Grass and direct sunlight - WA

Sergey · Jul 06, 2012 5:40 pm

Hello. Planning to lay about 65sqm of either Palmetto or Sir Walter on the front and side of a house.
House is facing north, so the front is OK, in terms of a sunlight the grass will get
Western side of a house, where 1/3 of 65sqm will go is not so lucky...
I have made a time lapse video
http://www.youtube.com/embed/hPA37TeiWPw (Could not work out how to embed it)

The video starts at 10:30am and ends at 3pm.

Can someone in the "know" please comment, if the grass will grow OK there, and which grass should I go for?

Thank you

Edit: Made video a little slower http://youtu.be/278pptmPnxo

BeatrixKiddo · Jul 06, 2012 8:28 pm

When did you shoot the videos? Obviously the sun angle changes year round. In Melbourne its normal this far south to have a lawn in full shade all winter. It goes a bit brown and doesnt recover from footy games but its all reversed in spring.
If your prob area gets 50% sun during the grasses growth period spring to autumn it will be fine. It wont be as dense as the full sun bits at certain times of the year or wear as well. Also mow it high so the turf has the largest amount of leave possible to absorb the most amount of light it can.

Trinity · Jul 06, 2012 9:11 pm

I am no expert but we do have Sir Walter Buffalo lawns. I have to say that our rear lawn, which has limited direct sun (mainly dappled sunlight to shade) does far better than the front, which faces North. Both brown off a little in Winter, but still looks fab compared to lawns in the neighbourhood.

Sergey · Jul 07, 2012 4:43 pm

Beatrix, I have shot the video on Friday - same day I posted the topic. Its mid winter now and I have no pictures to see how it is in simmer but will probably be better.
I also wanted Fu to reply but he probably did not see this thread yet
So you think it will be OK? Don't want to put 30m of grass and sprinklers just to see it die...

Sergey · Jul 07, 2012 4:47 pm

Oh yeah.. forgot to ask about soil prep.
At the moment I only have standard topsoil over sand. Would I still use the standard bentonite clay
plus compost mix to get it going?

BeatrixKiddo · Jul 07, 2012 10:22 pm

If thats winter you will be fine the rest of the year, it MAY go a little light green/tan in winter but certainly wont die. Nothing to be comcerned out. As i said i have turf in full shade this time of year and it handles it fine.
As for soil prep check the sticky, with your sandy soil you dont want layers, mix the present top soil through the sand.

Sergey · Jul 07, 2012 10:30 pm

Thank you =)

Krilnik · Jul 09, 2012 8:13 am

Sergey

I also wanted Fu to reply but he probably did not see this thread yet

Fu hasn't posted here in over six months i believe...

TheGardenWhisperer · Jul 30, 2012 9:22 pm

Shazam!!!!

TheGardenWhisperer · Jul 30, 2012 9:32 pm

All soils, especially in WA, must have soil amendments used prior to starting a landscape in the traditional sense.

You can get any type of turf to grow there to a degree.
Any of the buffalo varieties (I don't buy into the marketing that suck people in as to which is slightly better than another) will do well.

5kg m2 of Bentonite ( sustainableoutdoors.com.au ) Available in bulk. Or clay/clumping cat litter for those on a budget.
3-5kg m2 of zeolite. (Bunnings is cheapest for that but they don't even know they sell it ) PM me for bulk volumes, (I know a guy)
15% of the soil needs to be compost (certified organic, eurekacompost (premium compost) not certified because he adds rock minerals and its rubbish that because of that they wont certify it. Very good compost, pays for itself.
Dig it all through the top 20-30cm. avoid layering the soil. Its not cool.