Hydroseeding Nara?

Hi all,

After reading lots of great stuff on the forum I've joined up!

Here goes my first question... I'm about to put in a new lawn in Melbourne - about 120sm. and have done the prep work but haven't finalised a lawn type. I have decided to try hydroseeding as it's considerably cheaper than instant turf but I'm finding it hard to get good info on lawn types that can be hydroseeded. I'm very interested in Nara Zoysia based on some of the reviews on this forum and others - but can't tell if it can be hydroseeded or not? (and if it can then where do I get the seed as the couple of hydroseeders I've spoken to said they can do it if I supply seed).

Any guidance / suggestions welcome.

Many thanks!

Nah not avaliable in seed, only turf rolls. ozbreed who are the breeders will be ablt to point you to a nursery that sells Nara in virocells (lawn plugs).

Thanks. I guess virocells would take months to establish a full lawn though?

Yep more than months more like 1.5 years. You can chuck perennial rye grass out to fill in the gaps but it will die in summer and you will have to re seed in autumn.

Ah - so much to learn.... preferably by asking questions and not making mistakes

Thanks

Dont be put off, Starting lawns by using plugs/sprigs/runners is an excellent cheap way to do it. Golf courses, parks, big gardens are often done this way. The reason it would take 1.5 years for a full lawn with nara is because it is slow growing. With kikuyu or couch or even the fast growing buffalo's you could have a full lawn in one growing season.

Hi Beatrix

Do you know where in melbourne I could get Saphire buffalo plugs from

Brett

FYI I went with Nara turf from Austral turf... been in 1.5 weeks and looking good. Was good quality turf and looking forward to letting the kids loose on it soon!

Thanks for the inputs

Make sure you keep the water up to it whilst it establishes

I let mine die off (stupidly did not water enough during establishment) it is patchy but is now coming back with a bit of TLC. It looks great everyone else whent with SW and the nature strips are SW so my house looks odd with a blue green nara instead of the dark green SW that everyone else has.

Just thought I'd update the post...

The first batch of Nara has been in about 5 months and get's lots of "lawn envy" comments from friends. A couple of patches browned off a little and I was surprised by how much seed head there's been but possibly I was partly to blame as I took a while to replace my dead lawnmower so let it got for a few weeks. I have a path along one side which is Lilydale toppings with a hardwood edge between them... it's growing into the path a little which suggests it's a great grower. I haven't compacted the path yet so I think once I do that and start edging the lawn properly it won't be a problem....

Overall very happy and no hesitation recommending it. In fact I just put in another 50m this week which now finishes off the backyard!

I'll try to remember to update again after winter - I know I'm still a little apprehensive about how much it might brown off / die back in a Melbourne winter. PM me if you're wondering and I haven't posted - I'm only a regular on the forum when I need something
(trying to be better at giving back too!)

Some pics would be terrific as well webgeorge.

Good idea... will try to get a couple new ones showing the whole area with the recent addition

<edited to fix image links>

yes. You will get more people interested in commenting if the photos are shared this way as many people are uncomfortable about going off site to view pics. Of course in reality they are viewing an offsite image still.

If you wish to do this yourself in future this is what you do:
Upload your photos to your usual place. Right click on the photo once it is uploaded. Copy the image location information. Post this image location information in your post. Add [img]to%20the%20beginning%20of%20the%20information%20and%20%20add[/img] directly after it.

Done - edited the above and fixed image links.

Thanks

Hydro seeding is not a method that sits comfortably with me because of the lawn varieties used.

Very highly recommend BK's advice of getting plugs. You'll have a lawn in no time. At times, this new age fan-dangled roll on turf is frustrating because people now can't see outside of turf being anything but instant. They treat it like carpet. Doing so is a big fail for a turf & a landscape more often than not.

It's excellent that people are looking outside of the square. Gives people a better appreciation for turf.
Doing plugs is also an excellent way to get a beautiful blend of different varieties planted together.
Try three types. They will blend beautifully and when one looks average, the others will dominate and keep the lawn looking good with out you being a slave to it or opening your wallet on it.