Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 4Aug 28, 2012 1:14 pm I thought it was illegal for someone with Kikuyu comment about someone else's lawn choice? JK OP, I have a mongrel lawn with probably 3-5 different varieties of grass in there. In summer I have found that I can mulch every 2 weeks and the grass is green through most f summer unless it gets really hot. Sometimes I'll get lazy and leave it for 3 weeks but then I have to catch it as it leaves too much behind then. If you are trying to establish a lawn it will be good to mulch as you will be able to cut down how much you need to water it as the mulching will impart water back in to the lawn. If you followed Fu's guides and have prepared the soil well you will be way ahead and mulching will only back it up. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 5Aug 28, 2012 5:00 pm I wouldn't bother with cool season grass in Melbourne unless you have a 5000 litre water tank. They need a ton of water. I planted Emerald Kikuyu with Kentucky Bluegrass as a mothercrop in my backyard last year. The bluegrass was terrible in summer and needed so much water. A neighbour has tall fescue. It has been yellow for the last few months, even during winter. You'll get a lot of mixed opinions about cool season grasses. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 6Aug 29, 2012 1:21 pm Krilnik I wouldn't bother with cool season grass in Melbourne unless you have a 5000 litre water tank. They need a ton of water. I planted Emerald Kikuyu with Kentucky Bluegrass as a mothercrop in my backyard last year. The bluegrass was terrible in summer and needed so much water. A neighbour has tall fescue. It has been yellow for the last few months, even during winter. You'll get a lot of mixed opinions about cool season grasses. Agreed. My neighbor has fiscue, and its going brown already. I have buffalo, and my brown over winter (well light green) is starting to green up again Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 7Aug 29, 2012 2:38 pm There is no way fescue will be brown this time of year unless its dead. It does not yellow in winter at all. What is concerning is why you were advised to buy tall fescue in the first place. Do you have recycling water or rainwater tanks? Because fescue does not meet the warm season grass water exemption code so you cannot water it outside the current restrictions like you can a new lawn of kikuyu, couch or buffalo. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 8Aug 29, 2012 11:11 pm Pretty rubbish to hear you were recommended fescue. Fescues are best suited to places other than Australia. Yes a very sensitive issue in Australian turf. Argued by those who want to make a dollar and their right to be allowed to sell it no matter what verses those with integrity in what they do and sell. The stuff needs hideous amounts of water to stay alive in summer. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 9Aug 29, 2012 11:12 pm Mulching mowers are a great idea. The nutrient breakdown of plant material is... wait for it... drum roll... the same as a bag of fertiliser. Yep. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 10Aug 30, 2012 12:59 pm Good to hear that mulch mowers will work a treat Not so great to hear tall fescue is very thirsty and I had no idea it was more so, than other types. Was looking on this site http://www.greenacreslawn.com.au/turfvarieties Other than tall fescue I liked the look of santa ana couch ...any negetives about that? ..I guess i had better let my land scaper know asap! lol Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 11Aug 30, 2012 1:21 pm AE86 Good to hear that mulch mowers will work a treat Not so great to hear tall fescue is very thirsty and I had no idea it was more so, than other types. Was looking on this site http://www.greenacreslawn.com.au/turfvarieties Other than tall fescue I liked the look of santa ana couch ...any negetives about that? ..I guess i had better let my land scaper know asap! lol Get a soft leaf buffalo. And to the previous poster, my neighbors fescue has browned even more from the last few days of sunshine. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 12Aug 30, 2012 5:24 pm humble And to the previous poster, my neighbors fescue has browned even more from the last few days of sunshine. Well its not Fescue then, its probably some other winter cover crop that is dying off before spring. Or it was already dead from summer. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 13Aug 30, 2012 5:32 pm And yes wait a month and get either santa ana (couch), a buffalo or a kikuyu. Plenty of threads on whats the best grass. Simply Couch and kikuyu = lots of mowing in summer but has a fine leaf, buffalo = less mowing but a broadleaf grass which you might not like. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 14Aug 30, 2012 8:49 pm chrisandkate I thought it was illegal for someone with Kikuyu comment about someone else's lawn choice? JK (apologies to the poster with Kikuyu ) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 15Aug 30, 2012 10:48 pm Couch is not suitable for domestic landscapes. This is my opinion but one formed from experience and skill. Of the streets surrounding me in a whole half of one suburb, couch is king. Of all those gardens I have seen maybe three owned by "crazy lawn people" (similar to the crazy cat lady in your area) where it has not invaded garden beds. House after house with dinky lawn edging attempts of every conceivable type laying waste to the failed perceived practicality. I can repeat that exercise and find the same thing in just about any Perth suburb. If people used more of other turf varieties, we could be looking at more people wanting to keep lawns, less water used, tidier urban areas and better property values. The couch is so highly invasive and hard to kill that the garden beds have more than where its supposed to be on the lawn area. It's part of the reason why I encounter people at their wits end with couch lawns every single day. To get it looking great takes more effort than any other turf. Cheap to buy, expensive to maintain. By geeze you can't kill the stuff, that's for sure. It wont die. I've got one property where its taken 3 years of spraying to kill it ready for a native landscape to get going. (clearing by machine is not possible) Couches are a beautiful turf for the extreme gardener/crazy lawn guy/lady or for looking at when you putt or tee off at the golf course or go to lawn bowls. It has all the space in the world to roam free, and roam free it does. I spent many hours weeding bunkers and spraying serious chemicals in the rough to keep it out. Weeding flippin bunkers, I hated that. Landscapers and turf farms love to use and recommend couch. It is cheap to grow with a high turn over, good for profit. Cheap for landscapers to profit from using it and still make a cheap quote to the customer. EZ or Buffalo for domestic use. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 16Aug 31, 2012 12:00 pm interesting ..but alas, sounds like the spread wont effect me as im the one whos laying it ..maybe my neighbours will think differently lol. Apart from the spread and that its hard to get rid of ..sounds like only minor issues in my eyes. We have a puppy golden retreiver who will most likely like to dig so this lawn will heal itself nicely in that regard. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 17Aug 31, 2012 2:21 pm Digging dogs + Melbourne climate = Kikuyu. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 18Aug 31, 2012 7:21 pm OMG, sounds like couch is worse than kike ?!!? How's that possible !?!? Fu, can it be killed with once a year weed killer ?! At least at the edges where is starts going under the fences ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 19Aug 31, 2012 8:01 pm I reckon kike is way more invading than couch!!! I learnt that the hard way, before I discovered this forum.
Couch goes all yellow and dormant during winter - kike never stops!! It went slightly off green for about 14 days during a few harsh frosts. Bounced back 7 days after the last frost. I was mowing my lawn regularly in winter. (i always mow on the highest setting) Too late now. I'm stuck with kike. Lucky for me, my lawn is bordered off with bluestone and concrete. No dramas. I also love the freshly mown and manicured look, so again no dramas. You gotta cut kike every 10 days in late spring. I see guys cutting their buffalo every 10 days aswell so regardless of what type of lawn i laid, i'd still be cutting every 10 days. I'd ONLY suggest kike if has a solid border so it can't invade it's surroundings. Otherwise, forget kike. If i could turn back time i'd go for buffalo. Live and learn. Anyway my kike is green, lush and beautiful 10-11 months of the year unlike buffalo. Thats the only postive with kike. Kike - invasive and must be mown super regularly in spring just like any other warm season lawn type. i don't recommend it if its in an open area unlike what i posted above due to its invasiveness - it grows sideways. To the original thread starter AE86 youre probably more confused now. Go for buffalo. Forget that winter grass rubbish. Re: mulch mower and newly laid turf? 20Aug 31, 2012 8:18 pm Krilnik ... Lucky for me, my lawn is bordered off with bluestone and concrete. No dramas. ... I'd ONLY suggest kike if has a solid border so it can't invade it's surroundings. Otherwise, forget it. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... The unit normally clips into a metal plate screwed to the wall, either plate is not flush, or unit not hooked in and could be hanging from the pipes partly, either might… 2 15799 I had new concrete laid, extended the alfresco and had the sidewalks concreted too. I noticed the concreter didn't put the expansion foam anywhere, there are expansion… 0 8132 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5898 |