Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Finished my lawn!!! 3Sep 09, 2009 7:50 pm 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Finished my lawn!!! 4Sep 09, 2009 8:29 pm Great stuff Looking forward to seeing your pics. Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Finished my lawn!!! 5Sep 10, 2009 8:16 pm i might add that while most of you may view this approach as a luxury, it is not. This is what we are just going to have to do now and in the future. For those in WA, the water corporation is reluctant to offer permission for irrigating new lawns if these things have not been done! For anywhere else, they are also just as necessary. If anything it is in the past when we didn't do these things it was a luxury. The days of endless water and fertilising till the cows come home are numbered and in some cases totally over. Nutrient run off is a massive problem. very little of what you guys are buying and loading up your lawns with is actually being used up by the lawn! This year, I challenge you to use 25% of the fertiliser you normally would and tell me if your lawn is really any different. a very light feed every 6-8 weeks if you aren't into my methods of turf management. However my methods yield waterwise and healthy lawns that need over years to come a fraction of the attention of a poor one. Look at a lawn metaphorically. If you were going to buy a car and you knew it was a lemon but you buy it anyway because it was cheap, is it going to save you any money after that moment of buying it? No it is going to drain your wallet. That is just what happens when you lay a turf with no soil prep and some dynamic lifter to get it going. It becomes a money pit and an environmental concern. Re: Finished my lawn!!! 6Sep 10, 2009 9:03 pm Fu a question - do you rotary hoe the soil before or after adding extra soil? I had it in my mind that once I add the new soil/sand mix that I then rotary how it to mix it all together or can I do the digging before adding the soil? 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Finished my lawn!!! 7Sep 10, 2009 9:10 pm Before and after. That way the soil is broken up and ready to have the goodies added. You are making a cake Mix well. You have to imagine where the roots will be growing, not just some nice soil on top and having a shallow, weak root system. You could even get some sands in there if it is particularly heavy clay. I also use in mine zeolite and spongolite which are one of additions and will forever more increase nutrient and moisture retention. Overall we need to stop using turf like it were carpet for the garden It is just too important. Re: Finished my lawn!!! 8Sep 10, 2009 9:18 pm Thanks Fu!! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Finished my lawn!!! 9Sep 11, 2009 11:39 am Yep, ran it over with a compactor twice. It has taken to the soil well. A few questions though: 1) Some bit's have gone brown/white (Not much but a bit, mostly the edges of strips) I assume this is normal? 2) I watered it deeply once a day and the soil appears to be damp by the end of the day. Is once a day enough? (I planted it Sat 05/09/09) I know it says twice a day for the first week but I don't think it needs it. 3) I have powerfeed'ed it twice since Sat? Is that too much? Can you over powerfeed it? Or just keep doing it every few days at the start? 4) Molasses - A watering can and molasses takes forever, so I got an empty Powerfeed sprayer and poured approx 250ml of Molasses in it and filled it to the top with HOT water, mixed it up, and sprayed it on the soil. Is that ok? It worked (dispensing wise) perfectly. 5) I mixed in a small amount (not much at all) of water granules for lawns (looks like sand) with the soil. In summer should I spread it lightly on top of lawn to assist with water retention? If so, how will the root get at it because it will be on top of the lawn and I assume dry out in the sun? photos shortly!! I promise! Re: Finished my lawn!!! 10Sep 11, 2009 12:47 pm 1. Yes 2. As long as the soil is moist that is all you need to worry about That may mean watering every few days or twice a day. It will depend on weather. Just make your own judgement, no need to go overboard 3.Yes, Use that maybe once or twice a month for now. It is the seasol that will do the work of establishing it because it is a natural growth stimulant Use that maybe every week for a month then just every couple of weeks then once a month 4. Sounds great I have not ever tried that method so you are a pioneer of it For those contemplating doing the same, mind paved areas or features as the iron in it can stain so stick to vegetated areas or use the watering can Re: Finished my lawn!!! 11Sep 11, 2009 3:23 pm Who knew that laying the foundations for, and planting a new lawn could be so involved!! (certainly not I, thats for sure LOL) Makes me hope that I can trust my landscapers to do the job properly (mines included with my land). viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Finished my lawn!!! 12Sep 11, 2009 11:33 pm I guarantee you will not see this done. What you will see is a cheapo levelling of crap soil and some "densified poultry manure" product thrown down and the turf rolled out as if it were carpet and you pumping silly volumes of water into it from that moment on. That's what you will see for the money allocated to house and land packages. Personally I'd like to see more go into these as the long term impact of such gardens is huge for our resources. remember these are packages designed to bring uniformity and some sort of landscape to avoid the days of having houses having empty weed infested front yards wrecking the look of the suburb. It all about short term cosmetics, not sustainability. Re: Finished my lawn!!! 14Sep 12, 2009 7:30 pm It looks great! What did you use to level it and did you do it before or after compacting? 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Finished my lawn!!! 15Sep 12, 2009 7:51 pm lisanne It looks great! What did you use to level it and did you do it before or after compacting? I used a soil spreader/leveler (Hand Held) Like a broom but with 5 x 40cm long metal tubes spread about 4cm apart. And a hired motorised compactor. I used it before compacting. Re: Finished my lawn!!! 16Sep 12, 2009 7:52 pm Wow! It looks sensational. For the garden beds did you do those yourself too? That is the exact look we are after for our back yard. What sort of timber did you use for the garden beds? My karma ran over your dogma Re: Finished my lawn!!! 17Sep 12, 2009 8:48 pm haywgl Wow! It looks sensational. For the garden beds did you do those yourself too? That is the exact look we are after for our back yard. What sort of timber did you use for the garden beds? Thanks haywg For the edging I just used Treated pine decking from Bunnings. It's cheap too. (I also used it on the dark brown fence in the photos but it's stained). For the pickets I bought them pre-made from a local nusery soil supplier. They we about $10 got 25. I just scewed each end of the 3.6m pine paling with a picket and rubber malleted into the soil. Easy. The plants in the garden beds are Pittosporums. When we started building we bought 21 for $9.99 each (Chris and Marie) and they were about 40cm tall. About 8 months later here you go. Re: Finished my lawn!!! 19Sep 13, 2009 4:11 pm I: Rotarty hoed the existing soil; $70.00 Added Olsens Green bio; $30.00 Added Naked Farmer Organic Soil Activator; $60.00 Added gypsum (I have clay); $30.00 Added Powerfeed; $36.00 Added Molasses $8.00 Mixed in 13 m3 of lawn soil $550.00 plus for a dingo $200.00 Compacted it $60.00 Laid 125sqm of Sapphire Buffalo $1327.00 Sounds like the script for what I am about to do. A couple questions without starting a new post though, if I may. What quantities of this gear per m2, or am I likely to read that direction on the pack/s? When is optimal time to lay turf in Brisbane and what is your suggestion for a shaded + unshaded backyard? Came up a treat Moody!! Re: Finished my lawn!!! 20Sep 13, 2009 8:45 pm Empire Zoysia the whole way Mixture rates Just get what you can afford in, the more, the merrier. look at including some zeolite and or spongolite too. interesting situation what happened after builder issued final invoice? did you list as defect or not does the building surveyor have any responsibility? ie. issuing… 13 46966 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi all, My neighbour has built his 15m long garage on our boundary. It was agreed as part of the planning permit that the wall must be in exposed recycled brick. For some… 0 10915 Hi, I contracted a Builder to do a Garage to Bedroom + ensuite conversion (Class 1a), the Builder engaged the Certifier and Engineer and received BDA from the Certifier… 0 5034 |