Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jan 06, 2011 1:44 pm Hi, I live in Melbourne and have clay soil with some rubble in it. I'm somewhat confused that why the soil drains extremely well (I've never noticed any runoff), as I though clay was slightly impervious. The topsoil is about 100mm deep at most. I have a 'crap' area of soil where nothing grows very well. I was considering eventually replacing all the grass and improving the soil. The exposed soil cracks during summer, so I'd imagine the minimal top soil has washed off at some stage. I've seen another thread with a similar problem, so was thinking of doing the same to reestablish this area. I'm pretty sure I have kikuyu grass. The advantages of it are: - I've never put any water on it and it remains green through Summer. - It self heals easily when digging holes. The disadvantages are: - I prefer a smaller softer blade of grass (I much prefer Santa Ana). - It grows very quickly, especially around the raised veggie patch. - It invades the veggie path where I was abit lazy and only had minimal wall burial. - The clover invades during winter (although this isn't much of a concern as the garden doesn't get some much use in the cold parts of the year). Question 1: Is there a grass that will give me all the advantages and reverse the disadvantages? As said, I've seen Santa Ana, but not sure on the maintenance (ie watering, etc) required. I also understand it is a running grass, so I'd still need to close of the veggie patch to runners. Question 2: My compost bin only really gets grass clippings and veggie patch waste. It seems to be ok, but doesn't seem to break down into a soil like consistency. It is much more like the partially broken down sediment of the bottom of a lake (if you know what I'm taking about). Can I spread this over the 'crap' area of grass? Cheers. Re: Some questions on lawns 2Jan 06, 2011 2:22 pm Q1; Empire zoysia has a medium width blade and is very soft. Grows slow and repairs itself. Repair is slower than most grasses. Uses very little water, overall low maintainance. Soft leaf buffalo, repairs quicker than EZ but has a wide leaf, it is soft too. Uses very little water, overall low maintainance Santa ana is ok down here but is very invasive with the runners getting into everything and needs heaps of mowing to look good. Also gets easily weed infested over winter as it goes dormant. Quick to repair thats why its used at the mcg and most golf courses down here. Uses very little water, overall high maintainance. Re: Some questions on lawns 3Jan 07, 2011 12:38 am couches are best left for the commercial turf surfaces. Santa Anna is one. Letting them go domestically is like giving the keys to a 400kW Holden to a 17 year old and telling them to take it easy. It's not likely to end well. Excellent turf in the correct hands in other words Not for the realm of domestic turfs and if turf farms and landscapers understood that, we may very well not be in the position of seeing people opt for supposedly enviro friendly plastic grass or shrinking markets for lawn mowing contractors. (or course their own out dated turf care methods leave a bit to be desired) Couches are cheap to buy and expensive to maintain compared with other varieties domestically. I say this based on the real world and to what most people expect from a turf finish domestically. Just get some Empire Zoysia, Sir Walter or Palmetto (or all of them) and sew it into your existing turf. No one says your lawn has to be just one variety You will control runners from Empire, easier still are the Buffalo runners. Couch and kike, well just give up! Once that stuff invades a garden bed its there good. As for your compost, well that maybe a thread in itself. Ultimately it is the same concept I crap on about all the time. Stop feeding the plant and start feeding the soil. Your compost included. It is out of balance and not able to do its thing. Better still is to forget chemical fertilisers all together. Stop using a catcher. The most perfect balance of nutrients for your lawn is the lawn itself Let the microbes compost the clippings directly back into the soil. Cut the turf surface a little longer. 40mm is good. Most are cut to 10mm or less! By discontinuing chemical fertilisers on your turf, there will actually be a microbe population there to break the clippings down. With traditional chemical lawn fertilisers, they kill off the organisms that break down the clippings and therefore you end up with some not cool things happening and further your dependency on chemical treatments of many types to ensure survival of the lawn. Molasses, molasses molasses. As you would have read in so many of my threads especially the turf sticky above and also the molasses and how to use it thread. Worm farms are far more efficient for food waste and provide better organic compounds to maintain a landscape. Garden beds should have clippings from trees and shrubs shredded straight back onto the soil under them. Again, the composting process on the soil is of far greater benefit to your landscape/garden than when it is done in a compost heap. Dolomite of lime, dry or wet material (of the opposite consistency to what you have) in the compost is also going to need to be added. Molasses should also be applied to the compost to aid the process. Oxygen will also speed things up so aerate it Re: Some questions on lawns 4Jan 07, 2011 11:39 am Thanks for the info. When the time comes, I think I'll replace the existing grass. As for the compost. Just to clarify, I don't use any fertilizer on the lawn at the moment. Cleaving the grass clippings is a good idea and I've started on the front lawn, but the existing mower tends to leave clumps rather than mulch. I've attached a couple of photos of the compost: The first is before a quick aeration: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The second is a quick aeration to try and show the more broken down compost: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ When it comes to the veggie beds. As I understand, your suggesting that it best just to turn the plants through the soil when the season is over? This seems like a very easy idea. Thanks for the advice. Hi VK, Think it's worth investing time in an Owner Builder course to equip you with basic knowledge on Australian Building Industry and its regulations. Also, I suggest… 11 23963 Caesarstone, quantum zero, Q Stone zero, porcelain. All the manufacturers are pivoting into zero silica materials. Google any of those and have a look. Some are still… 1 1071 Hi all, Need some ideas for my front yard. 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