape boulders and massive plant
containers can be tossed about like bags of marshmallows. Grass
remains green but never grows. Redwood decks aren't redwood at all.

Like movie props, faux garden products aren't what they appear. Bark
mulch may actually be shredded from recycled truck tires (Rubberific
Mulch is one brand).

"We've sold a lot of it," says Jared Simon of Emigh Ace Hardware's
garden department. "People buy it for flower beds where they have a
lot of trees. Regular bark blows away with the leaves when you're
using a blower. Rubberific is heavier, so it doesn't blow away."

Fake garden stuff can be anywhere these low-maintenance days. More
mainstream each passing year, the choices are multiplying. There are
now more than 60 synthetic decking brands.

Real or fake boils down to work or play. Would you really miss the
chore of staining wood decks? Would you rather mow the lawn or play
golf? Replenish the bark mulch in flower beds or go to a movie?

Consumers choose these masters of illusion because they appear
realistic, are low on maintenance, last longer than natural products
or don't require superhero strength to lift. Early imposters mostly
were considered tacky and easy to spot. But today's attention to
detail has made it more difficult to distinguish star from stand-in.

Lightweight resin containers may have real rust particles imbedded in
the "metal" surface. Campania's new Lead-Lite planters look like
expensive lead but can be lifted with two fingers.

Several faux garden products are manufactured from recycled materials,
a plus with environmentalists. It's a rainforest hardwood deck, right?
Hardly. It's a composite material by Trex called Brasilia, made from
plastic grocery bags and sawdust to resemble expensive and trendy
tropical hardwoods.

TimberWolf, a new composite fencing material, is made from recycled
fiber and polymer that would have been dumped in landfills, according
to manufacturer FiberTech Polymers of Newport Beach. The company
offers fencing that mimics both cedar and redwood, right down to the
wood grain.

Composite fencing boasts the same benefits as decking products, but
lags behind in selection and marketing. Trex, the company most often
associated with man-made decking, is nearly 10 years old. Other brands
include TimberTech, EverGrain, WeatherBest, ChoiceDek, Bear Board,
Deck Lok, CrossTimbers and GeoDeck.

In its July issue, Fine Homebuilding magazine reports a 198 percent
increase in synthetic decking sales from 2000 to 2004. Fake wood can
cost two to five times the cost of pressure-treated wood but is
competitive with premium grades of redwood. The cost factor becomes
more balanced over a period of years from not having to restain
natural wood or replace rotting timber.

A high-maintenance lawn can be traded in for artificial turf, which
has come a long way since the carpetlike AstroTurf. The best products,
while pricey, have individual grass blades and are difficult to
differentiate from nature's finest. The neighborhood's most stunning
lawn just might be polyethylene instead of a tall fescue and Kentucky
bluegrass mix.

"Most people are purchasing it because they can't grow grass and they
want that green look," says Annie Costa of TuFFGrass Lawnscapes in
Grass Valley. "They have too much shade, too much sun or bugs.
Typically, they have hard, clay soil. In certain neighborhoods, it's
water meters and the cost of water."

Artificial rocks can be constructed from urethane, foam, polyethylene,
fiber-reinforced plastic and other lightweight materials. They're
painted and detailed down to moss if that's desired.

Faux stones and boulders can have several uses, including hiding
speakers, ant bait stations, rat and mouse traps, electrical outlets,
pumps and septic tank pipes. Large boulders are useful for
constructing waterfalls and decorative outcroppings, especially where
backyard access for Bobcats is a challenge. You can hand-carry these
lightweights into the backyard with the indifference of the Incredible
Hulk.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/lifest...14039349c.html


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"I don't feel the need to be famous. It's all bull**** anyway....Having people around me just because I'm famous makes me feel really bad about myself. So I give 10% to my agent to do the fame thing, and I go focus on whatever I love."
-- Jessica Alba