gardens/lawns/retic

Hi all

OK ponder time for the front gardens for the Reno's

fronts yards - already have defined garden beds and some plants so that's ok.

I have just picked up a booklet from Bunnings re: DIY retic, I read them and think it will be relatively straight forward. I have had the bob cat in so the ground is fairly soft and easy to dig, it is very sandy with white clay below the surface.

What I need clearing up is the order of things and the fine detail.
I gather the retic goes in B4 the roll on. The bobcat cleared all the old grass and some of the soil to lower the level. So the soil is very soft now. like sand.

Now Q's
- do I need to compact B4 installing retic?
- how thick is roll on?
- how deep do I dig the channels? I am thinking popup height less roll on thickness? How much does compacting after laying the roll on affect it's height?
- I have read that the top soil they put on B4 roll on lawn is 60% sand (so it easier for the roots to grow), therefore do I need to do this step as my soil is quite sandy and just put some fertilizer?

That's it for now, thanks guys

Celeste

Compact B4 retic.........Not if sand will hold up. Just make sure the ground is raked level to final contour,and free of rubble.
How deep......better too deep than too shallow, you can always use a longer riser
How thick is roll .........does it matter,allow 50mmon
I have never laid roll on so don't know about how to lay

Macca

In sandy soil its a good idea to rake in at least one double handful of Diatomaceous earth per square meter.
You can get the stuff at Pool Shops or as the mail ingrediant of some cat litter brands, its just a natural product.

Helps with water retention enourmously.:2tsup:

I would also recomend throwing some chook poo around before you lay the turf down. New lawn needs lots of nitrogen to grow, and chook poo is high on nitrogen. Use free stuff if you can get it, but I used the pellet version from the nursery.

Also, don't forget to give the lawn a quick compact after it goes down, it helps it settle in the short-term.

Don't stress too much about the depth of the pipes, too deep is better than too shallow. You can always buy extra risers for the pop-ups.

I went to WA Salvage and bought a cheapo trenching shovel to do my retic, it was all of $8, and worth it's weight in gold!

Make sure you plan the retic 100% correct, don't take any short-cuts. Adding pop-ups at a later date is a PITA, and makes the lawn look aweful for months. And keep the plan where everything is, if you extend the lawn or get dead patches, you can dig it up and bung a new sprinkler in without searching for days for the pipes!

Good Luck!

Jayson

Are you able to provide some photos of your WIP, im currently in the process of doing the same and would love to see some other examples on preparation installs.cheers

A few points.

• You state that “the bobcat cleared all the old grass” – was it couch grass or kikuyu? If so, I suggest that you continue to water the ground and poison anything green that pops up (use a glyphosate based product like Roundup or Zero). When you are certain that all residual grass is killed off, then plant the new lawn.
• Does the DIY instructions cover “head to head” placement of the sprinklers? If not, see http://tinyurl.com/2gw6bh
• <O:pExperience indicates that Toro pop-ups are the best. They are expensive but are trouble free compared to say the Pope brand (Toro owns Pope but maintains the Pope brand for the “cheap” end of town).
• <O:pDig the trenches deep enough to take the business end of a pitch fork. One day, you may wish to manually aerate your lawn.
• For ground preparation, do a Google search. E.g. http://www.lilydaleinstantlawn.com.au/howto.php

Regards,

Mike

Hi all

Thanks Guys

I am still trying to finish the bathroom at the mo.
We are off to Magaret River Monday for 1 1/2 weeks, hope to finish the bathroom when we get back.

Then, I need to split my time between the Kitchen and garden, mornings garden, arvo's kitchen. So, I will give you all an update in 2 weeks re the retic stuff. I will post WIP photo of bathroom tomorrow.

Some photos of the front and back yards I need to retic - these are after the bob cat.

Celeste