Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 81Jun 21, 2011 11:31 pm No, but I'll pop round for a beer after you finish it Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 83Jun 22, 2011 6:19 am Ref_Kt, I was... considering it was going to cost me less to buy the 1000kg.... but I couldnt justify having 600kg extra sitting around... so I went and bought the 25kg bags instead...... bugger! Oh the mulch got delivered yesterday not looking forward to the weekend now Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 85Jun 25, 2011 10:59 pm I havn't found this question anywhere so I hope its ok to put it in here. We are moving in a month or so and will have a lovely blank canvas to turn into a lovely homely landscape for a family of 5 and a small dog. We're not sure how much lawn we want yet but I'm thinking around 300m2? Due to the amount of expenses at the moment and also we estimate we'll have when we first move in we had decided to throw down some lawn seed until a later date when we can afford to get into some decent landscaping and possibly lay down some turf. After doing a bit of reading tonight though, I'm thinking that's not such a great idea. I see Fu isn't in favor of the idea. My question is, can we follow the guide to laying turf using the organic soil prep and do it all in small sections? I did read somewhere if you can't afford to turf the whole lot to buy small amounts and break it up to let it spread. But I'm thinking then that would mean you'd need to soil prep the whole entire area so that its spreading on the right foundation. That would mean too that the weeds would be coming up in the areas that the lawn has spread to yet. The problem I am anticipating is that there is going to be a lot of dust coming into the house due to having no lawn for a time. This is where the spreading lawn seed is appealing until we can afford the turf. Not sure what to do. Maybe we should just wait until we can afford to do the whole lot at one time... Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 86Jul 22, 2011 3:28 pm Bet you cant guess which pile is the one supplied the landscaper and which is the one I purchased? I'm intending to do a proper job of mixing it in instead of dusting a wafer thin cover over the sand. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Couple of hours cultivating, levelling and compacting tomorrow and she'll be good to go! Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 87Jul 22, 2011 4:36 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The grass is finally down..... piggypost, zeolite, wettasoil, bentonite and some generous hoeing.... Empire Zoysia (115sqm) now I hope Fu Manchu is right! It'll be an interesting study as I gave 15sqm of EZ to the neighbour and they have only put soil conditioner from the Big Green Box down onto the soil.... will have a good comparison of the difference as the location is all of about 15m apart!.. will have to post some pics in a couple of months showing the differences. Looking forward to planting some grevillias and other natives down soon too! Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 88Jul 22, 2011 5:13 pm That area would look great with one or two small feature trees, a few varieties of Lomandras, Red kangapaws, Olearia axillaris, Dryandra (Banksia) nivea, Yanchep bells, Verticordia crysanthas, Ficinea (Isolepsis) nodosa, Swan River Peas, Leucophyta Brownii (Canal Rocks form) All mulched up with mulch from MulchNet.com and you'll only ever need to water the lawn then, have loads of colour that would look the shizz against the house colour and you'll barely ever have to weed. I'd look at giving the lawn a further soak with some Bentonite Clay, dissolve it in a bucket of water and apply over the lawn. Also see if you can get some rock minerals come mid spring when we finally start getting warmer nights. I'd be inclined to recommend dropping some nice paving slabs against the house rather than planting plants there. However if you have your heart set on planting there, maybe a formal hedge of Correa or Callistemon Little John or Callistemon Matt Flinders. Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 89Jul 22, 2011 5:14 pm Huggy, can you imagine how many green eyed East Coast readers are looking at that lovely, easy to work with sand Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 90Jul 22, 2011 5:30 pm Folks take a look a including this in turf prep if you can. Also fine for existing turf I've been onto this sort of stuff for a while but thought I share just one of my secrets http://www.maiaustralia.com.au/index.ph ... Itemid=106 Or call them on (08) 9727 3801 Other than bentonite, this will be the second most important thing to use or products similar to it. Olsens, Bactivate etc which are sort of similar in concept in the way they work. I did note a lack of the molasses from your list BP, you may want to get some Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 91Jul 22, 2011 5:41 pm Fu Manchu Folks take a look a including this in turf prep if you can. Also fine for existing turf I've been onto this sort of stuff for a while but thought I share just one of my secrets http://www.maiaustralia.com.au/index.ph ... Itemid=106 Or call them on (08) 9727 3801 Other than bentonite, this will be the second most important thing to use or products similar to it. Olsens, Bactivate etc which are sort of similar in concept in the way they work. I did note a lack of the molasses from your list BP, you may want to get some Thanks Fu, Which product do you use? Is the application rate specified on the product? I can add this information to the thread. Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 92Jul 22, 2011 5:46 pm Thanks for the suggestions on the natives... we usually get our stuff from Caramar (?SP) Coastal Nursery as we havent had a plant thats died yet from them... and they are cheap! Thinking of a grasstree at the end of the path to the house... How much bentonite would you recommend for the grass? Similiar qty as for the soil prep? The mulchnet idea is good... shed load cheaper as well... Havent heard of rock minerals either!... any pointers to where i might source? Oh i didnt forget the Molasses... or the Powerfeed or the Seasol.... got some Seamungus... but that goes on later Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 94Jul 23, 2011 6:02 pm Fu Manchu I'd be inclined to recommend dropping some nice paving slabs against the house rather than planting plants there. However if you have your heart set on planting there, maybe a formal hedge of Correa or Callistemon Little John or Callistemon Matt Flinders. Further to that is the insects (particularly mosquitos) that are drawn to plants and invariably through your window. Personally I reckon you are better off spacing the plants away from the house, but especially near windows. Fu Manchu Huggy, can you imagine how many green eyed East Coast readers are looking at that lovely, easy to work with sand They can have it! Spreading out 2.5 cubes of compost, 45 kg zeolite, 45kg spongolite, 12kg seamungus, 75kg clay, 3kg bactivate, 3 hours of cultivating and compacting later I'm thrilled with the outcome - if my Palmetto doesn't go apes**t when it gets installed on Wednesday I'll be gutted. I had quite a few people on my street ask me why was I bothering and I just said look how sad and yellow your "winter green couch" is and thats your answer! My Dad still thinks I'm mad (waste of money, landscapers do it anyway etc etc) but I'm determined to prove him wrong. My Palmetto will be the envy of the street (although I dont think many of my neighbours really care what their lawn looks like). I'll try and get a photo of the standard landscaper prep compared to what I have done when i head back there this arvo to lock up after the tilers have done their thing - its like comparing a rolls royce to a honda civic....... EDIT as promised, mine: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ landscapers: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 95Jul 24, 2011 12:22 pm See how the soil has formed little clumps there. Nice. Now that you have done that, the real difference is what you don't have to do in years to come. You caan look forward to dramatically reduced water costs. You can look forward to a fertiliser free lawn. You can look forward to a lawn that doesn't look great, then crap, then great, then crap. You now have the prep work done that has dramatically made your lawn and garden go from having a negative environmental impact (water, nutrient leaching) to a positive one. Side benefits are absolute value for money from what you ever put on it. Your neighbours won't be. They can green it up but only a small percentage is used by the lawn. Why would you spend the money? Crazy in my eyes. (and the eyes of many of my collegues) Your lawn will be tougher and so will the garden. All the lawns will look good for the first few months. Many are pumped full of nitrogen and that will do great things...at first, then the problems start for the owner. Yours will be easier. Mulch, yes its cheaper in price but that isn't where it ends. It reduces evaporation from your soil by around 70% when used to 7-10cm thick. The black mulches will increase water loss by around 20% at a minimum but commonly figures are far higher. Now I hope that makes you ask why are we told all mulch is good? It's not The right way is not the quick easy way For Mycorrhiza, this one. MycoApply Defence. http://www.maiaustralia.com.au/index.ph ... Itemid=106 Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 96Jul 24, 2011 12:27 pm Oh and keeping the time of year in mind, it won't look the best for a while yet. Its cold and its had a hell of a ride after being cut from the soil. I doubt your going to need a water exsemption. Theres plenty of moisture and low evap rates to not need much manual watering. I strongly advise using the MP rotators on that lawn area. Some of the members have posted some links to get these for cheap here in WA and for the East. Using regular popup sprinklers is not a good situation for your future water bills or for water resources. Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 97Jul 24, 2011 12:29 pm For your grass tree see these guys. They rescue them from being cleared and that makes them the RSPCA of grass trees http://www.replants.com/ Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 99Jul 24, 2011 8:53 pm Fu Manchu Oh and keeping the time of year in mind, it won't look the best for a while yet. Its cold and its had a hell of a ride after being cut from the soil. I doubt your going to need a water exsemption. Theres plenty of moisture and low evap rates to not need much manual watering. I strongly advise using the MP rotators on that lawn area. Some of the members have posted some links to get these for cheap here in WA and for the East. Using regular popup sprinklers is not a good situation for your future water bills or for water resources. Yeah I know its a tough time to kick-start a new lawn, but it is what it is I guess. Ideally I'd wait til spring, but I dont wanna live with dirt and sorting out the landscaper to do it etc etc.......too hard. The plan is to use MP's, but in the meantime I am gonna live with what the landscapers put in (toro precision - they are listed as smart approved watermark?) til I can finish off the rest of the house and then change them over. Expensive business this house building caper..... Re: Fu Manchu's Guide to Laying Turf & More 100Jul 24, 2011 11:49 pm Oh, they are just as good. Very good choice, so leave the system with those. In some posts I have mentioned wobblers and the Toro Precision nozzles kind of work in a similar way on a far smaller scale. As good as MP's for sure I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1920 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 4312 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5786 |