Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 09, 2013 12:47 pm I've spent hours and hours reading over the fine information on this forum and am a big fan of the avoiding of chemicals in laying the turf etc. So my soil prep was pretty good-perlite, powerfeed, molasses, organic topsoil. On a slight slope with a ridiculous amount of palm roots it was near impossible to get the soil perfectly level. SO the turf has been layed and it feels quite spongy to walk on as there are many sections that don't seem to be making contact with the (very expensive) soil below. How can I rectify this? I have also filled the gaps with coarse river sand-good or bad idea? Cheers Re: Turf laying issues 2Feb 09, 2013 2:28 pm Well the soil doesn't need to be perfectly level. Looks better though It's important though that it is firm. Otherwise air gets to the roots and the rolls won't take so well. A plate compactor is the weapon of choice. For you, I'd be taking up the rolls and getting more in there. No matter if its not levelled so you can roll a marble on it. It can be undulating too. Just get it so when a mower goes over it you're not taking chunks out etc. If you can't be bothered with all that, you'll be looking at top dressing to fill in the low spots where it's settled. I reckon that's got knobs on it too. Re: Turf laying issues 3Feb 09, 2013 7:25 pm Thanks so much for the response. I'll be honest- I was hoping for don't worry about it it will be fine Although...Is there any chance it will take. I threw a bit of organic compost on top of the sections where it seemed to be spongy and give when you tread on it, but I'm wondering, with a bit of rain predicted this week if it will mean more contact with the turf and soil. At this stage I'm not too fussed about bumps etc-I just want to make sure I don't end up with an expensive backyard of dead grass. Thanks again. Re: Turf laying issues 4Feb 09, 2013 8:35 pm Na, that sure won't happen. Expect to see on any turf for a few spots to go a bit yuck occasionally. Margins of rolls will often brown for a few weeks. Even if that spot goes to rubbish, you'll have loads of heathy turf around to sample so you can plant a few plugs from there. It'll spread. Hope you can sleep better now Re: Turf laying issues 5Feb 09, 2013 8:46 pm Even with poor soil prep lawns will go fine. The very difference in what I ask peeps to do comes years down the track when all the expense and hard work is done because very quickly, your lawn will be hassle free, with any problems cheaper and easy to fix. The on going costs for all the time you have that lawn will be minimal. Savings on water costs especially. Also better capture of nutrient applied as well will soon prove its worth. You won't find yourself a victim of the advice from the crazy lawn person down the road or what the snotty nosed kid at the garden centre said to do. It's the difference between choosing the cheap roof tiles that will mean ongoing expense of dealing with problems for ever more or getting the roof done well the first time and not spending much, if at all for decades. Re: Turf laying issues 7Feb 10, 2013 7:52 am Use it. Use lots of it. It's free. Like poo teas, you can create enormous amounts of of truly beneficial liquid that make lawns go nuts and sets you free from the chemicals and products you guys are so focused on or likely to encounter. Re: Turf laying issues 8Feb 10, 2013 8:05 am Fu have you heard of or used Nutrisoil? Its a liquid fertiliser using a mixture of worm juice and nutrient blends, made in Victoria. They offer a free 2L sample (just pay postage), I have just got some and am keen to see if i get any noticeable results on my lawn/gardens. Re: Turf laying issues 10Feb 10, 2013 9:27 am Nice to hear of something other than a soil killing bag of chemicals that make growing plants harder and more expensive than it should be being sold. Re: Turf laying issues 12Feb 10, 2013 10:16 am Awesome Fu-thanks for the reassurance. By the way-I got one of these Wobble Tees http://www.wobble-tee.com.au/about.html. Seems to align with some of your water saving and rain emulating advice. Thought I'd mention it as I hadn't seen it brought up and I'm pretty happy with it. Looks like thunderstorms and rain around here tomorrow. Let's hope this gives my lawn the love it needs. Re: Turf laying issues 13Feb 10, 2013 10:20 am By the way-Re snot nosed kid at garden centre. I feel much more educated walking into the garden centre when the "experts" tell me which chems to put on the turf. Even the lady at Bunnings who told me she was a horticulturalist had no idea about the molasses, perlite etc. Makes you remember though, a qualification doesn't mean your good at something-it just means you passed the exams. Cheers Re: Turf laying issues 14Feb 10, 2013 10:37 am phippsyg Awesome Fu-thanks for the reassurance. By the way-I got one of these Wobble Tees http://www.wobble-tee.com.au/about.html. Seems to align with some of your water saving and rain emulating advice. Thought I'd mention it as I hadn't seen it brought up and I'm pretty happy with it. Looks like thunderstorms and rain around here tomorrow. Let's hope this gives my lawn the love it needs. You'd be spot on and have mentioned them in here before. In fact you'll find on this forum me posting how to make your own. This was way before this company made these. Now they have picked up awards for a water wise sprinkler. Re: Turf laying issues 15Feb 10, 2013 10:42 am In relation to experts and professionals, much of the industries involved are part of the problems and not the solutions to what modern landscaping and gardening is doing to our urban environments. It's going to take 30years before the info I share here becomes mainstream. There are people I work with and associate with that know way more than me. They share my thoughts about the current training many qualified professionals offer Re: Turf laying issues 16Feb 10, 2013 1:25 pm I should also say that regardless of info offered by professionals in horticultural industries, it's all about sharing what we learn. Only by you guys sharing this stuff with friends and family or even the local garden centre, will we see real change occur. I have given a guide of what skills to ask for but regardless of that, share what we know. Re: Turf laying issues 17Feb 13, 2013 10:14 pm yes i agree Fu, but with the internet advise is seen as gospel. the first thing in this industry is to find out where you are, then what soil you have, then what pH you have and .......etc...etc, there is no golden rule for success. too many people read something (written in WA) and believe it applies to Vic (for example) or read something written in Vic and thinks it applies to Darwin (for example). east /west and north /south vary so much there is no silver sword to success. Re: Turf laying issues 18Feb 13, 2013 11:26 pm brent if you took the trouble to read the stickies you would find out that different advice is given depending on location/soil type Re: Turf laying issues 20Feb 14, 2013 10:33 pm Brent stickies are the posts that stay at the top of each forum area. Here are two you might want to read through. The first, set up by one grateful member, contains much of the advice gathered from various individual threads written mostly by Fu and the second is one started by Fu manchu. viewtopic.php?f=19&t=43570 viewtopic.php?f=19&t=52961 I find it disconcerting to find a new member announcing that they disagree with something that they haven't even looked at. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it might be worth you making an effort to read before knocking something.Of course there are always new ideas coming through and information can become distorted. Having been here as a member for a number of years I've seen Fu give a lot of different advice to individual members who have asked for help. Advice that has varied depending on their location and soil conditions. He does not give only WA orientated advice. As a new member that's something you may not be aware of. I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1933 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 4328 They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 5879 |