Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 7Dec 22, 2013 6:19 am dramapig Hi Victoria_g06, thanks for posting a response. I ordered my Nara from Jerry at Austral Turf also...he has put up with multiple phone calls from me and was very helpful in providing places to see the grasses. Did you lay Empire or Nara? Hi there - I got the Empire - I love it though it is seeding quite a lot in summer and I have to mow it at least every two weeks .. but I'm ok with that Oh yeah it does get delivered early - 5.30 am for us - we had to do a dash to bunnings for some fertiliser as we didn't want the grass to die (over 30 degree day). We though we had more time - but it's understandable. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 8Dec 22, 2013 8:03 am Thanks guys for letting me know about the delivery times. I have a three week old baby so we're not getting loads of sleep anyway I was going to hire the compactor for Tuesday when the turf gets delivered so hopefully I can compact all the soil, lay and compact again. Victoria_g06 Hi there - I got the Empire - I love it though it is seeding quite a lot in summer and I have to mow it at least every two weeks .. but I'm ok with that Hi Victoria_g06, I was going to order Empire but it is not available until February and my 3 year old might just destroy the enitre house if I don't get the garden done BoxJelly I laid 90sqm of Nara from Jerry last month. If he says that it is going to be delivered early in the day he means it. My neighbours Empire arrived at 0500. My Nara arrived at 4:15am! It has only been down a month and it is well rooted and looks great. Mind you I only had weeds before so anything is an improvement. I will post some pics when I get time. I compacted before laying but couldn't after as I had to return the compactor and it seems ok. Thanks BoxJelly, I didn't get to see any nice Nara before I ordered as the addresses that Jerry gave me had let their turf die It amazes me that people spend so much money on grass but don't treat it like other plants. I'd love to see some pics. I will post some before after pics after Tuesday...hopefully if the rain holds off I can add all of Fu's suggested treatments today. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 9Dec 27, 2013 9:39 am Thanks Victoria_g06 Your information is very helpful! We have been researching lawn types and are considering either Empire or Nara Zoysia. We were wondering how green it would stay in the winter. We live near the coast in the central part of SA so we wouldn't be quite as cold as Melbourne so sounds like it will be ok in winter It won't get lots of shade either. We're looking for a supplier now! I'll check out Austral Turf that you mentioned. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 10Dec 29, 2013 8:33 am Finally done! Added all of the soil treatment (300L Perlite, 100kg Zeolite, Bactivate) kids loved the Perlite and asked me why I got rid of the snow when I tilled it into the soil Leveled using a push leveler and then compacted. I waited to spray the Powerfeed until after I had compacted as I didn't want the compactor going over wet soil. In the morning, I threw down some water storing crystals and waited for the turf to arrive. At 7:30, Jerry turned up with 180m2 of Nara (Jerry was a little late) The Nara looked great; very soft and lush. Started laying at approximately 09:00 and finished at 18:00 just in time for Christmas Eve dinner. Came home after dinner and watered the lawn with Seasol and Molasses. After laying it all, I had about 28m2 spare so I have started on the nature strip. All of the spare turf has been laid on top soil to keep it alive whilst I rip out the kikuyu on the nature strip and till the soil. Looks like I need more Perlite and Zeolite ! Since Christmas day a lot of the turf has browned off and gone quite prickly. Unfortunately the hot weather kicked in and I had not had a chance to top dress with soil. Hopefully now that I have finished topdressing it will revive as the grass takes root and gets watered. Before and after photos of the backyard attached. Thanks to everyone on this forum for all of the information provided. I could not have done the job without it. If anyone needs help in Melbourne, please feel free to PM me. Before we started renovating (wasn't this green when we removed the concrete). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ After I had added 7 m3 of compost. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Added all Fu’s suggested treatments Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Tilled again, levelled and compacted Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Turf laid without topdressing Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ After topdressing and moved remaining turf to veggie patch and garden bed Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 12Dec 30, 2013 5:20 am Yes - That looks amazing - I thought I had a hard time with 65m2!! You did three times that! Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 13Dec 30, 2013 6:34 am Thanks guys! It looks pretty crappy with the topdressing but I guess the grass will grow through in the next 4 weeks or so. I have definitely learned heaps but my wife thinks I'm nutts Oddly enough the turf that is sitting on top of the garden beds and veggie patch is doing great...better than the turf laid on the ground. I wonder weather compacting made it to smooth. Oh well not much I can do now. After the turf was laid, I used normal Seasol but then realised there is a turf variety with different NPK levels...any ideas on whether I should give it more Seasol or GoGo Juice? I don't want to overfertilise the Zoysia Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 14Aug 15, 2014 9:32 pm Well. I have to say that I am not that impressed with the Nara. I have followed maintenance directions, hand picked weeds as they come through and loved the lawn. But it does not cope with much ware, little blades break off easily and get carted through the house, it is sparse in the slightly shaded areas and it has browned off this winter long before anyone else in the street. In fact as I write, our nature strip (which gets no wear and tear) and always gets the sun looks like a miserable mess whilst the everyone else (who has plain old Kaikuyu) is still looking green. My wife is so unhappy with the Nara even she has suggested ripping it up and planting Sapphire. I am so gutted! after all the work I have put into the soil and after care...it shouldn't need that much attention or time. I almost wish I had just planted Kaikuyu...at least I would only be dealing with mowing and hedging. Keen to hear anyone else has had problems with the Nara Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 15Aug 15, 2014 10:45 pm dramapig Well. I have to say that I am not that impressed with the Nara. I have followed maintenance directions, hand picked weeds as they come through and loved the lawn. But it does not cope with much ware, little blades break off easily and get carted through the house, it is sparse in the slightly shaded areas and it has browned off this winter long before anyone else in the street. In fact as I write, our nature strip (which gets no wear and tear) and always gets the sun looks like a miserable mess whilst the everyone else (who has plain old Kaikuyu) is still looking green. My wife is so unhappy with the Nara even she has suggested ripping it up and planting Sapphire. I am so gutted! after all the work I have put into the soil and after care...it shouldn't need that much attention or time. I almost wish I had just planted Kaikuyu...at least I would only be dealing with mowing and hedging. Keen to hear anyone else has had problems with the Nara Oh thats a shame - Although correct me if I'm wrong but Nara and Zoysia are warmer weather grasses and Kikuyu is a winter grass? My zoysia looks a little sad now (Around 2 years old?) but I know once the warmer weather comes and a little watering it will be green and very happy. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 16Aug 16, 2014 9:45 am I have empire zoysia and it went brown a few months ago. I've had countless people tell me that my grass has died and it has weeds growing all over it when I stop pulling them out for too long. I'm hoping it bounces back, all the articles said that the first winter in the worst and then it gets better. I did not have issues with blades breaking off... I'm hoping it re-greens in September, and quickly ! My nature strip is a mix of 4 different lawn seeds and it looks much better, although it has more weeds in it than the turf I laid out the back. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 17Aug 20, 2014 12:14 am I had a lush Fescue lawn, laid by the previous owner, which died during the drought (Melbourne). I poisoned what was there, rotary hoed and added all the good stuff. My son and I laid the Nara Nov 2013. I watered it quite a lot and added Seasol etc and it established quite well. As an aside, during the rotary hoe I found two worms in 85sqm. In January when I had to dig to fix a watering system leak I found approx 10 worms per shovel load. Had to mow every two weeks. Around June it became dormant and the weeds tried to take over out the back where there is some shade. I hand weed when I’m back home and it looks ok. Out the front only a few weeds and less die off. Orange rust out the front but not out the back. Next May I think I will raise the mower cutting height every cut so that by the time it becomes dormant there is a mass of leaf to help keep the weeds down. I don’t have to walk on my lawn due to concrete paths so don’t have any wear issues but when I had Kikuyu and dogs it would take a beating in winter and then recover over summer only to take a beating again. Maybe a few well placed paths might ease your wear issues? Keep gardening. PS I couldn't post any photos. I'll look into it. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 18Aug 20, 2014 8:44 am BoxJelly PS I couldn't post any photos. I'll look into it. I use photobucket, this website requires you to use an external website to host your photos... Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 19Aug 21, 2014 9:19 am Nara, Zoysia, Palmetto, Sapphire, Buffalo. All the lawn types in my area that are yellow right now. My Kikuyu: lush, green, thick. Hasn't been mown in 2 months. With the problems we have with galahs destroying lawns in my area, I have no option but to use Kikuyu due to its aggressive repairing nature. Re: Zoysia project in Melbourne 20Aug 23, 2014 3:34 pm Not sure about everyone else, but my empire zoysia is starting to show signs of life, parts of it are getting green while other parts are still dormant/dead. I also removed at least 100 weeds today, I had let it go for a while... I've given it plenty of water in case the grass needs more water in order to re-grow, as the soil was very dry and it's slowly getting warmer. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! We bought one for less than a quarter of that price off eBay. It worked really well for us and it's still going now, five years later. After… 1 16716 If you need to pay for a project manager you would be well advised to just engage a builder who would take full responsibility for the build. 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