May 2017 - Lawn Solutions Australia

Video – Winter Lawn Care

There are a few hints and tricks to keeping your lawn in good condition over the cooler months. Hopefully you will give your lawn a good fertilising during autumn, to give it a boost prior to the cooler months.  If not then it’s probably too late to do too much now unless you’re in the tropics.

Soil reactive fertilisers such as synthetic granular fertilisers like the Lawn Solutions Australia Premium Fertiliser, or organic fertilisers like Dynamic Lifter, require a soil-borne reaction from the bacteria in the soil.  The bacteria are needed to convert the nutrients from the fertilisers to a plant-ready form, such as Nitrogen to nitrate.  These bacteria however, tend not to like the cold either, so ground temperatures below 14°C will see them sneak off into hibernation.  So avoid fertilising during winter, as it will simply be a waste of time and money.

Over winter, you shouldn’t need to water your lawn too much, if at all.  So switch off your timers and simply water on an as-needed basis.  You will know if your lawn is dry as the leaves will curl, in which case, give it a drink, otherwise it’s best to leave it be.  You don’t want to put excess moisture into the soil if you can avoid it, as this will only encourage compaction.  If you are super keen to keep as much colour as possible though, you can give your lawn a very light watering just before the sun comes up in the mornings, to remove frost from the leaf. During winter, your mower will get to take a bit of a break, as you’ll be best to leave extra length on the leaf, especially in shaded areas.  Leaving your lawn on the long side will mean there is extra leaf area for photosynthesis, which will help to keep your lawn healthier and hold out those pesky winter weeds.

It’s a good time of year to perform a bit of maintenance on your trusty mower, like sharpening the blades ready for spring time dethatching. Compaction can be a bit of a problem over winter, particularly in high wear areas, or if you have a bit of wet weather.  Try to avoid traffic on your lawn wherever possible, or regularly aerate any areas which cannot be avoided to help loosen the soil.  The same applies after heavy rains, particular if water tends to pool or the soil gets a bit waterlogged.  This will help the air get to the root zone, allowing your lawn to breathe and avoid suffocation in heavy compacted soil.Winter is the time when those nasty weeds may appear, as the growth habit of your lawn won’t be as tight as during the warmer months.  Make sure you spray them during the winter, particularly bindii, as if they’re allowed to seed, they will return again bigger and better down the track.  Broadleaf weeds, bindii and clover can be controlled using Bin-die Selective Weeder or Lawn Solutions Australia All Purpose Weed Control.  Invasive grasses on the other hand, such as Winter Grass, will need to be eradicated using a specialised product such as Winter Grass Killer.Finally, just remember, if your lawn is a warm season grass, you should expect some loss of colour.  You can combat this by using ColourGuard The degree will vary according to the aspect of the lawn and your climate.  Frost will tend to cause the leaves to brown, and areas such as the nature strip which are exposed to the elements will generally lose more colour than a backyard which are protected by fencing and gardens.  In any case, just remember, spring is just around the corner!!

LSA Ups Industry Involvement

Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) has become a leading authority on many aspects of the turf industry internationally, with increasing influence both here and abroad.

Industry involvement has been steadily increasing by LSA staff and member-growers as they are regularly engaged and called upon to share their knowledge and expertise across a broad range of activities and events. Recent involvement has seen speaking and presentation roles by Lawn Solutions Australia staff at key planning events including Living Cities Forums held in a number of Australian states and Australian Institute of Horticulture (AIH) Conferences and Expo’s staged in in Cairns and Singapore.

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) has recently held a number of events around the country that included LSA staff and growers sharing their experiences at their ‘Celebrity Lawn Series’ events. These events involved LSA growers talking in detail about particular sites where their turf had been installed. The whole raft of benefits of LSA’s products and services, from growing and harvesting, through to installation and maintenance, as well as the AusGAP certification system were all thoroughly explained to the design and maintenance participants in attendance. Similarly, knowledge sharing has been high on the agenda of the Turf Australia’s ‘Nx Gen Forum’ held in Canberra late last month, with LSA staff and growers again featuring heavily in the program.

The Parks and Leisure Association of Australia (PLA), Housing Industry Association (HIA), the Australian Golf Course Superintendent’s Association (AGCSA) and Turf Australia, have all got national and regional conferences and events coming up over coming weeks; most having called on LSA staff and member-growers to participate in presentation roles, separate to any sponsorship commitments. “The level of respect now garnered by the Lawn Solutions Group in this type of industry representation is unmatched by any other,” says LSA Director Gavin Rogers when talking on the organisations involvement in forthcoming events. “Lawn Solutions Australia is now rapidly gaining broader-industry-recognition of our combined industry-knowledge and experience . . . testimony to this is the value placed on calling on our expert-knowledge for these events from our staff and extensive network of growers,” Rogers says. Other sectors of the industry are also reaching out for LSA’s involvement, if recent industry-group announcements are anything to go by. Lawn Solutions Australia’s Simon Adermann has been awarded a seat on the Advisory Group for the Green Cities ‘Which Plant Where’ Project.

This project is being conducted by Macquarie University – Sydney and has funding from Horticulture Innovation Australia. This project is a five-year plan that will help facilitate greener cities by unlocking opportunities to develop sustainable and resilient green urban spaces. The project aims to bring together a consortium of researchers and growers to investigate the suitability of various plant species under current and future climate scenarios. “Having Simon on this advisory board will help our cause to better integrate turf to their plans and allow for the most recent and appropriate varieties to be included in this database for when turfgrass is specified,” Rogers explains. This follows on from Adermann’s recent inclusion along with other LSA members on Hort Innovation’s Turf Advisory panel that has a major say on how industry research investment funds are directed for the future benefit of the turf industry. “I can’t overstate how proud I am of all of our member growers and staff and particularly Simon’s work on these panels,” says Rogers. “Such exemplary representation of our group to industry has been paramount in cementing LSA’s credentials so professionally on the world stage.”

How do I stop my lawn growing in to my garden beds?

  • Creating a physical border to keep grass out of your garden beds is one of the best options
  • Keep in mind your lawn type and incorporate some barriers in your garden and lawn design
  • Regular maintenance – little often – is one of the best ways to stay on top of garden beds

lawn and garden bads If the overgrown look isn’t for you, there are other ways to rid your gardens of your lawn. We’ll look at some options shortly but the first thing to do in most cases is to kill off any grass that has entered your garden beds. Depending on your lawn-type or invasive-garden-bed-species, this can be a simple or rather complex task. Just ask anyone who has got couch grass established in their garden areas and they’ll probably tell you about the blisters that go along with continually pulling it out. Totally eradicating grass from your garden beds and then keeping it out can be done, but it does take a methodical approach.

There are herbicides that only kill grasses, without harming other plants. But, be careful when using sprays when it comes to lawns, as most are warm-season turfgrasses which are susceptible to non-selective herbicides such as glyphosate/roundup. Try and remove as much vegetation as possible by hand by using a garden knife or hand-scythe to cut the grass low to ground-height. Now if it’s a cool season grass-type weed and doesn’t have any runners like rye grass, fescue or the like you can pull the grass, roots and all and it won’t grow back. Warm season grasses on the other hand, Couch, Kikuyu, Zoysias and Buffalos are all warm-season grasses and have a runner system and that’s why they tend to invade the garden in the first place. With Couch, Kikuyu and Zoysias they also have a rhizome system that grows underground and can tunnel under edging and pop-up and establish in neighbouring beds. Once you’ve removed most of the plant it’s time to address the underground part of the grass and there’s a couple of ways to go about it. Cutting off the light with a covering – mulch, cardboard or newspaper is one way and can smother the grass and then make sure you spray any new shoots that appear.

The other method is to use a non-selective herbicide like round-up / glyphosate being careful not to spray any garden plants you want to keep. Depending on the grass type and the amount, you may well need several spray applications – and trimming back in between before you can see the end of the weed. This time of the year is an ideal time to attempt removal as the growth has slowed from its peak, yet it hasn’t gone completely dormant in most areas so will still take up the herbicide through the leaf. Once under control it’s a matter of being vigilant with a spray bottle handy to quickly knock over any new invasions as they appear. Now keeping it from re-entering from your lawn is a different matter and that’s where you’ll need to decide on your approach. As discussed above, the grass type can make a big difference as how it moves into beds and is a determining factor in the barrier-type you’ll find best to use.

Establishing a border or edging, is one of the easiest ways to keep your lawn from creeping into your garden beds. Hard borders can be made from virtually anything, from store-bought long bands of plastic or metal edging that push part-way into the ground, through to rocks, old plates, and even wine bottles are not excluded. Bricks, pavers, concrete and treated timber tend to be the favoured options, but whatever material you use, try and make sure the barrier is sunk deep enough to help limit grass from growing underneath. Another physical border option is the spade edge, or “English border”. It is basically a shallow ditch dug between the lawn and flower bed. It’s quite easy to dig out and maintain, with weeds and grass runners easily spotted in the ditch and either trimmed or sprayed out. Another short-term option can include using a non-selective herbicide, which would need to be used with care as this would kill your lawn as well as any garden plants and would again leave a bare dirt patch between the two. The only trouble here is keeping it neat as the edge always has that chemical-burn-look about it and as a long-term solution can be a cause of herbicide-resistant weeds in the long run.

Your choice of edging will hinge on many factors including the use of garden design materials that suit your outdoor spaces and your budget. Getting your edging to something that makes a lawn-edger or whipper-snipper easier to use use probably the ultimate goal as when these chores are attended to along with mowing, the finish is is clean and neat and one that you can be proud of. Sticking with one of Lawn Solutions Australia’s proven varieties and using one Lawn Solutions Australia’s preferred herbicides may very well help keep your lawn looking outstanding and convince you to rid yourself of those pesky garden beds once and for all – lawn invasion problem solved!

Video – Using a Grass Colourant

What is ColourGuard?

Lawn Solutions Australia’s ColourGuard is a 100% organic and non-toxic grass colourant. You can greatly improve the appearance of your lawn at anytime of the year. ColourGuard is easy to apply, and one application can give your lawn up to 3 months of natural green colour. Say goodbye to brown lawns in winter and dry-looking lawns in summer!

ColourGuard Benefits

  • 100% organic (no harmful chemicals)
  • Easy to use
  • Works on all types of grass
  • Substantially reduces the amount of watering needed
  • Reduces the amount of fertiliser needed
  • Won’t bleed, run, or stain once absorbed into the grass
  • Stays green during droughts and water restrictions
  • Safe for the environment, pets and people
  • Works in hot, cold and frost climates
  • UV fade resistant

 

The ColourGuard difference

ColourGuard is NOT a lawn paint. ColourGuard is an organic pigment that is naturally absorbed by the grass leaf blade. This means you get to keep the beautiful natural green colour for up to 3 months. Protect your lawn Think of ColourGuard like a sun screen for your lawn – by screening out the harmful UV rays, but still allowing filtered light to hit the leaf blade. ColourGuard protects your lawn during even the hottest summer months.

The ‘need to know’

After you have applied ColourGuard, be sure to allow at least 2 hours of direct sunlight for the pigment to absorb. If your lawn is in a shaded area you may need slightly longer. ColourGuard is a permanent colourant, so it will only disappear as your lawn grows. Once ColourGuard has dried, it will not run or fade after rain. It’s locked into the leaf blade until it grows out! Directions: ColourGuard is very easy to apply. Always be sure to check out the ‘How to’ video for ColourGuard on our website before application for further tips and advice.