Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 12, 2009 6:06 am The Fu Signal Hi Fu, From the advice you've given in various posts, is this a reasonable summary for preparation & laying of turf on new building site ? 1.Cultivate the existing soil with a cultivator 2.Add Powerfeed & Dynamic Lifter 3.Organic soil 4.Rake with nail rake 5.Firm down the soil with a compactor 6.Use soil/sand spreader - don't understand this part - spreading what? 7.Lay turf - borders 1st & remainder in herringbone pattern 8.Finally compactor again over the turf - but won't this damage the turf ? Which of the steps above are ESSENTIAL & which can we leave out if absolutely necessary ? Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade
Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 2Aug 12, 2009 1:16 pm kind of, but for those in WA reading this please avoid the use of the DPM (densified poultry manure product, not suitable) I would forget it anyway. No substitute for good soil. I will be doing a write up on this for sure, very soon too. It may feature becsters back lawn which we got a few pics of as we went along Fu manchu I want to post up this clip where Sustainable Outdoors' ,Simon Pawley, shows in a few minutes what I rabbit on about all the time for you guys. Perth and WA coasters, heads up. Sandy Sydney parts, Heads Up my peeps. Making a future proof soil with Bentonite Clay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtBkWDdp ... e=youtu.be Now the rest of the amendments ring very true for everyone else including WA. Zeolite, Perlite, spongolite, organic compost and yes if you want add some clean sand to clay soils before laying turf if you want. http://www.sustainableoutdoors.com.au/bentonite-clay/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6N_JLBR ... re=related Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 3Aug 12, 2009 4:49 pm So Fu, as we are shortly to buy the turf, can I follow those steps? What step/s could I possible leave out, if any, that wouldnt' be detrimental to the turf. I have a DH who doesn't appreciate the effort & cost involved Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 4Aug 12, 2009 11:48 pm 1. till the soil with a cultivator, hire a small one. 2. get certified organic soil (and in a clay soil some lawn sand too) delivered and dig it through with the cultivator to around 300mm at a minimum, deeper if possible. 3. mix in gypsum and add in powerfeed to which will act quicker than gypsum. 4. add spongolite and zeolite if you can. These help hold nutrients and do some other things too. 5. I suggest using "Olsens green bio" as well. 6. level with a nail rake to some extent and then hire a soil spreader (it's like a broom with bars on it instead) Then rake with a wide plastic leaf rake. 7. do a quick lap with the compactor (in sandy soils you will want to spend some time on this, best get a cold beer ready to have on hand ) rake over again to make sure it is all level and fairly firm. 8. lay out the borders first like painting a wall. 9. roll out the turf. 10. firm it up with the compactor and concentrate on high spots. 11. get plenty of seasol onto it and powerfeed regularly. Also get some molasses on it. 12. lots of water everyday unless good rain has occurred. 13. lots of powerfeed over the months to come. 14. every few months hit it up with some molasses and blood and bone. 15. regular use of wetting agents through the year. *a wetting agent won't be needed when first laying. Note the absense of the particular DPM product you mentioned in your first post. I don't wish to use brand names when it comes to that. If you feel compelled to use a bagged product in the preparation, go for the Nutrog "seamungus". Not a necessity though. *for folks in Perth or sandy locations the methods are different so please, you'll have to wait for more info on that or visit http://www.greatgardens.info/events.php and book in to attend one of these amazing free workshops I do stress there is a bit more to it, but I'm not going into detail which may be a relief to some Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 5Aug 13, 2009 7:49 am OMG...... I didn't expect such a lengthy response. Thankyou very very much Fu for your generosity in listing all the required steps !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're a gem - at the very minimum Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 7Aug 17, 2009 12:48 pm Southies Hi Fu, From the advice you've given in various posts, is this a reasonable summary for preparation & laying of turf on new building site ? 1.Cultivate the existing soil with a cultivator 2.Add Powerfeed & Dynamic Lifter 3.Organic soil 4.Rake with nail rake 5.Firm down the soil with a compactor 6.Use soil/sand spreader - don't understand this part - spreading what? 7.Lay turf - borders 1st & remainder in herringbone pattern 8.Finally compactor again over the turf - but won't this damage the turf ? Which of the steps above are ESSENTIAL & which can we leave out if absolutely necessary ? Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 8Aug 29, 2009 11:52 am moody So which one do you think is better? A roller or motorised compactor for flatterening the soil before and after laying the turf? Thinking the same thing.....?? My Blog... http://ahouseonthehill.blogspot.com/ Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 9Aug 29, 2009 2:03 pm A compactor, the comparisons are not worth comparing them together. You will need also a soil spreader and wide plastic lawn rake and nail rake. If you want to go all out, take the time to screed the area as well, then rake over. The screeding is really only practical for smaller areas. 100m2 plus is going to take a while to screed ... I prefer to do that but the cost to the client is a bit scarey for most. Do it your self and the result is not compromised. Soil prep is the key! Don't layer it on top as I mentioned! Hire a small plate compactor, soil spreader, extra barrow if needed, and most importantly a small soil tiller or rotary hoe. Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 10Aug 29, 2009 2:10 pm Sorry then lay out the turf. Lay it like you would paint a wall. Do the boarders first (cut in) and then lay the rest inside that boarder. Don't allow the ends to match so you may have to cut some rolls so they lay like a brick wall. Lay going back and forth, Keep the roll going in alternate directions back and forth. That way you get the cuts giving you an MCG look To cut the turf, an old steak knife is great for fiddly bits and a small timber hand saw for the rest. Once done, water very well, run the compactor over it again to bed the rolls in and firm and level it up. Grab the seasol and hose on every week for at least a month. Powerfeed too and an aplication of molasses is going to do wonders. However going to that effort with little or poor soil prep to cut costs means the whole job is barely worth doing at all. If the lawn has nothing good to grow deep into, then the lawn won't end up any good Don't buy a $10 roll and lay it onto $1 soil because you will get a $1 lawn Sure you can get cheap soils from the landscape joint down the road but where ever possible get "certified" (BFA or NASSA) organic soils. Pay the extra and they will pay you back ten fold over the years and years to come No comparison between the two. Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 11Aug 29, 2009 2:22 pm For bends, you crinkle up the edge or lift it up in section on the side opposite the bend. Then just use the saw to cut a wedge out and make it lay flat Then as mentioned lay inside that and cut the inside rolls to fit the boarder. Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 12Aug 29, 2009 7:50 pm Great reading Fu. Just out of interest what is organic soil worth? I am going to need to cover a fair area (16 m wide x 5m long) and going to need to use a lot of soil due to the area being mainly clay. Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 13Aug 29, 2009 9:16 pm In clay use a combo of sand for drainage and organic soils for structure and their natural ability to begin the process of breaking up the clay and develop a healthy soil. Certified organic soil will cost around $100-$150 a cube. However not as much is needed as with lower quality non certified soils. Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 14Aug 29, 2009 9:37 pm Fu Manchu Certified organic soil will cost around $100-$150 a cube. However not as much is needed as with lower quality non certified soils. Ok so for a space of about 115 sq m (front and back garden and lawn) how much would I need if I am going to use a digger to dig it all through? 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 15Aug 29, 2009 9:54 pm 3-4m3 at a pinch. More would be better Don't forget you'll need some sand as well so that will reduce the volume needed over in Mexico there Here we need to bulk up the soil with as much as possible, we already have lots of sand You need to look at this though. Lawn fertiliser ~$30-$40 an application. x every 6- 10 weeks in many cases. Herbicides, around $20-$30. x several times a year. In Perth there is the water costs (but we absolutely have to use irrigation with our soil type and climate) to consider as well. Good soil will smash your lawns reliance on water. It will smash the weed problem. Weeds are a symptom of a poor soil or weak lawn. Weak lawns come about from a reliance on fertiliser. Oh then there is the "dreaded" lawn beetle What a crock that is watching everyone getting sucked into the pesticide treatments every year "Oh it's lawn beetle, That's ya problem" (any lawn will have them and a healthy one won't be affected in the slightest by them even in summer ) These treatments when done how they should be will cost $30-$40 an application which need to be repeated every 10 days for 4 cycles to break the breeding cycle. Miss one and you just wasted your time and money. Better to invest that money into organic soils anyway Just some of the costs associated with your turf for years to come. It will add up very quickly and exceed in years to come what you spend now on good soil Not to mention the reduced amount of time you are fluffing about with the turf and it will look much better for ever more Now when you view it like that, your certified soil isn't so expensive That doesn't even take into consideration the reduced impact the lawn will have on the environment. *Remember too that the only thing a lawn can do that nothing else can is provide a play area for kids Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 16Aug 29, 2009 10:05 pm Thanks Fu! I'm new to gardening so really appreciate your advice and help It's hard sometimes to think that more money now is better and cheaper long term!! I know it makes sense in my head, it just hurts the bank account for now but I am trying to look at this as a blank canvas and I have to try to get it right the first time 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 17Aug 31, 2009 3:55 pm Fu Manchu In clay use a combo of sand for drainage and organic soils for structure and their natural ability to begin the process of breaking up the clay and develop a healthy soil. Certified organic soil will cost around $100-$150 a cube. However not as much is needed as with lower quality non certified soils. Great work Fu... So much info to digest. Just what we need! What would the organic soil to sand ratio be with clay soil?? Cheers, Mike. My Blog... http://ahouseonthehill.blogspot.com/ Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 18Aug 31, 2009 11:45 pm You could go 30 70 in favour of sand if you wanted it on an absolute budget but there are other things that you will deal with latter down the track. About 50-50 would be good. or 60-40 in favour of organic soil. don't get too caught up with all that. Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 19Sep 14, 2009 6:21 am Would I follow these same steps if I was to lay down seed instead of turf? Re: TURF LAYING SUMMARY - FU 20Sep 14, 2009 6:06 pm I would very strongly advise against the use of seeded turfs. These are cool season turfs that consume large amounts of water to stay green in summer. There are many in the turf industry that want a responsible approach taken to these and have them banned. If you still want one, choose a Munns turf seed, they have the best germination rates on the market. Better still is to use Munns Emerald Kike. It is a fairly non or less invasive form of Kikuyu. It is available in boxes. Have some black tiles in our bathroom on one feature wall laid on top of the waterproofing. What I think is efflorescence or white chalky looking grout has turned the… 0 2162 I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 2637 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. 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