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Hello everyone. I'm chasing some advice about how to get my lawn green and healthy.
The first photo is what the yard was like originally, a big overgrown shrub in the middle. We chopped it down and were left with a big dirt patch. But in its place some weedy looking grass has grown (2nd, 3rd & 4th pics).
In another section of the yard I have this type of grass/weed growing:
And in some places, the grass doesn't like to grow like the rest:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/JDM521/P1020470Small.jpgI have areas of the yard like the photo below, which is what I want everywhere. Nice, green, soft grass
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a307/JDM521/P1020468Small.jpgSo basically I'm wondering what I need to do to get all the yard like the last image. A few weeks ago I used a munns fertilizer product which helped it get back to a green colour after being dead for most of the winter.
Any help would be hugely appreciated.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23365A few things there mate.
First you have taken a good look at, fertilising. The munns product is good because it is tipping toward the organic side of things. However the industry standard is more about controlled release fertilisers than fast acting nasty ones. Scotts lawn builder is the best available in regard to those. However I personally never use fertilisers on my lawn and it is green as all year round. To me they really aren't required but that isn't everyones cup of tea. Folks love a bag of something to chuck around and see something change (as in colour) Great to hear you are not satisfied with that
Anyway, that gets all those weeds growing strong and healthy too. That makes them an even better target for the weedsprays
"Bin-die" by chemspray and a follow up spray with "winter Grass Killer" by Chemspray. It isn't winter grass you have but they sell more of it if they have that on the label
What that has is "endothal" in it and that is bloody magic for flogging the problem grasses from your lawn
When you use these types of things, always
1. spray in the morning
2. make sure your sprinklers aren't going to come on overnight or during the day.
3. It isn't going to rain for a few days.
4. Don't forget the seasol. You add a splash of Seasol to the mix. It will amplify the effect of the herbicide you spray.
5. Don't spray if it is windy
6. Add two or three drops of dishwashing liquid after you have filled the sprayer up. that helps the spray stick to the leaf better rather than beading off the fine hairs on the leaf
7. Wear long pants, covered shoes, and long sleeves and gloves.
Keep the area maintained so it gets as much sun as possible. Any shade and you will be pushing poo up a hill
Get some organic soil raked into the surface, aerate the area in your soil type. Maybe chuck some gypsum round but plenty of "powerfeed" regularly will out do the gypsum
Blood and bone is good enough if you get it without extra stuff in it. For you folks over east, Dynamic lifter for lawns or better still is sudden impact for lawns by neutrog.
Then go get some molasses. This stuff is a soil super food! It is readily used in the turf industry. search this forum for how to use it. Use my name as an author and molasses as subject
Should really see an improvement. Take some sections of the healthy areas and plant them into the crappy ones
Fu........you a dead set legend.
I will follow your advice and keep you informed with how I go.
I made a mistake in my first post...........I did in fact use a Scotts Lawn Builder fertilizer instead of the Munnz product.
In regards to the weed spray......I spray the Bindie first and then
straight after the winter grass killer? And this will rid any type of weed? Do I just stick to problem areas or should I spray the whole yard?
Do I wait for the weeds to die off completely first before proceeding to the next step of organic soil, molasses etc etc?
Best to wait a day or two before spraying the next lot. That way one spray isn't rinsed off the leaves by another sort
Wait till the weeds look like **** before you get into the next round of renovations.
The weeds are only there because the lawn doesn't want to be. too shadey, soil poor. Change that and the lawn will obey your every command. You could always get rid of it too
Saw a lawn area done with Grevillea Gin gin gem I think it was. It was clipped flat with a regular rotary mower. They set it to the highest setting and get an incredibly tough option to turf that has incredible flowers and uses next to no water once established
Fu, is there another option instead of the Winter Grass Killer? Been to a couple of shops today and only found the Bin-die one. Got some more shops to try tomorrow.
And what is the best way to aerate the lawn?
You should be able to get the winter grass killer (even though your problem isn't winter grass of course) from any Bunnings in Australia. I meantion them only because it is a sure bet they have it.
It is the active constituant in it of "Endothal". That is the stuff you want.
Aerating, well you can get some crappy novelty stupid shoes with spikes in the soles and walk around the yard like a tool for a while.
or you can get a garden fork and spend a few hours stabbing it into the ground
Or best is hiring a roller with spikes in it from a hire joint and doing a few laps round the yard.
On another note I see you are in Rockie, We were there a while back, we of course stayed in Yeppoon and was bloody chuffed with one restaurant there that provided hands down the best meal we have ever had in Australia. hands down! Michaels it was called. A real pleasure. The guy there is some international culinary genius type chef with al sorts of awards. Why is he in Yeppoon? Well who knows but they are very lucky to have him
Thanks again. I've already checked Bunnings, they only had the Bin-die stuff. I'll have a look at Mitre 10 and a couple of other places tomorrow.
I bought a garden fork this afternoon so I'll give that a go. How random do you poke the ground?
Unfortunately Michael's has closed down. Was our favourite restaurant to go to as well (proposed to my partner there under that big tree outside earlier this year
). Michael is down the road a bit in Emu Park at a joint called Coco's if you're ever up this way again.
Fu, I ended up hiring one of those drums with the spikes on it that you push around to aerate the lawn.............the thought of pitch forking the whole yard scared me
But the most it seemed to punch into the ground was about 10-15mm, the spikes are about 50-60mm long. I had the drum filled up with water to give it some weight. Does this mean my lawn is too hard? Should I have watered it first? Should I look into a motorised aerater...........because pushing and pulling this spike drum around the yard sure did work up a sweat. And apparently you can't quench a thirst with Jim Beam
Also, I've been doing some research into lawn aerators............ever seen this before? Reckon it would be worth looking into?
http://www.bladerunna.com.au/Products.php
Yep, good idea that
What will help break that soil up a bit in the long term is a combo of aeration, organic soils raked in, powerfeed with it's humic and fulvic acids and some gypsum. Of course molasses will help build the soils micro ecology and is also a good choice.
This is great, I will be looking at getting a Blade Runna! Also following Fu's directions for our lawn. Cheers.