Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 61Dec 05, 2009 9:31 pm I'll also be very interested to see how the "Emerald" variety of kikuyu goes. There doesn't seem to be much information on it OL...the only bit I could find was on the Munn's website and they sell it in seed form. It seems to have potential given that it's less invasive...but I wonder by HOW much. I haven't decided what I'm going to use yet. Zoysia is on my short list but the lack of local photo evidence is disappointing. So it appears my choice rests between a soft leaf buffalo, empire zoysia and the new "emerald" kikuyu. Decisions, decisions! Fence, paving, retaining wall - CHECK! Still so much more to do..... Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 62Dec 06, 2009 8:30 am Will get some fresh pics of my zoysia up later today. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 63Dec 06, 2009 7:19 pm Ok here are some pics finally;
When i first laid the grass; http://img.imageshack.us/i/turf1.jpg/ Now about a month on; http://img17.image http:// http://img7.imagesha It has really started to lush up now it has had a chance to establish. It gets full sun and some shade at about 3pm for an hour or so. Looking forward to how it does, but very tempted to lay some more. As for your decision on grass, all the varieties they sell in Melb grow great. Kikuyu is the only one that stays really greenish in winter but then you have to put up with all the crap that comes with it. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 65Dec 06, 2009 7:39 pm Hagwgl,
I have a 2000 litre tank and grey water, only used the rain water. The patch is only 12 sqm (and other spare bits placed through the yard), it took about half the tank to establish it because i laid it in the first day of that mini heat wave we had (didn't rain for 2 weeks). Easiest plant to tell when it needs a drink as the leaves curl up, water it and they open up virtually under your eyes. Now it is set in a bit i will measure how much water i am using so i can estimate how much turf i can keep alive. Considering water restrictions will probably drop first day of autumn i won't need the tank for the garden beds/vegies in the near future. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 66Dec 06, 2009 8:34 pm Thanks very much for those pictures BeatrixKiddo!! It really does look beautiful. You must be thrilled with the result. I'll have to measure up how many m2 I'll need because I'm starting to worry that I won't be able to fit a big enough water tank on my block to keep it all alive! Fence, paving, retaining wall - CHECK! Still so much more to do..... Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 67Dec 06, 2009 8:50 pm Thanks Bella, I am very happy now, but as FU has said it takes sooooo long to get going it tests your faith! It started off light green and now is getting darker by the day. Still haven't mowed it either, while i have mowed the lawn/weed mix around it three times. Cheers, Beatrix. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 68Dec 07, 2009 12:34 am And how much better does it look than the lawn around it Don't forget now is your time to get it strong for it's first winter. blood and bone, seasol, olsens green bio and molasses. feed the soil and that will get the roots growing just as much as a fertiliser will but healthier. as the years get on, less and less is required Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 69Dec 08, 2009 12:13 pm Hi all just an update. Similar results to BK ... EZ is performing really well. I have 130m2 and it is looking great after 6 weeks and first mow. Heavy showers once a week have helped alot through establishment period. I will try and find some photos to put up. A comment on Sir Walter which I have at the front, is that it has performed really well in the part shade area, but browned off badly in the the full sun area (even with grey water underneath each). Shaded / part shade I would go SW, but full sun I would go for EZ. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 70Dec 08, 2009 8:07 pm Great to hear and still backs up the advice and information I have had on it. grasshopper and a few others no doubt are just waiting for winter to arrive and I can assure you, it will get knocked around a bit if you are not careful during it's establishment. This is why i bang on about feeding the soil, it is what will give it it's best chance molasses, blood and bone when it cools in between hot spells, seasol, powerfeed. An occasional use of a controlled release fertiliser if you feel compelled (Scotts Lawn Builder) Avoid lawn beetle treatments which harm more good things than bad. Especially considering 5 billion microbes can live in one handfull of healthy soil. This is when you will prepare it for winter, not when it arrives each year, it will get better and better through winter, regular applications of blood and bone (every 4-6 weeks at least) and the occasional dose of molasses Lay EZ out on poor soil and not much of the healthy goodies and expect it to not go so well when winter arrives and this is just what Grasshopper is waiting for Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 71Dec 08, 2009 9:04 pm Fu, Sir wally and his soft leaf buddies brown off too . If EZ can keep some colour i will be happy, its more the green up race from winter which will be interesting. Cheers, Beatrix Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 72Dec 08, 2009 10:53 pm you will find that doing my methods of turf care you won't get sir W and palmetto browning off so much. This is because the cell walls of the turf will be thicker than your neighbours and therefore be more resilient to the cold. The same goes for the EZ. I'd expect some browning this winter but the one after that? Not much of it. Next summer will be better too. It establishing it that is the tricky part and also another reason to take a newer and different approach to traditional turf laying. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 73Dec 10, 2009 9:19 pm Fu, as you know any grass will do better in the long term with good prep/soil during establishment. EZ or any turf will look great at the moment if layed recently and given a bit of TLC, even on bad soil. Time will tell, and often the variety is blamed without understanding what's underneath it or been applied to it. If anyone in Melbourne expects EZ to be greener (a different shade of brown) than SW/Pal in winter under the same conditions is dreaming. If anyone expects EZ to come out of dormancy (spring green up) quicker than SW/Pal in spring under the same conditions is dreaming. EZ is the pick of the zoysias, but it has it's limitations. The perfect grass hasn't been discovered yet. If you list the 10 most desirable traits for a lawn grass, no grass gets 10/10. But I still feel SW/Pal gets a better score /10 than EZ. I can post 100's of pics but they mean nothing without knowing the history of the soil/climate/usage/time of year etc. Winter establishment is the biggest issue for any turf sold in Melbourne, they'll all be OK in spring or summer. EZ isn't really an option in winter, then down the track, shade gets involved, that whipes out kikuyu. So nothing is perfect but SW/Pal get a better score /10 overall I feel, but if you're buying in late spring with no shade in the future and don't mind a late green up in spring then EZ is an option. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 74Dec 11, 2009 11:52 am Grasshopper, I laid EZ and a friend laid SW around the same time (roughly the same frost area/climate/soil/winter/summer shade etc, I did more prep though) so i will keep and eye on what goes on winter and spring. I can then give layman's feedback to the forum. Lambchoppa could give us a better idea having both. Judging by the fact EZ grows slow it makes sense that it could be slower greening up. Probably the same green up as santa anna you would think? Cheers, B Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 75Dec 11, 2009 12:53 pm Here in Perth EZ leaves the 1980's style Santa Anna for dead in winter and summer. Can be wobbly for the first year and better from then on. Lots of seasol and molasses and get those roots strong and healthy. Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 76Dec 11, 2009 9:13 pm Like i said before, the internet has no geographical boundaries. if we're comparing apples with apples that's fine. so stay tuned next spring for the result Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 77Apr 06, 2010 10:11 am Any update on the EZs in Melbourne? I am just starting a build at the moment and would love to know which lawn to think of to put down in Spring. I've tried to do an Emerald Kikuyu from seed and I think I failed that test. Although that was before I learnt about Molases / soil prep / Seasol etc. Maybe I can bring it back to life by following some of Fu's recommendations. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 78Apr 06, 2010 10:51 am Thats funny i was thinking about updating this thread the other day. Well my patch got through summer well and, once established, was lasting about 10-14 days between watering (or rain) and the same for mowing in full bore sun. Probably wasn't a "normal" summer weatherwise as we did have heaps of rain + humidity. I flexed one section and let it brown right off and it bounced back well, but no where near as quick as the kik nearby. The only problem i have with this turf is it is slow to repair from damage but the is less mowing/edging kinda offsets it. I ran the tank dry on the vegies and the turf went 2 weeks in the heat (end of summer) without water and as Fu says it "wobbled" (as you would expect of any turf, the kik was in brown town a few days before). It died off a bit and came back ok but with plenty of dead leaf scattered through the green. I doubt this will go away now the evenings are cooling and the turf growth has really slowed down. It is still mostly green though. Will be interesting now as the turf gets less sun and more shade heading into winter. Overall though seems to perform as well as any other warm season turf but with less mowing. It looks mint as well. Now for winter and spring! PS Considering some queston marks over EZ shade tolerance raised by one poster; i had rolls in the shade and it performed very well, probably was getting 4 hours of sun a day. Other roll was in dappled shade all day with no full sun and looks great. (took way longer to establish in the shade though) Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 79May 16, 2010 8:18 pm fu / grasshopper - which turf would you recommend for a backyard of 150 square meters with 2 active dogs (2 pugs)... they will have a big "dog run" with concrete where they will play most of the day, but will get a few hours on the lawn... they love to run laps, and eat grass.. so need something that will recover well.. also, do the turfs "self seed"? reason I ask is our older dog has had issues with some seeding grass where the seeds embed themselves into his paws Re: Appropriate turf for Melbourne 80May 19, 2010 10:55 am IMO, kikuyu. The new ones of Kenda or village green claim they don't self seed. Kik stills grows a bit in Melb winter (unlike other warm season turf) if you don't get frosts and recovers very, very quickly from damage. Kik is very invasive but if you have concrete dog runs around it will be easier to contain. You need full sun for kik. They use kik in most of melbournes parks sporting grounds and public areas. Buffalo would be alright but the dogs will destroy it over the colder months like couch and need a reno in spring. Dunno about EZ, i have had it in only for about 6 months but it is very slow to repair but is a very thick and tough grass. Next spring once it fully established i will have a better idea. They using concrete or timber sleepers? Timber or steel uprights? Any drainage behind sleeper? 3 6690 It's all about wireless, self install now. The cost/benefit of wired setups for the house are no longer what they used to be. Lots of wireless options. Eufy, Arlo and… 2 10734 I’m in a similar position except I’m after sliding 3 stacking doors. 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