What turf and how - Brisbane

[Fisherdroid]

Creating backyard - Brisbane -

Can anyone recommend a turf solution for my backyard?

The yard is almost completly covered from the top by Jacaranda and Poisiana, except a small hole for the hills hoist. The side sun blocked by natives and the house.

It has compacted pretty hard. It must have been filled many years ago and there are some small subsidance dips. Some of the Jacaranda roots are exposed. Even the carpet grass is having trouble in places.

I intend to increase the size of garden dramatically to reduce the lawn (desert) area but want a small area (120 m2) of decent grass for young children.


I would like to know the best DIY solutions to the following:

How to kill off the old carpet grass?

Should I aireate level and topdress?

What turf/seed to lay (Brisbane), bearing in mind price per meter?

[dan76n]

Try this place http://www.cliftonparkturf.com.au/
I got palmetto from them and its been great.

[Ausyuppy]

Fisherdroidm
I put down Sir Walter turf and couldnt be any happier with it. It is beautiful grass, however expect to mow it at least once a week this time of year. Sir Walter is known for is ability to survive during droughts as well as in very shady areas. My yard is a mixture of full sun and shady areas (I have natives as well as that damn Poisiana and it does really well.

I got my grass from Caboolture Turf, the grass was $9 a metre. Yes a lot of money, however its worth it in the long run. I can show you some photos if you like. I turfed 100m2 here and plan to do the front yard with it after I renovate.

Cheers
Steve

P.S. Im in Bald Hills (near Bracken Ridge)

[Fisherdroid]

Thanks for your replies.
I see it is pretty expensive so I had better pay attention to good surface prep before laying it.

I guess I should get the small patches of old grass scraped off and some good topsoil put down before turfing.

One possibility might be to poison the old turf with zero and hit it with a rotrary hoe while mixing in some good soil.

How does this sound for a plan?

[Ausyuppy]

Fisherdroid,
Preparation definately helps, but mind you I took a few shortcuts.

My backyard had been machine finished with a bobcat and left for about a month back in July. It was pretty hard clay. In the end I just raked up all the leaves that had fallen, and wet the ground before I laid the turf. With the water restrictions, in Brisbane City you can hand water the turf for 2 weeks for between 5am - 6am and 5pm - 6pm I think. Check with your relevant council. I was pretty lucky as it rained for a solid week the day after my 2 week watering period ended

If you do want to give your lawn a kick start, a bit of top soil wouldnt hurt, throw some dynamic lifter down, then lay the turf. Give it plenty of water when you can and you wont look back.

If you google around for turf websites, they give some information to prepare your ground.

Cheers
Steve

[Fisherdroid]

Thanks for that info -
I have read some of the turf suppliers preperation requirements and they seem to go for 100mm of soil so it is good to hear your story.
Currently I am madly collecting water in preperation.

[LotteBum]

My experience sounds almost identical to Ausypuppy's!

We laid Sir Walter back in early September and pretty much as soon as our two weeks were up, it started raining. Our water tanks were installed around the same time (all 8,200 litres!) and filled up quickly. We've hand watered it maybe 5 times since the end of the allowed watering period.

We also have quite a bit of shade in our yard, though mostly in winter, and we have two very active dogs, yet the grass still looks fantastic. I've had many a comment about how lush and green it is. It makes you want to roll around in it.

Best of luck with it!

Cheers,
Lotte

[Dirty Doogie]

I have used Sir Walter in 3 gardens and have been very impressed by it. I have found it will take dappled sun (under a huge Bribie Island pine) all day and not die off or thin.

I would prepare the yard by spraying glyphosate on the carpet grass / paspalum that is there now and after a few weeks put down about 75 / 100 mm layer of nice sandy topsoil. If the existing ground is really rock hard I'd think about roughing it up with a pick or mattock before putting the good dirt down.

If the price of Sir Walter makes you baulk try doing the lawn in sections - some now some in 6 months etc. I like to do lawn this way - usually starting in the difficult spots (poor light, hard soil) first. If the turf won't grow there then I change my plans.

But Sir walter is really tough and the only problems that I have had is in areas where the soil stays wet and gets trappled on and compacted while wet. This is why I made the piont of saying sandy soil above.