Month: January 2017
Video – Controlling Broad Leaf Weeds
Keep Your Lawn Looking Good Through Summer
Summer is upon us and things are starting to well-and-truly heat up in some areas around the country so it’s a great time to get your lawn areas into shape while your grass is in its peak growing period. The trouble with some parts of the country during summer are extended dry periods – whilst other more tropical areas typically experience their wet season, so any advice needs to take into account your current weather-pattern circumstances.
The lead-up to summer for much of the country should have helped growing conditions with more rainfall falling in most areas than normal. The key to keeping your lawn in top condition right through summer is a combination of the right lawn-type coupled with the appropriate amount irrigation and care. Regular deep-watering to encourage a stronger and deeper root-system and an occasional nutrient-boost with a high-quality, lawn-fertiliser application will help to keep your lawn in top shape for summer. The healthier the lawn, the less susceptible to weeds or disease it becomes and allows it to better withstand any long hot-and-dry-spells that may be soon headed our way. And contrary to a lot of advice, regular lower-mowing through summer can also help with drought tolerance, with our recent research telling us that a shorter leaf area actually allows less moisture to evaporate than what occurs with longer grass-leaf blades. Choosing the right lawn-type is one of the main factors in how it will perform over summer and a drought-tolerant, warm-season turf-type like Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo, is the perfect all-round turf-type that will handle a harsh Aussie Summer.
Available from AusGAP certified Lawn Solutions Australia turf producers Australia wide, low-maintenance Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo is the favoured choice of landscapers, builders and home-owners alike. If changing your lawn isn’t an option and you need a quick colour-up then try out Lawn Solutions Australia’s fertiliser range to provide some quick vigour and colour to your lawn. And if dry or drought conditions are unavoidable and you have a special event coming why not look at the latest innovation for lawn care from Lawn Solutions Australia with their exclusive new ColourGuard instant lawn pigment. A simple hose-applied application and you won’t believe the instant transformation that this natural plant-pigment-based product can provide for your lawn. Lawncare doesn’t need to be difficult and simple hints from Lawn Solutions Australia and their network of member turf growers and Lawn Solutions Centres Australia-wide can help with products to keep your lawn in top condition this summer.
Five Simple Things to Improve My Lawn This Long Weekend
It’s not all that difficult to maintain a healthy carpet of natural lawn with some simple tips from one of the country’s leading authorities on all things turf . . . Lawn Solutions Australia. One of the biggest secrets to a healthy lawn isn’t necessarily lots of care, but routine care. A healthy lawn can have many benefits; as well as being a desirable feature for potential homebuyers, a fresh lawn can provide an inviting outdoor space, somewhere safe for kids and pets and an area that’s perfect for entertaining in the Aussie outdoors. Follow these simple tips to ensure you have the best lawn in the street, making your neighbours green with envy!
1 – Fertilise
Regular fertilisation is a necessity for having a healthy, thriving lawn. Lawn fertiliser is basically an all-in-one treat for your lawn that feeds your lawn, helping it maintain good health and minimising the risk stress and diseases. For fertilising in winter we recommend using a foliar liquid fertiliser like Exceed.
2 – Reduce weeds
Mowing your lawn regularly is the best way to help prevent weeds from growing after setting seed in your lawn. Even the best-kept lawns will have weeds being blown-in or from birds and even on shoes and clothing. Removing weeds early by digging them up when they are young and small are, of course, easier to remove than when they are larger and can set seeds and potentially spread all throughout your lawn and garden. Mowing in most cases will keep most lawn weeds in check but try to mow before too many weeds take hold. Weeds come in all shapes and sizes and vary from grass-type weeds to broad leaf weeds. Lawn Solutions Australia offers a range of weed killers and controls so see Lawn Solutions Australia article How to Treat the 5 Most Common Weeds for details.
3 – A quick high mow
A bit like a new haircut, it’s amazing the difference a quick trim can make to your lawn. Mowing every now-and-then on a high setting is a great way to quickly keep any weeds in check and to give a healthy neat and uniform appearance. There’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly mown grass to stimulate the senses and help put the summer sizzle in your backyard party or barbeque.
4 – Alternate mowing patterns
Staying with the hair analogy; consistently brushing your hair the same way, in the same direction, it develops a ‘memory’ and falls in the same way most of the time. Lawns are very similar and it becomes easy to slip into the same mowing routine. As well as causing the grass to lay in one direction, it can cause compacted ruts from the mower. To prevent this, simply mow in alternate directions, and change your patterns. This will result in a more evenly cut, and will help improve the appearance of your lawn.
5 – Paint your lawn
No, this isn’t a joke. Lawn paint, such as Lawn Solutions Australia’s ColourGuard, can be used on drought or frost affected lawns, and instantly improving the natural colour of your lawn while reducing watering needs. ColourGuard lawn paint is actually a natural plant-based pigment that allows your lawn to remain green all year round, even during droughts and extreme temperatures. ColourGuard is 100% organic, making it safe for the environment, people and pets. For further information on ColourGuard and where you can get it go to Lawn Solutions Australia’s specialty ColourGuard pages.
Lawncare doesn’t need to be difficult and simple hints from Lawn Solutions Australia and their network of member turf growers and Lawn Solutions Centres Australia-wide can help with products to keep your lawn in top condition this summer.
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Tips to Protect Your Lawn From Chickens
Chickens can have ‘egg-ceptional’ benefits for certain aspects of your lawn and garden; chickens love to eat beetle larvae and lots of other pesky pests that can damage your plants, and at the same time produce a nutrient-rich, free organic-fertiliser. You may be a part of the growing trend of backyard chicken owners. Unfortunately, your adorable little egg producers have a tendency to find soft spots in your lawn, dig holes, and take dust baths, potentially making your backyard lawn look like a crater-filled ‘moonscape’. There are a few options you can look at when it comes to ‘chicken-proofing’ your lawn and garden areas:
Option 1 – Barbeque Chicken
Let’s face it; every now and then there comes a failed backyard experiment – the rabbits, guinea pigs – even the Bali-inspired water-feature. If you aren’t keen on that line there are a number of pet adoption agencies that will take the offending beasts off your hands – or else if you setting-up for your backyard chicken project, there are a number of battery-hen rehoming services available to help you get started – search online for contacts in each state. If you’ve resigned yourself to a backyard with chickens read on for a few hints to help save your lawn . . .
Option 2 – Imprisonment
As punishment for destroying your lawn, set up an enclosure that won’t allow access by your fowl fiends to your lawn and garden. This can be done by simply fencing off areas you don’t want your chickens to get into or else a large coup that will protect your chickens yet give them enough area to scratch and make a mess without bothering your garden and lawn areas.
Option 3 – Temporary plant cages
If you would prefer giving your chickens a more free-range lifestyle, you can place temporary wire cages over areas you have recently planted; especially ripened fruits and vegetables, to protect them from chicken attacks.
Option 4 – Provide a designated bathtub
Worried about your chickens digging up your lawn and garden? Try putting out a kitty litter box or similar filled with coarse sand, this should help ‘scratch’ your chickens’ ‘itch’ for a dust bath!
Option 5 – Lawn tractors
Lawn tractors, or ‘chicken mowers’, allow the chickens to have access to your lawn, under your control. This is a favoured compromise of many happy backyard chickens and their owners. A lawn tractor is simply a portable pen, usually with wire along the bottom, preventing chickens from digging up your lawn, and constantly provides your chickens with a fresh supply of grass. Simply move around the yard every couple of days – fresh grass and fresh fertiliser.
Option 6 – Wait and see
If your lawn is dense with no bald spots, your chickens and your lawn may very well live together in harmony. Chickens will aerate the soil as they peck and scratch while at the same time eating leaves, weeds, bugs and grass clippings. If you do have some struggling areas in your lawn, you can place down some wire mesh flat on the ground. The mesh will prevent the chickens from digging in that area until the lawn has repaired. Choosing the right lawn-type is also one of the most important things to consider and depending on your location your local Lawn Solutions Australia turfgrower or Lawn Solutions Centre will be able to give some specialised advice based on your particular location and circumstances. Lawncare doesn’t need to be difficult and simple hints from Lawn Solutions Australia and their network of member turf growers and Lawn Solutions Centres Australia-wide can help with products to keep your lawn in top condition this summer.
My Neighbour’s Lawn Is Growing into Mine – What Do I Do?
After extensively caring for your lawn and getting it just right, the last thing you want is for it to be invaded by your neighbour’s not so friendly lawn, especially one that is a different grass type. These tips and tricks aren’t strictly limited to pesky neighbouring lawns. Lawn invasion can occur from a prior lawn, where the original lawn may not have been entirely killed-off, and is beginning to grow from its left-behind-seedbank or remnant rhizomes; or from grass seeds that have blown-in or come from bird droppings, attached to pet-animal’s fur or even visitor’s shoes and clothing.
I remember when I was young how my father would carefully check our thongs and other shoes for those horrible bindii or cats-ear burrs after we had been at the park before we let these nasties loose in our own backyard. The same thing goes for foreign grasses – they can spread quite easily. If the lawn invasion you’re experiencing is minor, the most effective form of removal may be pulling out the unwelcome grass species by hand. Be careful when using sprays when it comes to lawns, as most are warm season turf grasses which are susceptible to non-selective herbicides such as glyphosate/roundup. When it comes to your neighbour’s lawn a long-term solution is to create a physical barrier, such as a brick or timber edge. There are other strip edges available such as aluminium or heavy plastic which offers a clean-cut-look, and deep enough to prevent the runners and rhizomes from creeping underneath into your lawn. Another type of lawn edge is the spade edge, and as the title suggests, it is the use of a spade to cut the edge – but it leaves a bare dirt trough – and may not be appropriate for the verge or front yard.
Last resorts can include using a non-selective herbicide, which would need to be used with care as this would kill your lawn as well as your neighbour’s and would again leave a bare dirt patch between the two lawns. Often just letting the two lawns grow into each other for a small distance can be the best option as it softens the look of the transition from one grass-type to the other. There is still some attention required every now and then to keep it neat – best approached by possibly lifting and removing runners as they grow too far into each other’s lawns – or else slightly lifting and hand-painting with glyphosate to remove the offending runners. Sticking with one of Lawn Solutions Australia’s proven varieties and using one of Lawn Solutions Australia’s preferred fertilisers on your side of the of lawn may very well make your lawn look outstanding and convince your neighbour to change their lawn type to the same as yours – lawn invasion problem solved.
Tips to Make Your Yard and Lawn Pet Friendly
Our pets appreciate our yards just as much or more than we do, for different reasons. Some pets spend most of their life in the back yard and if that’s the case in your situation you may have already solved some of issues that we’re going to look at in this article. You may have to take into consideration what plants your pets do and don’t get along with. Sturdy plants with soft foliage are recommended for areas near your garden.
As far as the lawn goes, natural turf grass is one of the best surfaces around because it can handle the ‘ruff’ nature of some of your animals. Backyard lawns provide a place for our pets to play, eat, and do their business. A well-kept lawn is usually safe for pets and children to play on, it will self-repair from any damage or tracking and with a bit of care with some nutrient and aeration every now-and-then your lawn should serve you and your pet friends well. As far as choosing your type of lawn is concerned; a Lawn Solutions Australia lawn variety from one of the network of turfgrowers Australia wide can provide you with the appropriate type for your area, climatic conditions and individual requirements.
There are a few differing lawn varieties in Australia; mainly what they call warm-season turf types and these include varieties like Lawn Solutions Australia’s Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo, Nullarbor Couch, Eureka Kikuyu and Platinum Zoysia. Talk to your local Lawn Solutions Australia turf grower and let them know your circumstances and they’ll help in recommending the best fit for your yard. Once you have made the decision on your lawn, following a few simple tips can help keep your grass and pets in top condition:
- A healthy lawn should equal healthy pets, but be mindful of potentially harmful chemicals in lawn fertilisers and treatments.
- Lawn Solutions Australia’s fertilisers do not contain any heavy metals or overly-toxic components and are safe when used as per the label instructions; ensuring happy and healthy pets and lawns.
- Avoid synthetic grass, your pets will appreciate the natural stuff. Especially in warmer temperatures, fake grass gets hot for both humans and pets.
- Simply putting away gardening tools and equipment (especially sharp ones!) can save your dog from potential injury.
- A little lawn care often will help keep your lawn in good condition. Pets and kids tend to track in places on your lawn and can compact the soil in some areas. Aerate every now and then with a commercial aerator or even a pitch fork and lightly topdress in spring for best results.
- Setting up a fence will not only keep your pet from running off, but is also perfect for keeping pets out of any parts of the garden you want to keep intact, keeping both your pets and your garden safe.
- Our pets need to be able to escape the summer heat and providing a shady spot to hide from the heat will really be appreciated by your pet. Having access to shaded areas is vital.
- As always, keep a water bowl nearby or an automatic watering system, especially on hot days.
By following these tips you’ll be content in knowing your pet is safe and you’ll be able to enjoy a healthy lawn area in your backyard with your best friends, be it either the two- or four-legged-kind. Lawncare doesn’t need to be difficult and simple hints from Lawn Solutions Australia and their network of member turf growers and Lawn Solutions Centres Australia-wide can help with products to keep your lawn in top condition this summer.
Low Maintenance and Low-Mow Lawns – Is There Such a Thing?
Yes, there is such a thing, and it’s not fake grass either! For the most part, these lawns require minimal watering and fertilising, and of course mowing. Continued work from turfgrass breeders (yes there is also such a thing as a turfgrass breeder) from around the world is leading to new-and-improved grass and turf-types that develop into lower-maintenance, reduced input and lower-growth and maintenance lawns. When it comes to considering a new lawn-type of this nature however, there are a number of factors to consider including shade-tolerance, resistance to wear and drought as well as the maintenance requirements; as some of these characteristics may not work for your circumstance. For example, a low-mow lawn probably won’t work with high-wear areas with pets and kids as the grass needs to have quick-recovery traits to be able to better-withstand the traffic and grow back and repair quicker. Finding the best lawn for your situation can mean making trade-offs. This may include things like the look and feel of the lawn you want to other characteristics that are important to you – like what the lawn might be mainly used for. It’s important to then look at what grass-types are appropriate for your climate and growing conditions. When considering a new lawn type it’s important to be aware of these things and a reliable local source like your closest Lawn Solutions Australia turfgrower or Lawn Solutions Centre can help in offering the right advice. For a quick overview of the most common turf-types and their maintenance requirements the following summary may help and for further detail check out the full tech specifications at the Lawn Solutions Australia specifications link at www.lawnsolutionsaustralia.com.au/grass-types
Zoysia Matrella
Zoysia Matrella varieties like Sir Grange are known to be very low in maintenance. This is mainly due to very slow growth patterns. Types of zoysia grasses can grow up to half as slow as couches and kikuyu’s, therefore resulting in significantly less mowing. Zoysia Matrella’s also require minimal water and have lower nitrogen requirements. Zoysia Matrella’s like Sir Grange also have great colour and very high shade tolerance.
Soft-Leaf Buffalo
Buffalo’s, similar to zoysia’s, are also very low maintenance turf varieties. They require less mowing then kikuyu’s and couches, and also require slightly less nitrogen. Premium types like Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo turf have extremely high shade tolerance, great colour and soft leaf making it the perfect choice in many modern landscaping situations.
Kikuyu
Kikuyu is a dense, rapid-growing lawn that has a vigorous growth habit allowing it to repair very quickly if damaged and is able to establish a strong, deep root base to help it stand up to the hottest summer days. Kikuyu does well in full sun, doesn’t handle shade all that well and requires more mowing and upkeep than most types due to its quicker growth.
Couch
Couch grasses, again due to strong growth habits, usually require more mowing and maintenance than other varieties. They are a shorter and finer leaf than most turf-types and can look amazing in the right situation. Couches can be also slightly more susceptible to weed infestation or growing into garden beds when not controlled regularly.
Fescue
Fescue lawns are very high in maintenance. Even though they do not require a lot of mowing, the water requirements (especially during summer) are excessive. Fescue also is considerably more prone to grub and fungal issues and will require more nutrients than other varieties. Lawncare doesn’t need to be difficult and simple hints from Lawn Solutions Australia and their network of member turf growers and Lawn Solutions Centres Australia-wide can help with products to keep your lawn in top condition this summer.
New Research Examines Health Benefits of Turf
– Well maintained lawn and green space areas have a positive benefit on public health outcomes Continue reading “New Research Examines Health Benefits of Turf”