I would like to contribute and share my learning as I undertake my turf project in Melbourne...hopefully this will help others looking for products etc as outlined in Fus soil prep
My wife is Italian and I have been cursing how much they love to concrete everything. The front and back yards (approx 160m2) were covered in concrete paths which were laid on top of old concrete which was laid on top of glass, bricks, tools, steel (you name it, I found it) with Kikuyu in sections. So first, killed off all the kikuyu including a fair bit creeping through from my neighbours place by spraying roundup with some seasol and detergent (Thanks again FU). I then had a bobcat remove all the concrete and the top 200mm of soil which contained the Kikuyu.
I live in Coburg which is generally a volcanic grey clay based soil so I bought a 7hp rotary hoe and turned it over to bout 400mm in multiple directions to avoid creating a pan. I then tilled in gypsum at 1kg per m2 and topped up with ecoflow liquid gypsum to get the job moving. I spent the next few weeks picking out asbestos, rusted nails and more bricks and glass
![Mad :x](./images/smilies/icon_mad.gif)
I stocked up on the following soil prep products as per Fu's recommendations:
10 x 15kg bags of gypsum from bunnings (wish I had sourced this cheaper)
2 x 5lt bottles of eco flow gypsum from bunnings
4 x 25kg bags of zeolite bought for $18 per bag at Bulleen Art & Garden
2 x 100Lt of Perlite bought from Melbourne Hydro for $26 per bag
2 x tubs of Seamungus from Bunnings $39 each
1 x 25kg of Bactivate from Bioasis
Seasol and Powerfeed from Bunnings (can't recall exactly how much I bought)
Also bought some GoGo juice from Bunnings
Lastly, I bought 10 m3 of rich soil to bring the soil levels back up.
I am looked at all the turf varieties in deapth including Seaside paspalum such as Velvetene and Sea Dwarf, Sapphire and Palmetto, Village Green and Kenda Kikuyu, Tall Fescue (and other cool season grasses) and a few of the couch varieties. I think I have settled for using a Zoysia as my house is West facing and gets plenty of sun (hopefully this won't be too impacted when I put in some mature shade trees).
I am still not settled on which Zoysia to use. I like a very fine soft lawn like a perrenial rye or couch etc so I was considering the Empress Zoysia. However no-one is selling it in Melbourne so I would have to order it from a NSW or South Australian grower. Empire and Nara are available in Melbourne through a few sellers but is is difficult to look at the grass when no-one has displays. Empire can be viewed at Malvern Private Hospital so I am heading out there to have a look. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether the Empress will grow Ok in Melbourne?