Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 81Jun 01, 2010 3:39 pm Hi all,
Well a quick update for those interested in EZ in Melb, its the first day of winter and the EZ is basically already 3/4 dormant. Pretty much straw coloured with a little green here and there. We did get that cold snap in may and i had a couple of light frosts which really knocked it around. Also the lack of sunlight hours (overcast) is not helping. It would be interesting to hear from anyone with new laid pal/SW in middle/outer melb and see how green it is. A big positive is that the EZ is still smothering the weeds very well. Fu did say it would go to poo over the first winter, it just went to poo a bit quicker than expected. Cheers, B Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 82Jun 01, 2010 3:41 pm Thanks for the update. I look forward to hearing how it goes in Spring. My Kik is doing well at the moment. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 83Jun 01, 2010 3:46 pm Yeah i have a patch of kik in the front yard and its going great guns but it is in its second winter. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 84Jun 17, 2010 1:01 am Keep the pure blood and bone up to it every month and also molasses once a month. Come spring a light rake in of orgainc compost. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 85Jun 17, 2010 1:59 pm Thanks for the input Fu. I can't deny that the alarms bells weren't ringing about EZ when it was already starting to yellow in May. They guy up the road has new santa anna couch is still quite green as with a friends new SW. The Kikuyu all around my area hasn't missed a beat, infact its probably looking the best i has all year. I trust that it will get better with age and i am following our organic lawn care methods. Out of curiosty what are the lawns like in Perth atm? Any of them yellowing yet? Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 86Jun 18, 2010 1:12 am yep and they our environment is being assaulted with massive volumes of fertiliser as folks try to pull their lawns from a sleep and get them to go for a run!!! I shake my head in wonder Not much of that is going to be used by the lawn and with higher rainfall now, leaching will be ugly! My lawns however are green as and I will expect them to be well into early spring when our frosts hit. Some go a bit funny but bounce back fast enough However frosts have hit in th elast few weeks hear and they haven't batted an eye lid. That's cause they have no eyes. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 87Jun 18, 2010 1:40 am I might add they go that way when they have either nothing done to them or old school care practices in place. You would tell which are mine in a street in the middle of winter and early spring around here Green as with no fertiliser to do it Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 88Jun 20, 2010 10:52 am Thanks Fu, We don't have the fertilizer assault going on too much as the average lawn is stuffed in established Melbourne. A lot of people have given up. I am interested in how fast EZ greens up in spring because if it going to discolour for 4 months+ it will probably need overseeding. I have already given it a dose of blood & bone/DL this month so i am track with the organic care. Cheers, Beatrix Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 89Jul 29, 2010 2:21 pm Hi, We just moved to or new house and planning to put some turf. 1. I saw some turf seeds in bunnings, are they ok to use? I think they are kikuyu. 2. what do I need to do to prep the soil? I read the whole thread (or maybe read it again), got confused with the terms and shortcuts. Maybe a link in the forum? Thanks Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 90Jul 30, 2010 12:06 pm Hi Melhoy2, Did you read the sticky at the top of the forum as well? http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=21938 That link has heaps of info and other peoples experiences. Growing lawn from seed will work out for couch/bufalo/kikuyu but not a cool season grass containing fescue/rye grass/bluegrass. It's hard work though. Growing from rolls of sod or runners is a better/easier way as this turf is a better breed that doesn't self seed all through your garden beds and the surrrounding enviroment. If you grow it from seed, it means the grass can go to seed and grow somewhere else you don't want. Pro and cons of all the turf are in the above thread. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 92Jul 30, 2010 12:51 pm The very bare bones version is to rotary hoe your soil, mix through good quality (organic) soil/compost, add amendments (zeolite etc), compact, lay turf, compact/roll turf, water, and apply conditioners/organic fertilizers (seasol, powerfeed, molasses, blood n bone) as needed. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 93Jul 30, 2010 12:58 pm Yup, Since I have a clay soil, it was suggested to add sand to the mix of (Organic Soil, Gypsum, powerfeed, spongelite, zeolite, Olsens green bio). So just cultivate and mix them all together before level it and compact it? Thanks Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 94Jul 30, 2010 2:28 pm yep thats it, make sure when compacting/levelling greater care is taken otherwise you will end up with lumpy lawn where some bits are darker green (longer) and other parts yellower (scalped) after mowing. You then have to top dress to level out which i had to do as i rolled it rather than compacted. Spongelite seems hard to come by in melbs btw. Bulleen art and garden have zeolite and organic compost/soil. Bunnies for the rest. The only problem i have with just using compost is that it breaks down and sinks over time. Certified organic soil is hard to come but won't sink like cert compost so i suggest mixing a premium soil (from baag) with compost if your soil is really that bad. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 96Jul 31, 2010 2:37 pm all of the warm season turf, Buffalo, Couch, Kikuyu and Empire Zoysia. Pro and cons of the different types are covered extensively in the sticky turf thread and other threads just use the search function. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 97Aug 01, 2010 9:32 pm BeatrixKiddo, I noticed from this thread you had EZ, how was it? I'm thinking of getting EZ too for low mowing and eventually watering. How much organic soil to I need for a 27 sqm area? I have clay so may need to put some sand as well. If spongelite is not hard to find, is just zeolite enough? Thanks Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 98Aug 02, 2010 8:02 am Hi melhoy2, The ez preformed as Fu said over spring, summer, autumn. Hardly any mowing, lush and fine leaves compared to the buffalo's. And most importantly it could go long stretches without a drink and look great (around 10-14 days). Come winter though and due to its slow growth it has browned off from an early frost in late may/june and pretty much stayed that way. Its throwing up green shoots now. I haven't mowed in 2 months over winter and even though its dormant it still keeps out the weeds very very well. I will post a pic when i get a chance. I will go with a larger area of ez once i see how it comes out of dormancy. Look i am not a soil expert but from what i read from Fu, for 27m2 i reckon you put 10cm of soil/sand on top and rotary hoe it/amendments all through. So about 2 cubes, 1.5 of soil and half of sand. As for spongelite i honestly don't know what it does or where to get it melb. Fu swears by it though but i don't think its that common in landscaping in Victoria yet. This is what zeolite does http://www.baag.com.au/?p=1920 Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 99Sep 28, 2010 9:53 am Just an update on how EZ is preforming now spring has nearly sprung in Melb. Considering its one of the coldest starts to spring on record it has preformed quite well (winter was harsh too). It started greening up early september and now some patches are looking very good. It didn't stay as green as a mates SW over winter which i am happy enough with considering it requires far less maintence. Also its far greener atm than any of the santa anna lawns nearby. So overall EZ does grow in Melb, its just the turf industry's politics/economics that cast doubt over the turf, not how it actually preforms. And in terms of winter colour and dormancy it seems very similar to santa anna couch. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 100Sep 28, 2010 10:25 am BeatrixKiddo, Thank you so much for the update. Could you please post some pictures if possible? My house should be finished some time between December and March next year so I am currently considering which lawn to go with and being Fu disciple I am leaning toward EZ. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Unless the room is for storage then it's non compliant BCA V2 2019 S3 P3.8 You have 2 options 1. The builder deconstructs the section and rebuilds as per plan /… 7 10682 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5862 I do enjoy the drama:-D In his latest two videos he has started bringing security guards to site, I am waiting for the punch on to begin lol 6 45530 |