Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Apr 03, 2010 9:16 am We are not too far off handover, SS reckons about another 4-5wks. We have 3 kids and are desperate to fix yard up ASAP so they have somewhere to play that is not mud!! What grasses will grow well leading up to winter? We'd be planting in early-mid May.....?? Cheers Caz Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 2Apr 03, 2010 2:49 pm Throw the rye seed used for oversowing around the yard. It will stay green with no input apart from mowing and will then snuff it in when it warms up. Then lay proper turf or sprigs/plugs. Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 3Apr 04, 2010 7:48 pm If using seed lawns, they are grossly water hungry and the bone of contention in the turf industry as to whether they are a responsible option for the unknowing consumer. I hear on the grapevine that Melbourne folks may get a relaxing of water restrictions. Please don't fall into the habit of putting water onto a turf variety that is going eat the stuff to stay green in summer. Please don't potentially, the water consumption of Melbourne will significantly increase in this situation because not many homes have irrigation. Irrigation will always be the most efficient means of applying any water hand watering is not a cool thing Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 4Apr 04, 2010 8:20 pm Fu, Water restrictions was just easied a little but still no home lawn watering at all. Sports fields yes. Everything other than drip and hand/trigger irrigation is banned and has been for as long as i can remember. Still have to get up a sparrows fart to water so consumption probably won't change significantly plus we had good summer rains. Worth noting, I noticed a big turf mob no longer has fescue on their website for sale. Probably still sell it for commerical winter sport and so forth but not for home owners. Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 5Apr 04, 2010 8:29 pm Fu - so does ready grown turf take less watering?? I have no idea to be honest. The main problem is the huge price of turf and the huge size of my backyard - I doubt we would be able to afford it and am scared of getting a turf quote!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 6Apr 04, 2010 8:33 pm hang on be back in a tick Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 7Apr 04, 2010 8:41 pm thanks :0 by the way, that pic of mine only shows about 3/4 of the yard, we still have a strip about 15m x5m along the back, plus about 5x3m out the front. Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 8Apr 04, 2010 8:44 pm get a skip in to clear the rubble and stuff. Then get the soil levelled to how you want it. Just roughly. Then bring in plenty of organic compost or better still is certified organic soil. That gets mixed in with the required goodies. Then rather than using the seed, get a few rolls and cut them up into bits and sow the bits like they were flower seedlings or veggie seedlings Just a few here and there. That way you'll cover the area in no time with a quality turf. A cheap timber saw set from a hardware shop will do a nice job of cutting up the rolls into bits Bury the bits you plant so some of the leaf sticks up through the prepared soil What's the size of that area? Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 9Apr 04, 2010 8:47 pm On a budget, look over the winter, start mixing in straws, green shredded tree prunings, things like horse poo that you can get from stables for next to nothing. Get a green seed crop growing in there that you can dig into the soil when spring arrives. That adds more organic content to the soil A bit at a time Be resourceful, it can be done and in a year or two you'd never tell the difference provided you care for the turf with my recommendations Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 10Apr 04, 2010 9:00 pm The whole block is 723sq, the house and driveway will take up about 260sq so its a fairly big yard. We have 3 kids so I needs to have grass ASAP and not sure if horse poo etc on there for a long period of time with no grass would work fo rmy son in particular....would putting small bits of turf here and there take long to spread over the yard? Would winter coming along stop it from spreading? Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 11Apr 04, 2010 9:11 pm Why does the whole area have to lawn? That is the most amazing yard space for growing your own fruit trees and veggies. Bloody hell, you'd even get a nice aquaponics thing going and feed the family for nearly nothing. You'd still have loads of room for turf and the kids would get a right buzz out of growing their own food and especially fish, as long as they don't name them something other than lunch and dinner Then turfing would not be so expensive. I'm also thinking about how much work a lawn that size would be regardless of what variety you choose. It could be a money sink hole potentially. Use more space for a productive garden and you'll be a head by miles! I met a lady the other week at a growers market and she was feeding her whole family of 5 for $25 a week Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 12Apr 04, 2010 9:28 pm I dont want the entire yard to be lawn as we are wanting to build a deck out the back door of about 5x5m also, but cant afford that just yet so thought we'd just have grass at first. We do want to have a veggie garden also but again I have no idea how to go about starting it -before or after winter? best position in the yard? Fish isnt exactly our cup of tea, though I'm sure my two cats would like your suggestion we want to put in screening plants and a garden bed along the long fenceline for some privacy, so that doesnt need to be grass. argh its all too hard! Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 13Apr 04, 2010 10:07 pm Nooooo it's all to easy I know many turn to lawn as a carpet for a new property but it isn't the only answer This is something that many are trying to change but the owness is on us in the media to get the better alternatives out to you guys. It just is a heap of effort and money to get a lawn in as a temporary solution. Remember that a turf in garden is going to be the single highest consumer of resources and should be selected with care and respect. It is the formula one car of the garden world. A solid layer of mulch from your local arborist and or tree guy is going to do a wonderful cost effective job of covering the area till things sort themselves out. When ready, the mulch will have composted somewhat and already be providing an excellent source of new soil Dig it into what you have and add composts if needed. As for veggie gardens well the veggie thread will help with ideas and sources of ideas and information of the highest standard available on the net, that I can assure Homeone members of viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17096 The folks at BAAG can help with good local advice. If you are ever over here in WA we could get you into a Great Gardens, Great Food Workshop Problem sorted Start a new thread on this if you want. It would be a top example of inspiration to others I can add more but we are going off topic Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 14Apr 05, 2010 11:18 am cazoraz We have 3 kids so I needs to have grass ASAP and not sure if horse poo etc on there for a long period of time with no grass would work fo rmy son in particular....would putting small bits of turf here and there take long to spread over the yard? Would winter coming along stop it from spreading? Winter will stop it from spreading yes. You won't get much coverage up till then. Look imo opinion you are running out of time, if you lay turf it won't have enough time to establish if your kids are going to give it a flogging then you will be doing a big reno on whats left in spring. If it was me (i have kids too), i would clean the site up first. Then because ,cost is a problem, i would do what i originally said and once it cools down (a couple of weeks) throw cheap rye seed in an area where your boys can play or even better mulch it as FU suggested. (you might even find the winter grass weeds provide good coverage) Then sit down a figure out a garden design over winter with the help of everyone on the board planning out everything you want to do with your property rather than just rushing it together and regretting it later. Get onto http://www.baag.com.au and check out their factsheet too. Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 15Apr 05, 2010 11:27 am BeatrixKiddo If it was me (i have kids too), i would clean the site up first. Then because ,cost is a problem, i would do what i originally said and once it cools down (a couple of weeks) throw cheap rye seed in an area where your boys can play or even better mulch it as FU suggested. (you might even find the winter grass weeds provide good coverage) Then sit down a figure out a garden design over winter with the help of everyone on the board planning out everything you want to do with your property rather than just rushing it together and regretting it later. Get onto http://www.baag.com.au and check out their factsheet too. OK this makes sense, going off to figure out a design now to work towards and something to tide us over through winter that does no consist of horse poo Thanks guys! Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 16Apr 05, 2010 4:25 pm I'm in a similar situation though my area isn't as big as yours. I laid out turf lawn on a portion of the backyard only, and am planning to cover the rest with wood chip mulch which will sit/decompose over winter. At $140 approx for 10m2 (can cover 100m2 approx), it's the most economical ways to cover the dirt and improve the soil as well! The kids can even play on top of the mulch. Meanwhile I'm digging in all the vege scraps and peelings into the ground, and growing some legumes to try to fix the soil. Let's hope for a bit more rain! slooi1 Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 17Apr 05, 2010 5:45 pm Mulch is the easist option, it will hold whatever top soil you have left, improve it over winter and the kids can run around without collecting mud just like a playground. You can then shift what hasn't fully broken down into your new garden beds. Re: Good grass for SE Melb that will be planted before winte 18Apr 05, 2010 6:01 pm A heap of straw (good heavy layer) as well will be good particularly underneath the mulch. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Please help me to answer this question , it will help me a lot as i can go to buy confidently with your recommendation: I want to put synthetic turf in our backyard for… 0 5652 I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17392 Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15684 |