Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 17, 2014 3:25 pm I'm at a bit of a cross roads as to what to do with my failed lawn attempt. Let me elaborate.
Here's the stats. Location: Wodonga, Victoria (Hot in summer, frost in winter). Soil: Quite hard in spots, with clay the primary issue. We used gypsum when prepping the soil and I've been using PowerFeed a bit also as I read this helps break down clay, but to little effect. Lawn area: At least 7-800 sq meters When we moved in 2-3 years ago we had a block full of weeds etc, new property, no existing landscaping. We decided to seed a lawn due to the cost of turfing that large an area. I did not want something like Kikuyu as it runs everywhere, my neighbor has it and it's now running into my yard, my other neighbor has couch and it's running into my yard as well. I poisoned the entire thing, hired a rotary hoe (only learning part way through that you could disengage the drive and sit on spot churning up the soil more so I wouldn't say the process was as effective as it could have been in the harder spots, that is, root depth would not be steller there). We did not add top soil but we did rake through gypsum and fertiliser. We made the mistake of choosing HG Sunlover, a blend of rye, kentucky blue and tall fescue. Unsurprisingly, after a few years of struggling to keep weeds and other grasses out, plus the hot summers and water restrictions, it's quite patchy now in some places (it has done really well in shady spots and continues to look fantastic in those spots as it also does through the winter). It doesn't repair anything, at all, ever. Like I said, that's our mistake. I'm now thinking about what I do to fix it. I'm not keen on Kikuyu due to invasivness and it looks pretty average in winter, though you've got to appreciate the spread of spread and repair. I've considered either Palmetto or SW Buffalo but have my reservations about how it handle the summer here, regularly into the 40s. I've also considered EZ as it appears to out perform Buffalo in a few ways and appears less invasive. Also wondering if I should top dress and oversow with more fescue, maybe a RTF Fescue so it can repair itself. Then try and bit harder in the summer to keep it alive. So, I'm a cross roads about what to plant, and then when it comes to plant it, whether I just plant plugs and let it spread naturally, as everything should out compete the Fescue right? OR if I'll have to round up the whole thing, rotary hoe it again and start from scratch, or go with over sowing. I'm assuming I'll have to Roundup the existing small patches of Kikuyu and Couch. Also I do not have irrigation installed, maybe another mistake but I'm not willing to go all out because we will likely move out of town in the next 3-5 years. We are getting a water tank now that my shed is up (7X10.5) so there's something to catch the rain, probably around 15k L is what I can fit behind the shed. I'm not super keen on gardening and yard work in general but will mow weekly as needed and am not opposed to "some" lawn maintenance (mowing and edging takes me around 60-90 mins depending on thickness, using catcher or mulching attachment eyc). I've cored this lawn, used weed and feed when it looks like needing it, spread dynamic lifter etc. I am happy to do seasonal maintenance. All opinions welcome. See my next post down for pics. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. 2Feb 17, 2014 5:07 pm Wow that's some lawn you have. My opinion is go buy some rolls of instant turf and start sowing the runners all over the place. Keep the water up to it and it will be fine. My preference is SL Buffalo but make sure you cut it 50mm high Soil prep is a must though. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. 3Feb 17, 2014 8:42 pm I've put a quick Album together to show what we're dealing with. I was doing some quick math and I'd say the 700-800 is about right That shed you can see is 10.5m long and it's 3m off the back fence, I'm standing near the fence in that pic and there's another 4-5m on the other side of it that makes up the front yard, block is 25m wide, 50m long. So take away shed (75) garden shed (9) house is a good 230 or so, pergola is 36, double garage is another 36, drive way is 24 or so, some extra for paths and a rocked area down the side of the house and we should be in the high 700s low 800s. Take a look at the below. You can see up against the fence, it's pretty healthy (shaded until midday). Then you can see the patchiness and also these weird holes we get when it rains, beetles/bugs or something? It gets worse as you get further away from the house, worse soil more neglect. In the long shot with the garden shed, the dog and the pergola, you can see a small patch of kikuyu growing. In the long shot across the yard showing the smaller garden shed, to the right of the shed near the capital pear is where the couch is coming in, it's also coming in on that side in the front lawn because old mate next door loves couch. http://imgur.com/a/3FU4L#0 Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 4Feb 17, 2014 8:49 pm Oh it's nice and lush there. I was thinking a lot worse than that. For a seeded lawn I think that's a good effort. Could I also recommend aerating the soil. To me it seems like a water issue so using one of those rollers that pulls plugs will get any water straight to the roots. Fertiliser too soluble one is great which you are doing with the power feed. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 5Feb 17, 2014 10:26 pm Have you Googled Lawn Grub? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 6Feb 18, 2014 6:55 am I've cored the lawn once before and it seemed to make no difference. In retrospect it probably looks better in those pics than it would normally, we've just had rain and I got a chance to mow. No I haven't Googled Lawn grub. Sounds like I might have to? Is this is a big issue? Given it's not a "completely" lost cause just yet I was considering continuing with soil treatment (powerfeed, aerate etc) and oversowing the patchy areas with the RTF fescue so it can at least repair itself, though colour differences were a concern. I'll have to roundup the couch and kikuyu though. As you can see I know 2/10ths of bugger all about proper lawn care. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 7Feb 18, 2014 7:14 am Fescue, Rye, Kentucky...all destined to perish in the heat of summer. No amount of water will ensure survival, ESPECIALLY where you live. Was it like 44 degrees everyday where you are for a while there recently? You can forget about keeping those varieties of winter grasses alive. In the full sun and extreme heat of summer they die and don't grow back. Well, unless you dump an absolutely massive amount of water onto it, it may stand a chance. For an area that big I wouldn't have laid instant turf either. Whats Buffalo per square metre nowadays? $13 a sqm? $13 x 700 = $9100. I can think of better things to spend that kind of money on. Ensure you have decent edging around perimeters, fences, garden beds etc and Emerald Kikuyu wouldn't be a problem. Green all year, not as invasive as the normal Kikuyu and needs stuff all water. I have this stuff and its great. Stayed green all summer and now its ever so slowly taking over the bare areas where the rubbish Kentucky stuff once was. As for water, a couple impact sprinklers would do the job. I use them at home and its absolutely ideal. I get massive coverage out of 1 impact sprinkler. Seasol, Powerfeed, Molasses, Bactivate. All good products. Stay away from Weed n Feed. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 8Feb 18, 2014 8:26 am How do you kill off the weeds if not with Weed n Feed? (Which we've used a number of times). That little patch of Kikuyu that's there is already invading that garden bed, which has timber and plastic inner edging. I hate it. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 10Feb 18, 2014 9:03 am LawnHater No I haven't Googled Lawn grub. Sounds like I might have to? Is this is a big issue? Compare these images with your own. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=law ... &FORM=IGRE I'm in Melbourne and I have tall fescue. My previous property had kentucky blue. Both were instant turf yet I had lawn grubs this time early on. We also have hot weather with 4 successive days over 40C last month. I give it a high cut, use a mulcher mower and do little else apart from a good watering when it shows signs of wilting. It stays thick and green. This year I have had to use mains water to water it as we have had virtually no rain for over 2 months but water is (too) cheap. Your large lawn will need a lot of water but it will look great once you get it right. Where do all those downpipes go? A large rainwater tank is not expensive. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 11Feb 18, 2014 9:19 am I have Kentucky blue grass/rye mix. I have been persevering with it for the last to years. This year I notice after putting good compost around one tree that a nice green band of think grass has formed around it. Once it cools down and I get some rain I plan to aerate and put down a layer of compost. Hoping that I can achieve the same result right through. It appears that the traditional lawn soil you buy is not very good at holding nutrients. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 12Feb 18, 2014 10:47 am Hmm maybe lawn grubs are an issue. The downpipes you see go to storm water which is behind the shed, the water tank will also be there and be fed from the shed at the very least, there's a chance i could tap into the pergola pipe also but I'd have to change the downpipe to a fully sealed one as it'd be a positively balance system or whatever they're called whne it must push water up the pipe on the other end. I measure I can get at least a 15k L tank back there. My challenge is about what I do, buffallo plugs, RTF fescue, more normal fescue seed etc. I'm loathe to scrap the whole thing and start again. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 13Feb 18, 2014 1:26 pm LawnHater there's a chance i could tap into the pergola pipe also but I'd have to change the downpipe to a fully sealed one as it'd be a positively balance system or whatever they're called whne it must push water up the pipe on the other end. You can divert water without diverting the downpipe and it doesn't cost much to do. Having just a vertical riser at the tank is bad news. What size are the downpipes? LawnHater I'm loathe to scrap the whole thing and start again. I based my answer on the above. It will be costly to replace and it will also be a lot of work. The grass isn't really climate suitable but the signs are that it needs help. You can cut out a section of affected grass and have a look at what is underneath. The section can then be put back. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 14Feb 18, 2014 3:24 pm I have a feeling that downpipe is 100x75. The pipe runs under the shed to the storm water pit behind it. If the grass is the wrong choice, is there any point in oversowing more Fescue, even RTF fescue, rather than putting some buffalo or zycosia plugs in and letting them take over. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 15Feb 18, 2014 4:30 pm First thing I would do is check for lawn grubs, then decide the next step. The holes look ominous. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 18Feb 18, 2014 9:41 pm Summer is the egg laying season. There are several commercial products available but if one is more suited to a summer treatment, then that is the one to go for. I prefer organic rather than chemical treatments. The link below was the first result of a quick Google search. http://thelawnguide.com.au/organic-lawn ... ntrol.html OF INTEREST: Did you know that Australia's largest roof lawn is heated by copious amounts of hot air from below? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 19Feb 18, 2014 10:40 pm SaveH2O OF INTEREST: Did you know that Australia's largest roof lawn is heated by copious amounts of hot air from below? Yeah, and fertilised by all the bullsh!t that gets spread around underneath it too. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Lawn failure, what to do now. NOW WITH PICS. 20Feb 19, 2014 12:07 am Good pick up. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. the leaves that are now underground go yellow, the tips that poke through photosynthesise and have chlorophyll, same reason they grow rhubarb in the dark. 5 4830 9 24751 This is one of the reasons I decided to go overseas for my double glazed windows. As the builder indicated, he's worked on many upmarket builds, these were the most well… 13 19077 |