Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 13, 2011 11:54 pm Hello and thanks for all the great advice on lawns - I'm from Yorkshire and used to green lawns and gardens with little effort and still getting used to the sandy 'soil' of Busselton! Anyway, after a back yard renovation I am about to lay about 65m2 of turf. The previous grass was a mix, but mainly couch. In May, I sprayed with Gylsophate and had it removedBobcat) when dead. Since I have sprayed 3 times more but it still comes back! My question is: I am keen on Empire Zoysia. How wil this hold up to couch in the ground undeneath? Am I better off going for something that will choke the couch, like Kikuyu, and looking after the boarders intead? My plan before laying is: 30kg zeolite About 80mm soil conditioner Rotovate to around 200mm Bag of Organic 2000 (should I use this?) Lay turf and treat with molasses and seasol alternate weeks How does this sound? My fear is that in 6 months the Empire will be heavily invaded by the couch. One last thing: Has anyone gown EZ in SW Aus and how did it go (in winter)? Many thanks Mark Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 2Nov 14, 2011 8:18 am i have ez in donnybrook. it did go a brown/purple colour on some parts of the heads when it first got cold for it's first winter this year. but it is coming back very nicely now. It would be even happier if I was giving it a good dose of molasses and seasol like I planed to do but haven't for a while. OOps btw i noticed clark rubber advertising zeolite now.( there's on near the busso bunnings) Though I got ours from a spa place in bunbury. I haven't found a supplier for spongeolite down here. I bought mine in perth last year as part of my pre lawn prep. I've also bought the clay from IGA for the very few sandy parts of the block. Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 3Nov 14, 2011 1:19 pm Thanks for that. I have ordererd some zeolite through Stockfeeds on Strelley ad am also going to get a few bags of B&G Cat Litter from IGA for my bentonite. Should be ready to start building my soil then. I guess you are happy with the EZ so far? I like the look and feel of it but I am still not sure about how it will cope with the couch... Empire Zoysia and Couch 4Nov 14, 2011 3:20 pm If you get feedback on EZ grown on soils prepped in ways other than I recommend then expect the cold tolerance to be poor. Do it as we outline on homeone and it will get better and better every year. Use only organic turf care and it gets better still and a heap easier to look after in general. The couch, well till its gone no matter what you put in, it's going to go nuts. I have outlined here at homeone how to effectively kill couch. Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 5Nov 14, 2011 5:48 pm YUp I expect ours will do even better in the cold next winter. espec if i am a bit more consistent will my "good stuff" applications. love the ez. it's soft, tough, and grows well. Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 6Nov 15, 2011 8:05 am Hi Fu Manchu I wish I had read you post before all this started! I have battled with the couch for about a year. My first spray was during the warm growing season and after a second I though all had gone (no new growth for a month in April) so then had it all ripped out. I think my problem is the areas it has got into – boarder, leach drains, under paths and concrete slabs… To be honest, I think I will always have some and will have to spot spray boarders etc with Fusilade. My question is which would look/do better with the odd bit growing through – EZ or Saphire Buffalo (I thought this would blend better than other Buffalos with it narrower looking leaf). I will try and follow your soil preparation advice as much as I can. I only have about 100-120mm to play with but will add as much good stuff as possible and rotary hoe. Do you know a Certified Organic Soil provider in the SW? Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 7Nov 15, 2011 8:25 am rico you could try mumballup organics. that's who we went through. but they incorporate a lot of pig poop in their soil mix. it's pretty smelly. Smell mostly goes away after the first few weeks. or perhaps our sense of smell went on hols. ( we had ours sitting in a big heap for about 6 weeks) Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 8Nov 15, 2011 11:55 am Hmm I'll ask around about a good compost mob in the SW. Fertilise the couch. Get it growing. Use round up with seasol and some dishwashing liquid added. Spay in the morning, make sure its not hot or raining. Couch dead. (I'm thinking of seeing what'll happen with that mix if I add vinegar as well...hmmm?) Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 9Nov 15, 2011 9:58 pm KexKez: The Mumby Mix looks great! I'll give them a call tomorrow. Fu: I added seasol the last time I sprayed - worked well I think, and will try a bit of dishwashing liquid if couch returns. I have used vinegar on the dandelions in the front, but plan to eventualy rip out the front lawn and have natives and mulch. I have a 900m2 block but would much rather have a nice small lawn than try and maintain and water loads of grass. Thanks again Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 11Nov 19, 2011 10:14 am We're in the southern suburbs and have about 77sq m of EZ in the back garden, including a small portion that gets a fair amount of shade. With the prep, it does seem to tolerate the cold okay. Mine looked absolutely terrible this first winter. I thought of posting back in August because it seemed to be beyond hope (all yellow and brown with the purple heads) but here is a photo from this morning so you can see how it has greened up with the spring rains we had here and the warmer temps. I still do molasses and seasol, about every 3 weeks (yeah, I'm not super diligent). Don't mind the see saw and guinea pig exercise run--another reason we've gone spray-free here. As far as weeds, I don't know about couch coming through, but I have EZ in the back and Sapphire Buffalo in the front garden and the EZ gets maybe 1/3 of the weeds as the SB. They just don't seem to be able to take root in the EZ. Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 12Nov 19, 2011 11:54 am that looks fab. I'm sure ours would look like that if i'd kept up the seasol and molasses. I agree even with my lack of ongoing lawn care a lot of the weeds that we do get don't seem to be able to get in deep. They are easily pulled out. And there aren't that many. Love walking on the lawn It's so soft. Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 13Nov 19, 2011 11:58 am Each winter it will get tougher and tougher as the lawn gets older and same with the soils micro organism populations. They are the wonderful things making that lawn look like that and what you are using is feeding them far more than it is the lawn Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 14Nov 19, 2011 12:11 pm oops < hides from Fu> ours still looks pretty damn good too I must admit. Have to plan ahead and get the seasol and molasses out of the garage the night b4. So I can do the lawn b4 weekend watering and b4 hubby gets up. ( garage is next to bedroom with a noisy garage door. Hubby always complains if he's in still bed and I open the door) Re: Empire Zoysia and Couch 15Jan 09, 2012 10:28 pm Hey guys, I'm a little late in replying to this post but couldnt help but notice you were discussing weather or not the EZ or any grass type will go dormant in the WA winter. I have been involved in golf courses all over the world and have you considered spraying your lawn with soluble fertilisers? Applying iron (ferrous sulphate) and a pottasium sulphate to your lawn every 4 weeks in the winter will save your lawn going into dormancy. Ideally if you were able to apply iron all year round you will see massive benefits in general health of your lawn and will also reduce the flush of growth associated with everytime you apply a granular fert. I hope this helps in any way I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 10040 The HIA contract, in the term & conditions section states that "Commencment" is deemed when the drainage is started or the piers are dug or the slab is formed up (incase… 2 6178 Hi there, We've just build a new hardwood (Greybox) deck and am wondering whether firepit protective mats/surfaces are sufficient? 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