Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jun 08, 2009 12:47 pm Hi Crew, have been reading through and following the posts the last few weeks. I was chasing some advice on soil preperation for laying turf next week. I think FU is the GURU but i am interested in peoples similar advice / experience. I am in Busselton for seasonal / temperature purposes. I have a standard post handover building site. sandy, bumpy and full of tile, brick and tin offcuts. So this weekend i am getting a kanga, screeding the yard to level it, will rake out any crap that i can collect, and then want to put some soils, fertilisers over the top in readiness for laying on monday. Any suggestions for what i need to ask for at my local soils? what fertilisers / wetting agents should i put in prior to and after laying. Thanks in advance for any advice offered. Shaun Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 2Jun 08, 2009 1:24 pm If you can get the ripper attachments for the dingo/kanga, deep rip the area to loosen up the subsoil (beware of pipes) otherwise it can become a hardpan. If clay is present you can spread some gypsum through or a good quality organic soil that also aids in breaking down the clay and improving soil structure. If on the other hand is very sandy (as I believe most of WA is) a good organic lawn mix soil will improve the water and nutrient holding ability of the soil. Level out your lawn area allowing for a bit of crossfall drainage and you can also rake in a wetting agent like saturaid or the like along with the fertiliser which mostly comes with the turf. . When your turf is laid, you can add some nitrosol/seasol over the top when watering in to improve root growth establishment into the soil below. If it is a warm season grass it's a good idea to top dress with washed sand or sandy loam that fills the joints and allows it to spread quicker. Keep it moist for the first few weeks, so you will need to be watering it Just be wary that if a warm season grass, it may not establish fully until the weather warms up again, as they are dormant over the cooler months. Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 3Jun 08, 2009 1:33 pm Looking at going for the FU approved Empire Zoysia... So will prob be slow groing till the weather picks up. Are you suggesting deep ripping to get rid of existing weeds / grass, will these die if i soil and lay turf over them anyway? By ripping attachment you mean the thing that im getting to dig the retic trenches? THanks for your advice Shaun Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 4Jun 08, 2009 4:02 pm also, if i am laying in one week, is it too late to spray any weeds / grasses that are already there or will the residual weed / grass killer be bad for the new turf. would lots of rain (is forecast for the rest of the week) allow the weeds / old grass to die and be washed away prior to new turf going down. cheers Shaun Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 5Jun 08, 2009 6:48 pm Your soil is sandy so no need to break up subsoil, not only that, the site prep for WA building sites is far more than anywhere else. Nearly all are levelled and retained prior to sale Lucky us Your topsoil is gone, goodbye ta ta Start again No doubt you'll want this done cheap as so visit (Fu Shudders ) Soils ain't soils in Busso, maybe "inside out" in Busso. Get some landscape mix (not the lawn mix). Get that dug through to at least 300mm but I prefer to go deeper to 400-500mm. That might sound like too much hard work for you? Na just jokes 300mm at least turned over through you rubbish sand Some stuff called "Olsens Green Bio" is also going to be great to get down and get that soil healthy. comes in a foil bag from nearly any garden centre and Bunnings. Zeolite or spongalite as well. It is a once of application that helps hold moisture and most importantly nutrients in the soil longer, slows nutrient leaching. Level it out and hire a small compactor from down at coates. Maybe Bunnings have a little one if coates doesn't. Firm the area up so you don't get bumps and diviots when laying. Do it like painting a wall. ie, cutting in the painting the main area. Lay the boarders out first, then lay inside that like the bricks on a wall Then do a few laps over it again to level it well and get that nice firmness. This way you first mow later won't reveal a horror story Then go have a beer Go see the fellas at True Blue turf in Capel for your Empire Zoysia 9754 8873. No fertiliser will be needed I can assure you. Too many folks are so caught up in that with little realisation of how little it gives your plants in comparison to what is spent on it. feed the soil You soil prep is all you need, it will stay moist enough over the next few months so no wetting agent needed down your way just yet. Grab a few bottles of Seasol that you hose on, some blood and bone, some molasses too. These will all help establish the soils micro flora and fauna which is really what gives you healthy plants (lawn included) Use the seasol every week for a month at least. Some powerfeed too (made the same mob) It all feeds the soil The roots will go nuts Might be ready for a mow after 6 weeks. Then some more blood and bone. More molasses too When summer shows up, get some Debco saturaid on the lawn or "munns wetta lawn and garden" Your retic, try use pop ups fitted with MP rotators. The are far more efficient than any other type other than subsurface. That is pricey under lawns. go see Southern Irrigation If you can't find zeolite then call Gayle or Phill at http://www.gardenersdirect.com.au/index.html they can get a bag of zeolite sent down to you perhaps It si about the size of a bag of potting mix usually. Should be someone in Busso selling it If you really want to go all out on good soil then these guys in Wongan Hills can send down this stuff no hassle. http://www.dsatco.com/PiggypostBulkBag/ ... roductName Your garden will blow your mind with that sort of stuff in the soil amazing results. Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 6Jun 08, 2009 6:50 pm Bugger the weeds, just get into it, dig the weeds in, they will rot fast enough. No need for any spray there WOFTAM in this circumstance. I can assure you that they won't start growing up through the turf, it just doesn't work like that Anything that you do see will have germinated after the turf has gone down. Just get the soil delivered, dig it into the sterile sand you have, weeds and all, and then as above Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 7Jun 08, 2009 7:50 pm I might also make mention that my methods may seem over the top to some. However the difference between my gardens and lawns is the long term benifits of reduced water use, reduced or no reliance on fertilisers for a high quality result. Plants stay healthy, lawns stay healthy. I haven't used a fertiliser on my lawn in a long time, in fact I can say maybe 2 times ever and that was a waste too Better results with reduced impact on the environment, less disease and less pest damage . I have seen lawns I did years ago that no matter when I go past, they still look good There's one house I know in particular, sold many times since I did it, I bet the owners have no idea why their lawn is always looking so much better than everyone elses Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 8Jun 09, 2009 6:55 pm not only funny, but full of rock solid information Fu. Was already advised of the landscape mix so cheers, will go for a 20mm spread (budget cant go any thicker...) Called to order empire and was advised by sellor to get the sapphire as i have kiddlewinks and the sapphire was softer year round. wasnt convinced but ill go with it unless you can convince me (again) otherwise. "Some stuff called "Olsens Green Bio" is also going to be great to get down and get that soil healthy. comes in a foil bag from nearly any garden centre and Bunnings. Zeolite or spongalite as well. It is a once of application that helps hold moisture and most importantly nutrients in the soil longer, slows nutrient leaching. " Would you suggest the above prior to laying the turf (mixed into the landscape mix / sand) compact beofre laying, just after or both? Cheers, Shaun Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 9Jun 10, 2009 7:22 pm yeah Shauno, get those things in before the lawn goes down. The zeolite is about $25 (I think I posted that? ) and the Olsens is about $20. If they suggested the sapphire then maybe you can get some Empress Zoysia down? That is finer and I find it unusual that they suggest the sapphire for a hard wearing area. Empire is much harder wearing than any turf and is soft so won't make the kids have sook. Maybe they have a stack of Saphire they want to off load before winter makes it go yellow Gets the sales up on Saphire too I would still get Empire Oh and rather than lay that 20mm soil dig it in a bit too mix it with what you have. That would be better, otherwise the roots will go straight through and you may as well not have done it. If your budget is constrained to a mixed layer of 20mm then you might be better off investing that money into more zeolite and Olsens. As well as the seasol and powerfeed / molasses for later Then every year rake some organic soil in with a very light covering That would work out better value for money Re: DIY Laying Turf, suggested products / fertilisers / soils et 10Jun 11, 2009 11:24 am yes FU, have told them i still want the empire zoysia. will blend in l/scape mix with what soil there is in the yard, spread in some zeolite and olsens and then give it a quick compact and lay the turf. give it another quick compact and water it in with some seasol, with molasses down the track too easy, thanks fu. S. I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1938 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 4329 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5895 |