We have grass... but have a question or two :)

My EZ lawn is looking lovely

Any EZ turf done as traditional landscapers will do will look poo.
This is what gets up my nose a bit is the ignorance of laying good turf. Soil prep to many is chucking down yellow sand and spreading dynamic lifter and wondering why it won't grow well. The next step up is they chuck down a layer of lawn mix or landscape mix and then lay the turf with DL under it. No turf is going to be sustainable under those circumstances. It'll eat water and experience wild fluctuations in appearance.

EZ absolutely requires good soil prep. That includes the use of bentonite clay (here in the west) zeolite and spongolite as well as certified organic soil. This is a very high performance part of the garden and to ask so much from so little soil is unrealistic. Landscapers must change their turf laying ways for the better of our water resources and ultimately the landscape industry and turf industry.

I have outlined this in most of my posts relating to EZ.

The pink colour comes about during the cold. It can be a more purple colour sometimes and here in WA the cause will always be traced back to poor soil prep or poor soil. Over use or reliance for fertiliser to make a lawn appear healthy will also contribute. Ultimately it comes back to the soil. I have posted loads on the topic. Get the soil right and it won't happen.

EZ and Palmetto are bred by the same mob (Oz Breed). SW is independent and often a grower or landscaper will have allegiances to one of those organisations. I am not affiliated with either. I believe EZ to be fantastic and SW and pal to be more or less the same.

I know of two very high profile Horticultural media people you would all know who have Empire Zoysia turf and have had it for a very long time. It never looks terrible for them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vHJPS-Nf5E

and I had two rolls that I left on my front path that did really well for two months! No soil, no water other than rain. That was through winter and it sure as hell never goes pink I have photos somewhere in the enormous mess of plant pics I have.

I say stuff the waiver, go with it anyway. There's no way it will die on you. I can guide you through the care of it if there already isn't heaps I have posted already in this and other threads, especially the sticky up top.

Now you have decided on Empire Zoysia well done. It is a colder time of the year you are laying, so it will take longer to strike in winter, so may sure the turf does not dry out till it takes. If the sod drys out before it strikes as with any lawn it could have major set backs.

It may take longer to strike, but year after year I have thanked EZ for its slower growth. Its half mowing has saved me a lot of money, as I use a mowing contractor.

Back again... with another question or two.
Firstly though just want to go through our prep..we used certified organic soil, from gardeners direct, as well as the zeolite and they recommended 'Sand Remedy' when asked about the bentonite and spongolite. We dug the soil in, DH hired a rotary hoe, to at least 200mm, added the sand remedy and zeolite. We didnt compact the soil, we stupidly thought that the landscaper would have done that as it was very up/down. All they did was rake it, before laying, so now we have bumpy grass, with areas being lower than the footpath and other areas, higher than it. That was done in early June.
I am not sure how the grass should be looking now, most of the edges are brown, where the turf joins, and its not looking too green. DH has been using seasol and powerfeed, probably not used enough though, but not molasses as yet, hes just gone out and bought baileys '3.1.1 plus' as he thinks the other two aren't working.
Does the above sound like a reasonable condition for 2 month old turf? Is the 3.1.1 any good/what is it meant to do? I would prefer he doesnt use it, but he insists. Also how do I know that what we had laid, is in fact Empire Zoysia.... we were told we need to sign a waiver as they dont recommend it, but when laid we were never given one to sign... or any kind of certificate/recceipt to show that we did in fact get what we paid for.

I tried to google images of EZ, but the pics were either too small/not a close up ar just plain fuzzy.

TIA

Will take a pic tomorrow if needed.

Should probably add that everyone else's lawn on my street is looking pretty ordinary at this time of year as well, and I think we've got every different type of turf on the market between us!

OK with regard to this.
One is that EZ will always go wobbly in winter for the first couple of years and occasionally in extreme winters in years to come. i have posted this many times
Brown edges on any roll on turf is pretty normal. The reason is that air gets to the exposed roots on the edges of the rolls. EZ grows so slow so doesn't catch up as fast as the others. It will go.

Perth in particular is experiencing almost unprecedented cold. Certainly one of the coldest on record and has even been colder than what Melbourne normally gets.
This is going to affect not only EZ but nearly every variety out there. I have been run off my feet with turf problems due to frost. (not just EZ )

Geeze there are Eucalypt varieties around the place that have been damaged by frost and I have never seen that round here. Ever.

It will pick up in mid October (when the warm nights arrive to warm the soil) and then get going in November. You will love being able to start mucking around with reduced watering times in summer. That is going to save you $$$$ and keep more water in the reserves Unless it get really hot like last year

Fertilising anything at the moment is a bit dubious. The soil is cold and very little of what we put on our gardens is going to be absorbed by the plant. Most is leached into the water table and finds its way into the Canning and Swan rivers or into the Ocean. We know what is going on there and now in the Peel inlet and Leschenault Estuary to some extent

The growth in the leaf that does occur will have thinner cell walls and be less protected to cold or heat extremes.

Seasol, liquid composts like Powerfeed. Molasses in water. Make the soil a living ecosystem that leaves many for dead and the rate at which it recovers will be far stronger with lots of readily available nutrients from the soil. The cell walls will be much stronger and it will be more resistant to disease and moisture loss in the heat.

Get blood and bone down. Yeah most we buy have trace elements in it too but there is still some around that are pure blood and bone The amounts of the fortified nutrients really won't matter too much though Get it down before rain mainly so you don't have to smell it so much or at all Smells better than me though

Also have a think about what will be happening under the ground. Often we want to see instant growth and vitality from a newly planted plant but all the action is happening under the ground with root growth. This is a good thing though

However in respect to your EZ warm nights will signal the change and next year the problem will be a little less (unless we get extreme cold again) and the year after than, less still.

Last winter (or maybe the winter before?) I left two rolls of EZ on my footpath. Not in soil, not in much sun but exposed to cold at night. They looked great just getting water from rain the whole winter. Happy sitting there on the footpath. They stayed pretty green (the colour faded but not bad for two or three months out of the soil) They did stay a bit brown on the edges of the rolls. They even got walked on a bit, but not a lot.

Next winter I might try the same thing but with a roll of each major type. EZ, Buffalo of some description like Palmetto maybe and wintergreen couch. Could be a good experiment to muck around with

The info here is also pretty solid for any other variety of turf. They are all looking a bit sad unless they are getting some extra water (like some in my area )

Take a look at raking some organic soil or rich soil into the top when it warms up a bit. (November-ish) but that is probably more practical on smaller turf areas of about 50m2. Do that every few years, it won't build the height, the micro organisms will consume it if you like and make the nutrients available to the plant if we have to put it someway

Top dress too early with organic soils and you might get a few weeds move in but at least they provide some good nitrogen when they die mwwwwuuhahahhahah

Oh and I'd love to see new homeowners using blends of different turfs. Who says we have to have the one type? Might look like a checker board at first but hey in a few years you can have it all. The best qualities of a few types at key times of the year When we lay turf we lay it with the fall of the blades going in alternating directions in each row. This gives your freshly laid turf that MCG look. Now if you were to lay say a row of EZ followed by a row of Palmetto or SW then you will get that contrasting look for quite a while In time they will blend through and merge

Unfortunately they aren't sold or likely to ever be sold as blended turf rolls

Oh and when selecting a fertiliser, choose a controlled release fertiliser. It offers you absolute value for money by having your turf use nearly all the nutrients and it is better for the environment by eliminating almost all nutrient leaching. Perth is one of the best case studies in the world for looking at what nutrient leaching does to the environment.

Yeah I have posted about it being wobbly in loads of threads. No secret there. It is unusual to see that in Perth or areas around but if the temps go low it will. Keep sticking at what I say and each year it gets better and better.

Even Buffalo's will go a bit rubbish in winter and so does couch. Of course the scale of it varies.

Over all though the pros and cons balance out on most turfs. The important thing is to make sure you can do your best to make sure it isn't going to burn a hole in your pocket or become an eviro mess