Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 14, 2009 9:13 am I am laying some turf tomorrow and wanted to know what would be the most recommend way to prepare the soil before the turf is layed fertiliser wise only. i.e. which product to mix into / on top of the top soil. I was thinking either Dynamic lifter or Powerfeed but would like to see what others suggest. Thankyou. P.S. I am laying Empire Zoysia Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 2Aug 14, 2009 11:33 am You really do need to do much more than just Dynamic lifter (we will call it, DPM or Densified Poultry manure to avoid brand names Gives a quick flush of nitrogen in areas of the soil that in all honesty the plants roots won't be yet. By the time they can actively reach those areas, it done and dusted. For West Aussies, the practice of adding DPM to soil before rolling out turf is a very big no no. This sort of way of getting things started is no way to create a good healthy lawn. It only produces a short term result and can increase other problems later. The notion of getting "fertiliser" into the soil is not a good one. fertilisers really should be playing a far smaller roll in lawn health. *For you slugger, focus on soil health instead, that is what will get the lawn going now and later You kind of have the right idea though and I get where you are thinking. The powerfeed is great but not a one of answer Some gypsum will need to be mixed in and certified organic soil. The powerfeed will out perform gypsum but in years to come the gypsum will do something. The certified organic soil will mean the naturally occurring microbes and humic acids will work to break down and loosen the clay up. It will also improve drainage as a result and allow your soil to hold better moisture and nutrients. That makes your use of fertilisers much less and at $30-40 a pop for a good lawn fertiliser, the costs will ad up over time very quickly. If you have to use anything at all and you are now past getting certified organic soil delivered in bulk, go for some lawn sand/mix instead (note advice for clay soils only!) get that from your landscape supply joint, some Olsens green bio, "seamungus" instead of DPM. also duck out to your local agricutural supplier and grab some molasses. Use the search function to find more on that and also check the thread just below this one for more info I think we need a lawn sub forum in here Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 4Aug 14, 2009 11:47 am Sorry if I post long answers but in my experience my advice is often countered by less experienced people in the industry and the customer becomes confused as to what is right and wrong. I find it best to explain myself so you guys get a better understanding of my answers and can way up other advice you receive. Overall Australians spend a heap of unnecessary money and water on lawns. We can no longer afford to continue this. We need to stop looking at lawn as if it were like laying carpet in the garden. It ultimately cost you guys and the environment a lot. Always feed the soil. Fertilisers as we traditionally know them, kill much of the soils ecology and it is the soils ecology that is what really makes a strong healthy plant Powerfeed- feeds the plant a little, feeds the soils microbes a lot! Molasses- feeds soil microbes like anything! a super food for soil. (sold by ag suppliers) Seasol- is a natural growth stimulant, not a fertiliser. It also contributes to soil health. Olsens Green bio- is a massive boost of carbon and soil microbes in a bag. (sold in Bunnings and most good garden centres) I suggest applying spongolite and zeolite as well. These are natural products that hold moisture and also nutrients. They give you better value from your fertilisers and never need to be reapplied after they have been used. Please when doing a lawn, don't get an area level and then sprinkle theses sorts of things on the top and roll out the carpet/ lawn Get them dug through where the roots are going to be growing in time to come and your wallet will love you so will your lawn Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 5Aug 14, 2009 11:52 am For those of you in Melbourne ( ) looking for certified organic soil check this stuff out. http://www.nakedfarmer.com.au/id31.html Available all around Australia in bags but if you are in Melbourne it is available in bulk quantities. I rang and checked for you Davinci-start using this stuff! An absolutely amazing soil that is very high in carbon. Like loads of carbon! One of the best I have ever used in fact, (sorry to the gods gift to gardeners people ) At least grab a few bags before prepping the soil. Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 6Aug 14, 2009 11:57 am Grab a few seasol packs to hose on every weekend for the next few weeks at least. The next 2 or 3 at a minimum. Continue every couple after that for at least 2 months. Slugger the Zoysia will take a while to get rooted ( ) but once it heats up it is going to settle in very well. I only hope you are in Melbourne or the eastern states because the advice I have given you is for that and not here in WA Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 8Aug 28, 2009 7:21 pm So Fu, if I plan on putting approx 8-10cm of new top soil (the lawn mix) on the old soil, should I rake through the seamungus (through the new soil) so it goes through about half that depth so the roots of the new grass (sod) will utilise the seamungus. Instead of sprinkling the seamungus over the top after I've leveled the new top soil? Does that make sense? Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 9Aug 28, 2009 7:45 pm Na it doesn't However don't waste your money on layering the soil. The roots need good soil deeper down so you need to mix it in to a depth of around 300mm. A layer is WOFTAM. It will also keep a miosture close to the surface, you want it deeper. A layer will encourage a shallow weak root system. The lawn will eat water, get sick at the drop of a hat and end up burning a hole in ya pocket As for the seamugus, mix it in however you want. You are not essentailly fertilising the lawn, that isn't even important. You will be feeding the soil and that is what makes a plant grow. You need to remember that one hand full of healthy soil needs to contain billions and billions of micro organisims that keep plants alive and healthy. Fertilisers kill those and your reliance on them increases and further burns the hole in your pocket. The seamungus is great for helping things and you get something in a container that you can see when you spread it and feel good I would strongly suggest ducking down to the local stockfeeders and grabbing some molasses. This too will feed the soil because it is a superfood for soil microbes. That will assist in the lawn taking faster. For thousands of years we as humans fed the soil to make crops grow. Then in the last 80 years we have changed to thinking some fertiliser in a bag is what makes things grow. Our environment is becoming so screwed by these that we need to change, and you know what, when you do, you will wonder why you never did it in the first place. For anyone reading this, next time you feel compelled to fertilise your lawn, use 1/2 what you normally would, geeze, even a 1/4. Chances are you will get the same result Re: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 10Aug 28, 2009 8:08 pm What a great read, I for one appreciate your long detailed posts Fu!! Ok so for clay soils, if I'm bringing in a bunch of cert organic soil, then I should add some gypsum (slower at breaking down clay), dig it all in and ensure a depth of at least 300mm (might need a machine for that!) and use powerfeed as that will break the clay down a bit quicker! So for a 300mm depth, should it be half half of cert organic soil and existing soil? So buy enough cert organic soil to cover 150mm? Also, this is talking about turf, but is this what I should do for all the garden? '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: Pre Turf Soil Fertiliser 11Aug 28, 2009 8:33 pm Thanks Fu. I'll mix the new soil deeper So far I have : Rotarty hoed the existing soil; Added Olsens Green bio; Added Naked Farmer Organic Soil Activator; Added gypsum (I have clay); Added Powerfeed; Added Molasses And I am having the lawn mix (soil) delivered tomorrow. Now come on Fu, tell me my soil is not going to be the bomb! Give me something oh Green Thumbed one! They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5830 We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. It would achieve a pretty low rent as it's… 0 13744 The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 8702 |