lawn irrigation

Afternoon all,

I am in the process of putting in an irrigation system for our lawn and gardens, getting rid of the existing lawn/weeds and then putting in Sir Walter soft buffalo grass as runners. Any advise on the following would be great...
1. are the tuff cutters you can hire any good??
2. are Hunter sprinklers ok??
3. what should I put on the sand before planting the runners..... I am thinking wettasoil and dynamic lifter??
4. Do I need to use a roller on the runners after they are planted??
5. Any one had any experience with Sir Walter lawn?? unfortunately our budget does not extend to instant lawn hense the runners.
6. Any other advice woudl be greatly appreciated.

Cheers Stu

ps..... where does ont get cheap 19mm poly pipe in Perth

Dynamic lifter will lose you a lot of friends for a while if you use too much.
19mm pipe is cheaper from irrigation suppliers, not Bunnies and the like.
Try some of the plastic outlets if you have them in Perth, like Menzels that we have, they have all this sort of gear fairly cheap.

Stu,

1. Dont know
2. Hunter gear drive are one of the best sprinklers you can buy
3. sounds good
4. I dont know about that either, on seed yes but on runners???
5. Put in your runners around every 200mm for faster coverage. Or go and buy a few meters of Sir Walter and sprig the area to be lawned about the same spacing
6. Lots of water and fertilizer often but not to much as you can burn the lawn, some times on a newer lawn a liquid fertilizer can work wonders something like that Yates stuff for pot plants ect. this stuff has all the goodies plants need that they drain from the soil.

Hope that helps
Cheers Ian :)

if you have sandy soil then you should idealy improve the soil structure before anything else (thats of course after your remove the grass thats there)

If you have time to wait then things like mushroom compost, manuers, bloody and bone, composted green wast and what not (anything that will brake down to inrich and improve the soil structure.

Dig this in to about 6 - 12 inches then plant your grass.
Don't go putting on tones of furtiliser its no real use for grass your going to grow from runners, it all gets wasted and washed away from the plant roots.
Apply furtiliser as per the instructions for newly sown grass, make sure to water reguarly (ie, every few days or every day depending on how hot it is) then once established water deeply every week.

If you can sow seeds of the same species as the runners it would be good so as to help cover the soil faster unless your going to sow the runners densly, also with mowing mow at the highest level the mover will let you untill the grass is established and then keep the grass between 1 and 2 inchs.

apply furtiliser at the recommended dosage and bobs your uncle!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PuppyPaw

also with mowing mow at the highest level the mover will let you untill the grass is established and then keep the grass between 1 and 2 inchs.

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But maybe not that high for Sir Waler :eek: , chop it often to help it spread and get faster coverage

Ian :)

Gday Stu,

In response:
1.In most cases yes.....ensure that the blades are sharp.
2.Hunters are the best you can get BUT you need to have the water pressure to drive them.I have found that there isnt much difference between the gear drives quality wise but if you dont have the pressure to drive them you are wasting your time.Are you rural or suburban, bore or scheme?
3.Dig in as much soil improver as you can (soils aint soils) sell a good one to thicken the bed for the lawn.Horse,cow, chook manure doesnt hurt also Dynamic lifter.Try to use the fines for the soil not the pelletised.Too much good stuff is never enough and you wont regret the extra work.
4.No. Level out with a quality lawn top dressing to whatever level your happy with. Spread pelletised Dynamic lifter on after you have spread the top soil.
5.Sir Walter, great stuff as isnt itchy(apparently) Buffalo spread on top of the ground (its roots are exposed) unlike Kikuyu or couch where the roots are in the soil.
6.Try to ensure that you have eradicated ALL of the kikuyu or couch from areas where you plan to lay the buffalo.Couch( wintergreen etc) and kikuyu are very invasive and given time will eventually take over the buffalo if given 1/2 a chance.Glyphosate is effective but takes time + applications and you may need to use a dedicated grass killer for a while before you lay the buffalo.
You cant use a lot of the popular weed killers on buffalo (weed and feed etc) so look forward to many fun filled hours digging out weeds with a fork.

Hope this helps
Steve

thanks for all the input so far, how long does it take to get a reasonable looking lawn from runners?? I have read on the internet 12 weeks but this seems awfully fast??

Cheers Stu

Also apply a dressing a agricultural lime, at recommended rate to the soil before planting. This is particularly important if you are using Dynamic Lifter - the lime allows access to minerals and elements which Dynamic Lifter "locks up" when used by itself.

Don't over-fertilise at the planting stage. Better to concentrate on getting the soil in good condition and level, adding spent mushroom compost or whatever to improve moisture retention. Fertilise the growing lawn - small applications often are better than heavy applications.

Don't dispose of the grass you remove - it will compost down to a good loam. If you are cutting it with a turf cutter (or give it a good water and cut with a spade), stack the pieces upside down, cover and maintain moisture and you'll have a heap of good garden soil and a healthy population of worms in no time.

Use your discretion when mowing the lawn in the early stages - longer turf helps shade the soil and slows down evaporation - shaving it too close damages it and exposes the roots to sun. Don't bother about the grass catcher in the early stages - the clippings will provide mulch in the short term and add to the organic matter in the longer term.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stu

thanks for all the input so far, how long does it take to get a reasonable looking lawn from runners?? I have read on the internet 12 weeks but this seems awfully fast??

Cheers Stu

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Depends how close they are planted together.
I would expect at least a period of 6 - 12 months to get an even coverage all around.

Cheers
Steve

Thanks for all the help so far, anyone had any experience in pulling apart the rolls of buffalo into runners?? Or is it better to buy the shredded lawn that is available??
Cheers Stu

Hi Stu

We had 90+ metres of fescue lawn removed and replaced with a SWB instant last year. It is said to require less water ... it needs as much, if not more than fescue ... it wilts at the first sign of heat. Shade tolerant? A furphy! ... we even trimmed the lower branches of my beloved trees to allow near full sunlight. Hardy? ... the dog digs up clods with every twist and turn. It's fertilized regularly with Richgro Ever Green as recommended by the landscaper. It's growth is sparse, therefore full of weeds - a nightmare!!
Sorry, but I can't recommend it, give me good old fescue for a indestructible, evergreen, easy care, husband proof lawn any day!

Cheers
Tikki :)

I guess results vary. We laid Sir Walter turf in (shady) Melbourne with sensational results. It's always green even when the neighbours grass (fescue) is patchy and brown over winter. In summer it needs no more water than fescue and it feels great underfoot. We laid turf in the back yard but used runners (that I cut from the turf) for a small section at the side. The runners took really well and spread quickly, actually out-competing some other weeds and grasses already there. Sir Walter has non-invasive runners so it's easy to trim to keep it out of garden beds, but it's self repairing. Our nature strip is fescue, which by comparison is a pain because any die-back has to be re-sown. I'm changing it for SWB this summer. Regarding shade, my SWB grows best in slightly shady areas -- near fences, trees, against the house... Tikki, I'm wondering if you got genuine SWB given the difference in our experience... unless it's very sensitive to the conditions.

To answer your questions Stu, the way I've seen SWB spread I'd believe that you could easily get good coverage in 12 weeks, but I guess that depends on conditions. Don't use dynamic lifter, there is a specific lawn-starter fertilizer to put down before laying Sir Walter turf, but I can't remember it's name. Your landscape supplier should be able to advise. Don't use a roller, but after planting you should half bury the Sir Walter in coarse washed sand to make sure the roots keep in contact with the soil. If they dry out at this stage, it dies. Also for the first few weeks you will need to water twice a day to keep the sand/soil moist. After that it should be fine.

When you mow it, set the lawnmower at the highest setting. The grass will look and feel much better underfoot, and be healthier because it retains more water. Most problems with buffalo comes from mowing too short and exposing the roots, which leads to it drying out.

Check these photos out - pic 2. Sir Walter turf just laid, pic 1. same lawn three weeks later.

Thanks for all the help above. Ended up digging the old lawn up by hand with a very sharp spade and so far have about 250sq mtrs planted in runners, if anyone wants a mind destroying job try planting runners at 150mm intervals :)
The rain here has helped and heres hoping for a somewhat reasonable lawn by Christmas.
Stu