Pics of your lawn!

[fordOwner]

no no get the big bag it will last you ages! apply it now, middle of winter and at the end of winter!! more the merrier really. Yeh make sure you mix it in well with the fertiliser and make sure you water it in.

The shorter the cut the better really, unless you have lots of party's, kids, a dog or shade. If you have these four things cut it high at your #7 or #6 height that is proving to work for your lawn as it needs "body" to absorb the impact of the traffic and to keep its coverage in shaded areas.
If you dont have these four things then cut it twice a week lowering the height by one notch every time or every second time, depends on how badly its scalping (always test in the corner first or something so no one seed your test scalp)
I used to cut my Kikuyu lawn at home on #0 with the victa rotory mower once a week..comes up a treat! but It needs to be wetter soil'd as the evaporation rate is higher with less plant body.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by fordOwner

yes there is! its called granulated soil wetting agent. comes in a 20ltr bag usually and i think it treats up to 600sq meters. Baily's Growsorb is one brand but im not sure if its available outside of WA tho. Its Phosphate free to protect the froggies too! - Phosphate is acidic to the layer of film on frogs' skin.

FalconCoupe - the silvery strands in Kikuyu are the useless seed pods that it produces. ive been told its like our appendix, we still have it but dont need it.
Unless its a strand of the original original original Kikuyu from the 70's then the seeds are sterile. - and Yes I hear you its SUPER annoying!!

True, but bugger the frogs, and on a second note , try to stay away from anything too high in nitrogen or phosphate imo for grass , as these elements will help any weeds in your lawn flower like mad !. Good for plants coming into flower/flowering, but lawn a no no imo. cheers.

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by fordOwner

FalconCoupe - the silvery strands in Kikuyu are the useless seed pods that it produces. ive been told its like our appendix, we still have it but dont need it.
Unless its a strand of the original original original Kikuyu from the 70's then the seeds are sterile. - and Yes I hear you its SUPER annoying!!

Thanks for clearing that up. It has me pondering where the seeds we buy in small boxes come from though, it can't all be sterile ?

[fordOwner]

^ yes true. Apply strait nitrogen very lightly - a bit goes a long way.

You can actually fight fire with fire so to speak with nitrogen (apparently) - In the old days they would apply it to weed infested lawns first thing in the morning when there is dew on the lawns. The nitrogen would burn the leaf blade of the weed killing it and fertilising the turf. but it would yellow the turf due to the burning. Ive never seen it done, its pretty damn old school but I read it in an old 1950's Greens keepers book.

The seeds you buy for Kikuyu is from an original strand of Penesetum clandestinum (Kikuyu) which is probably from the USA. God knows how they collect the seeds -Id like to find out!

[Iggypoppin']

excuse my ignorance with this post, im going off limited education about grass...

our kikuyu was laid around 5 weeks ago and sand piled over the top with daichondra(sp?) seeds or something in the sand, supposedly to help it grow..its growing but its patchy. any reason for this?

day it was laid


as it is now

[POELWYK]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

lol.. Sorry duaned, wasn't intended ! .
As mentioned, very nice lawns you guys who do that for a job , no doubt some of the best lawns about for sure and I enjoyed the pics. On with the home lawn pics , bring them on ..cheers


EDIT ... lmao 'auslandau', thats gold, a nuclear power plant in your backyard huh ! ( or coal chimney ?)

i beleave its a Cooling Tower and whats comming out of the top is STEAM from the water thats getting Pumped to the top

[dave351cid]

this is my sad excuse of a lawn. hasnt rained for 5 months and limited + expencive town water means it dosnt get watered at all. it never was anything special but now its jusy DEAD : .






but i am saving $$$$ on mower fuel. :

[fordOwner]

76txcoupe -

Was the first picture taken before the sand was put on with the Dichondra seeds?
The "after" photo looks as if the sand piled on top suffoctad the Kikuyu and only tufts of grass has been able to grow back through the thin layers of sand - thats just from looking at the pic.
I have never heard of oversowing using Dichondra. Weird mix I thought.

Anyway, ahh give it a rake, breaking up the soil crusts on top n spreading the sand around so its a bit thinner. I cant see from the "after" pic but if its Kikuyu thats growing thats good news - it will eventually spread over, just give it a mow say once a week ONLY CUTTING 1/4 of the leaf blade off. This will encourage the turf to grow sideways filling in the voids.
Keep it moist, give it a light fertilise, stay off it and add a soil wetting agent.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by dave351cid

this is my sad excuse of a lawn. hasnt rained for 5 months and limited + expencive town water means it dosnt get watered at all. it never was anything special but now its jusy DEAD : .


[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

but i am saving $$$$ on mower fuel. :

If that's dead, then I don't know what to call mine. My lawn is like dust

[spooty]

My back lawn is OKAY ...but it is a little patchy because of our dog.... the front lawn isnt very good - the water seems to just roll off as its on a slant! any advice?!

[fordOwner]

spooty, front lawn - core it or use a garden fork or even get an edger to slice some lines into it if its on a slope to catch the run off and apply asoil wetting agent.
back lawn - It needs a breather from the dog and needs to be fully regrown before the dog can go back onto it.... if possible. dunno what else - cordon half the back yard off? otherwise its just going to be an up hill battle aye. Its like the goal square on a football oval. It just gets worn to shreds and football ovals have to returf them to keep playing on them. During the off season it has a breather and recovers ready for the start of the new season.

PS - ill post some pictures of my home lawn soon. Im not happy with it at the moment.
Every year I host a "Putt Putt for Pint Pint" golf tournament on it. I throw on a BBQ, kegs and buskers. - I should post the pics ofthis years one coming up.

[Iggypoppin']

Originally Posted by fordOwner

76txcoupe -

Was the first picture taken before the sand was put on with the Dichondra seeds?
The "after" photo looks as if the sand piled on top suffoctad the Kikuyu and only tufts of grass has been able to grow back through the thin layers of sand - thats just from looking at the pic.
I have never heard of oversowing using Dichondra. Weird mix I thought.

Anyway, ahh give it a rake, breaking up the soil crusts on top n spreading the sand around so its a bit thinner. I cant see from the "after" pic but if its Kikuyu thats growing thats good news - it will eventually spread over, just give it a mow say once a week ONLY CUTTING 1/4 of the leaf blade off. This will encourage the turf to grow sideways filling in the voids.
Keep it moist, give it a light fertilise, stay off it and add a soil wetting agent.

Yeah the first pic is the day we laid it, then they piled sand and daichondra seeds into the sand. I know it's been cut quite a few times, to encourage growth, and it's actually grown much more than that pic shows-add two weeks or so. Plenty of water, as we have a permit. I couldn't understand why the sand was piled on top?? And thanks for the advice too buddy

[Blem]

Noticed none of you are from Adelaide where the only things that are green down here are the river Torrens with BLUE GREEN ALGAE & the ENVY of grass not DUST !

[Iggypoppin']

I'm from Adelaide and our lawn, even with sand suffocating it, is bright green and lush.

And you posted that right after a post from yep!! Adelaide boy.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by 76txcoupe

Yeah the first pic is the day we laid it, then they piled sand and daichondra seeds into the sand. I know it's been cut quite a few times, to encourage growth, and it's actually grown much more than that pic shows-add two weeks or so. Plenty of water, as we have a permit. I couldn't understand why the sand was piled on top?? And thanks for the advice too buddy

As mentioned , break up the hard soil with a rake a bit. Then personaly imo I would add some extra seeds and rake them in , water it regulary, keep off it as much as possible for now , and avoid mowing it too much !.
Let it get sort of long to help it hold its own moisture for now, don't go cutting it to a nice short look until it has fully filled out again. cheers.

[Iggypoppin']

sweet cheers xr6 vct 2000

[fordOwner]

If your going to over sow it with seed again, dont mow it at all untill its all covered and green. The mower will suck up your seeds and the wheels will damage the new seed growth. let it grow for a few weeks and keep it moist - most important!
DOnt go using Dichondra again. The Kikuyu will just strangle it, plus its a completely different leaf blade and will look like weeds in a back yard situation.
Is your back yard in shade most/some or part of the day?? as id recommend a strait RYE grass seed. You could go a box of mixed seeds if you wanted but Kikuyu oversown with RYE looks tops!

A Lot of turf at the Horse races and some ovals are now oversowing with CLOVER!! its a new type with a shiny fat leaf for optimum looks (stripes up a treat!) and it has a quick recovery.

[SB076]

Originally Posted by fordOwner

SB076 - Apply some turf sand only after you have corred it to fill in the hollow plugs improving your soil profile. Turf sand would probably be better in your situation due to your clay content in your lower soil profile as Turf Mix will have a higher clay content than sand.

Top dressing should ONLY be applied to lawns to fill in divots, plug holes, un-even lawns, or lawns that are thin from too much wear.
People have the misconseption that putting sand on lawns make it healthy and greener - Its only the nitrogen or other trace elements that is in the top dressing soil that makes it green. So its easier and cheaper to just add fertiliser.
Top dressing allplied to healthy lawns will just add Thatching problems. where too much organic material is built up and decaying between the top layer of the soil and turf plant

Thanks going to try and core it this weekend (have a friend that has a manual coring device - havent got heaps of lawn so should be fine, plus help me avoid hitting irrigation system... hopefully) Will then get some lawn sand to try and even it up (my lawn is very uneven which I think is also causing drainage issues)

[jaskel]

Im very proud of my yard....hwat you think??





nah but seriously, I just sulphate my grass and fed it..now its taking off...ill get a pic tomorrow after i mow it.

Ive got buffalo and Kikuyu...did I mention I hate mowing.

[fordOwner]

are you in australia? thos pics look like it could be in Europe or Russia or America or somewhere.
The pick-up truck and the shack thing in the last picture adds to the illusion.

[DoreSlamR]

Originally Posted by fordOwner

are you in australia? thos pics look like it could be in Europe or Russia or America or somewhere.
The pick-up truck and the shack thing in the last picture adds to the illusion.

The first one is in South Burnett, Queensland and the second is somewhere in Arkansas

[jaskel]

Originally Posted by fordOwner

are you in australia? thos pics look like it could be in Europe or Russia or America or somewhere.
The pick-up truck and the shack thing in the last picture adds to the illusion.

LOL nah man, I just found those pics on the net....hhahah not my actual yard....id shoot myself if it was ..\

Ill get a few pics of mine soon.

[duaned]

So how are your lawns looking now readers? A week ago I gave mine a very short mow which helped in removing a few weeds that have been bugging me for a while. A week later and it's still looking good, and I haven't needed to water it since the cut! Here's is the latest pic:-


Post em up people!

[tray_18]

[Mr Hardware]

Reference post #72
looking much better now after a bit of rain and a mow

[benoxr]

I want to cut lines through the lawn, 500mm apart, for the purpose of installing underground weeper hose, does a machine exist to do this cutting or is a spade the only choice?
I'm looking at a lawn of about 11m x 6m, and each row would be 500mm apart and digging down about 120mm for each row, so its a big job with a spade. Any ideas please?

[FTE72]

Originally Posted by benoxr

I want to cut lines through the lawn, 500mm apart, for the purpose of installing underground weeper hose, does a machine exist to do this cutting or is a spade the only choice?
I'm looking at a lawn of about 11m x 6m, and each row would be 500mm apart and digging down about 120mm for each row, so its a big job with a spade. Any ideas please?

Have a really good size breakky before you start.

[benoxr]

Originally Posted by FTE72

Have a really good size breakky before you start.

haha my stomach's fat enough as it is, I want to be able to bend down and dig!!

[b2tf]

Originally Posted by benoxr

I want to cut lines through the lawn, 500mm apart, for the purpose of installing underground weeper hose, does a machine exist to do this cutting or is a spade the only choice?
I'm looking at a lawn of about 11m x 6m, and each row would be 500mm apart and digging down about 120mm for each row, so its a big job with a spade. Any ideas please?

Use a trencher provided you know where all your pipes and cables are.

[DoreSlamR]

Originally Posted by benoxr

I want to cut lines through the lawn, 500mm apart, for the purpose of installing underground weeper hose, does a machine exist to do this cutting or is a spade the only choice?
I'm looking at a lawn of about 11m x 6m, and each row would be 500mm apart and digging down about 120mm for each row, so its a big job with a spade. Any ideas please?

Run a string line along the grass where you want the dripper hose to run. (I'd use netafin or similar) Then use a lawn edger and cut your lines through the grass. After that use a straight spade to ply the ground apart along the lines enough to drop the dripper lines in.

Also, ask your retic shop about what you'll need for putting in an injection point. This will let you fertilise the grass through your dripper lines, also if necessary, you can run a bit of herbicide through the lines to prevent the roots growing into the drippers.