Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 12, 2010 5:09 pm Whilst we are becoming more and more aware of saving water around the home and especially in the garden, dont knock having lawn off your list of things right away. Front lawns of just 8 average houses have the same cooling effect as about 70 tons of air conditioning, while the average home-size air unit has only a 3 - 4 ton capacity. Lawn is actually a natural provider for our ecosystem, healthy, dense lawns absorb rainfall 6 times more effectively than a wheat field and prevents runoff and erosion of our precious top soil, keeping additional phosphorus from entering our streams and rivers. A healthy lawn also traps much of the estimated 1.2 million tons of dust and dirt released into Australia's atmosphere annually. Lawns purify water entering into underground aquifers. The lawns root mass and supporting soil microbes act as massive filters that capture and breakdown many types of pollutants common to our local environment. Build a garden your planet can be proud of www.bradsplanet.com.au Re: It is good to have turf around the home 2Aug 12, 2010 10:04 pm Ah yes but the facts are that there is one thing that a lawn can do that no other plant option can, and that is a lawn can have kids play on it. Many plants can be used that will have a similar effect as a lawn for cleaning the air and keeping a home cool while still giving a lawn look The proliferation of "that" alternative is a concern to some pretty important people in Horticulture and in a few other areas of the sciences, so you make a very valid point regardless of the plant alternatives. Re: It is good to have turf around the home 3Aug 12, 2010 10:16 pm Just as long as NO-ONE out there in Home Renovation & building Forum land EVER puts in artificial turf. Sure, some of them look the part and there is no maintenance, BUT, the manufacturing process of this product is horrendous to the environment, worse than concrete! Re: It is good to have turf around the home 4Aug 12, 2010 11:25 pm Not to mention the very point you brought up and the thermal mass of it is massive! releasing heat through the night, it's not like we need more of that However we must be fair and say there is a place for it and there is a time and place to use it. Not sure where or when but there is one. No No seriously it can be handy to put in very narrow gaps between pavers where it is a practical choice and in very particular special use applications. Often the choice to use it in full replacement of turf areas is more about a confused customer than a truly enviro option. Not many are sold as environmentally friendly anymore although the confused potential market may deem it as such. After all what other choice do they have? and that is where the landscape industry needs to get new skills out to it's members. If someone won't use a lawn we all must be ready with options and there are many Re: It is good to have turf around the home 5Aug 12, 2010 11:36 pm Fu Manchu Not to mention the very point you brought up and the thermal mass of it is massive! releasing heat through the night, it's not like we need more of that However we must be fair and say there is a place for it and there is a time and place to use it. Not sure where or when but there is one. No No seriously it can be handy to put in very narrow gaps between pavers where it is a practical choice and in very particular special use applications. Often the choice to use it in full replacement of turf areas is more about a confused customer than a truly enviro option. Not many are sold as environmentally friendly anymore although the confused potential market may deem it as such. After all what other choice do they have? and that is where the landscape industry needs to get new skills out to it's members. If someone won't use a lawn we all must be ready with options and there are many Re: It is good to have turf around the home 6Aug 14, 2010 4:35 pm Problem is a lot of people render real grass as unviable as it dies in summer, dries out etc. Not if you look after it, though. Grass like plants needs attention, and probably the most important is the preparation before it goes down. If the subsoil is cultivated with organic material through it (or sand as well if it needs it), the turf will have a good soil to send its roots into, and will promote it to go deeper and find water which will mean less frequent watering, and less drying out during the summer. Maintenance doesnt just mean the mower every 6 weeks and standing in thongs with a beer squirting the hose after dinner, make it stronger by keeping the fertiliser, plant tonics, weed control, bugs and etc in check. Planned Landscape Constructions http://www.plannedlandscape.com.au Find us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 9907611509 Re: It is good to have turf around the home 7Aug 14, 2010 6:03 pm Many choices regarding real turf stem from poor advice or poor maintenance from under skilled contractors and Horticultural people. This is something that must be addressed from our side of the fence. Another is poor turf selection and you know my views on couch. It only relates to domestic situations as couch in commercial and professional situations is sensational when managed professionally. Most of the WA lawns would be couches. It is also an exception to a rule that it is well cared for. If most Perth and SW domestic gardens had varieties like Sir Walter, Palmetto and Empire Zoysia I doubt very much that we would see people taking to plastic grass. I can tell you know that nearly every garden round me has more couch in the garden than on the lawn and that often looks better than the lawn area. That is followed by a hideous amount of weedkillers entering the ecosystem as well as unnecessary use of pesticides to control fictitious problems. The home owners are bombarded with conflicting advice from garden centres and lawn mowing contractors which either way is costing them $ in water from poor irrigation choices and in maintenance. It is our various industries doing it to our selves really and the public struggle to understand what to do. We use water when we shouldn't and we as various industries and the public don't do adequate soil prep to ensure the lawn grows easily and efficiently. Follow the advice found here by many professionals (funny how so many never use plastic grass ) with the right soil prep, the correct choices for domestic landscapes and you will love your lawn not cook from plastic grass and chemicals Use and include shade trees in your designs, look to using turf only where another plant option can't be used so it is done better. At a recent seminar here in WA by the ever wonderful Monty Don, the question was asked by someone about the plastic grass trend and his answer was that he feels people are too confused and making uninformed choices It sparked much debate. I want my kids to remember what it's like to lay on the lawn in summer, smell what healthy soil smells like, get grass stains on their knees playing and feel the coolness under a tree in summer and they will see the things that live in among the lawn. I bet all of us have fond memories of little things like that Re: It is good to have turf around the home 8Aug 14, 2010 6:14 pm Folks have a look at this short video by Homeone member Nigel Ruck and Sir Walter advocate It makes some very valid points about the use of plastic grass, and as I have mentioned, there is a time and a place for it. Lets take a look Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ (sorry Nigel, they used a frame where you are pulling a head/face ) http://www.sirwalter.com.au/webisodes.h ... link&id=27 Also make good use of this resource with many good tips for lawns. http://www.sirwalter.com.au/webisodes.html Re: It is good to have turf around the home 10Aug 14, 2010 6:35 pm Good video that one, especially the temp comparison. We've done a couple of jobs with synthetic because the owner stressed they wanted it, and it's not just the plastic grass that gets warm but the granular rubber infill as well. Planned Landscape Constructions http://www.plannedlandscape.com.au Find us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 9907611509 Re: It is good to have turf around the home 11Aug 14, 2010 7:43 pm I have in the past posted the links relating to studies done by both the French Government and Californian Government to do with that very topic. It was also a topic put in print by Organic Gardener Magazine last year or the year before. Opens a can of worms on the subject They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5878 There is evidence of water on the head reveals. That could have happened during the build, or may be happening currently. There are water stains above a couple of windows… 2 3830 You’re on the right track, wire brush in a grinder then a zinc rich epoxy primer then a top coat of some sort, like a waterproofing membrane. Raising the concrete would… 1 7031 |