Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 08, 2022 12:26 pm Hello everyone, I'm a new homeowner in QLD (moved in about 4 months ago) and have never had to maintain a lawn before so please excuse my ignorance on what may be silly questions. I have a couch lawn (8x10m) which for the most part has been well behaved. There is however a patch of soil that is in almost perpetual shade due to the fence and roof so the grass doesn't really grow there. To make it worse, we have had nutgrass (if im identifying it correctly) growing in that area, possibly coming in from the other side of the fence (as pictured below). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The mrs and I have decided to have a raised flower bed in the bare soil area (the box on the ground type as opposed to the elevated types) and I'm looking for advice on how to best approach setting up the flower bed without having to worry about nutgrass growing in it. I've read about putting a barrier at the base of the flowerbed (cardboard or a weed mat) to smother the weed then top that with soil/compost and mulch. Given how nutgrass propagates from the 'nuts' underground, can they even be smothered in that manner? For now, I've been trying to control the nutgrass by digging it out and using herbicides (Sedgehammer). I've applied Sedgehammer twice now (once 6 weeks ago and again 2 weeks ago when new sprouts started popping up). The nutgrass leaves have yellowed and no new sprouts seemed to have popped out (for now) but am wary how quick they can propagate and grow. Ideally, i'd want to eliminate the weed in the area before I put the flower bed in but it feels like that would be a long wait. I did read in this forum that using Amgrow wintergrass killer would be another solution (better??) to getting rid of the nutgrass though i dont want to stress the soil too much with herbicides too quickly. I'd really appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to tackle this problem!! Cheers! Re: New homeowner looking for advice on "lawn to flowerbed" 2Nov 12, 2022 8:11 am Others may have a lot more experience than I have on this topic but my first house had a nut grass patch. I found herbicides were not really effective. I kept the area covered with sugar cane mulch and encouraged worms. Once the worms arrived the soil was easily workable. I then carefully dug out the nut grass following the root system and nuts. Ie don’t wait for the grass to sprout. It was not hard but it did take persistence. the leaves that are now underground go yellow, the tips that poke through photosynthesise and have chlorophyll, same reason they grow rhubarb in the dark. 5 5386 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 22331 Hi, I am looking into doing a KDR in Melbourne and am contemplating using Kialla Homes. I am looking for feedback on them from others who have built with them. 0 14237 |