July 2017 - Lawn Solutions Australia

Video – Winter Weeds

In the winter, the growth habit of your lawn will not be as lush and thick as it is during the other seasons, therefore the weeds will find it easier to penetrate.  Prevention is always better than cure so do try to keep a bit of extra length on your lawn and ensure the ground doesn’t become compacted, particularly during and after periods of heavy rain.  But if a few pesky weeds still manage to creep in, fear not, we have plenty of helpful tips and there are products available to help you clean up your lawn. The best time to treat your winter weeds is of course during winter!  By treating them now, you have more chance of getting rid of them before they germinate and drop their seeds back into your soil ready to attack bigger & better next time. So just how do you treat them?  Well that depends on what it is you’re trying to get rid of!

Here is a rundown of the most common culprits and the tips and products we’d recommend. BROAD LEAF WEEDS, CLOVER & BINDI A selective herbicide such as Lawn Solutions Australia All Purpose Weed Control will help to eradicate these weeds in all lawn types including kikuyu & couch, and are safe to use on most varieties of buffalo except the ST varieties.  A repeat application may be required for particularly stubborn weeds like clover.  If the clover still refuses to budge, try some Kamba-M, that should finish it off. WINTER GRASS If you have an invasion of Winter Grass, you’ll definitely want to treat it before it germinates.  If you allow Winter Grass to drop its seeds, next winter it will be back, twice as badly as it was the previous year.  Best plan of attack is to treat it as soon as it appears.  It can be removed very easily by hand as it doesn’t have particularly deep roots and it doesn’t have any runners, growing in simple clumps.  But if you’d prefer to spray, you’ll need to use Winter Grass Killer as a general purpose herbicide wont be effective.  Amgrow Winter Grass Killer is safe to use on buffalo lawns (including Sir Walter DNA Certified), blue & common couches, but should be avoided on Kikuyu Lawns

winter grass

SEDGE WEEDS INCLUDING NUTGRASS The Sedge weed family includes pesky invasive grasses such at Nutgrass & Mulliubimby Couch.  To kill off these grasses, you need a selective herbicide such as Amgrow Sedgehammer or Sempra.  These chemicals are generally on the expensive side, however you need only a very small quantity to treat the affected area.  At the end of the day though, if you don’t treat these weeds they will continue to multiply and infest your whole lawn, so its definitely worth saving your lawn investment in the long run.

ONION WEED This one is a nightmare!  Word of advice… never, ever attempt to remove Onion Grass by hand!  When you pull on the top of the weed, the tiny bulbs in the soil detach & release resulting in the onion weed multiplying.  Since you cannot spray Onion Weed with a selective herbicide, it is much more time consuming to eradicate as this will need to be done by spot weeding.  So encouraging it to multiply is the last thing you want to do!  To spot weed, mix a solution of Glyphosate & water in a small cup or weed wand.  Add a dash of dishwashing liquid which will help break down the waxy coating on the leaf of the plant & allow the poison to penetrate.  Paint this solution carefully onto the weed using the weed wand or a small brush, being careful not to get the solution on the surrounding lawn where at all possible, as this is an non-selective herbicide & will kill everything!

Don’t forget, its often the tools of the trade which tend to make a job such as spraying or spot weeding easier.  By purchasing a pressure sprayer or spot weeding wand, you immediately take out a lot of the frustration of treating the weeds as they’re simple to use, and designed for bigger areas so you’re not spending your time down on your hands & knees or running back & forth to the tap for a refill. And finally, the most important tip yet.  Each product comes with a dilution rate… use it!.  ‘double-dosing’ or adding a few extra mls more for good luck can sometimes have the reverse effect and render the product ineffective.  So make sure you stick to the correct rates and you should be successful.

Video – Take a tour of a turf farm

Choosing the right turf variety is an important part of getting the best-looking and performing lawn you can. Making the right decision means you’ll have a beautiful and functional lawn for years to come. The wrong choice, however, can add unnecessary additional work for you and ultimately affect the look and appeal of your yard. Before purchasing your turf be sure to do some research to find the most suitable variety and also the supplier that can give you some surety that what you are buying is the genuine thing. Shade, temperature, usage and access to water are just a few variables that can greatly influence the type of turf that would be best suited to your location.

One of the best ways to find out what works in your area, apart from driving around and checking-out your neighbouring lawns, is to call to your local Lawn Solutions Australia turfgrower or reseller as a good way to help confirm your choice. You want to be sure the turf you are purchasing is of the highest quality, and is produced, sold and delivered to the highest industry standards. By purchasing your turf from an AusGAP certified producer you can be sure of this as they have passed strict compliance measures to ensure this is the case. AusGAP – The Australian Turf Accreditation Program – has been created for the country’s leading turfgrass producers to provide you with the assurance that their turf adheres to a stringent set of quality standards. The AusGAP accreditation system provides assurance that the entire production, delivery and installation of your turf is undertaken to the highest industry standards. Purchasing your turf from an AusGAP certified producer gives you the peace of mind that your lawn adheres to a strict set of quality standards, ensuring your money is being spent on the best quality turf available. You can be sure when buying turf from an AusGAP certified producer, you are getting the best turf available on the market.

All turf supplied by AusGAP producers is accompanied by a 10-year product warranty, the only such quality guarantee in the Australian turf industry. Certified turf grasses have been produced under industry best practice from start to finish, ensuring that all steps along the chain are carried out in accordance with AusGAP protocols and standards along with state and federal requirements. Each certified product has its own certificate so you can be sure you will never receive a substitute or inferior product. AusGAP certified turf producers work closely with leading industry bodies including Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA), Housing Industry Association (HIA) and the Australian institute of Landscape Architects (AILA). The AusGAP program is also supported and endorsed by Turf Australia and ITGAP, the International Turfgrass Genetic Assurance Program, the leading International turfgrass standards body. All AusGAP certified growers and their staff have extensive knowledge of their products and offer assistance and advise to all clients, be they commercial or domestic. So, to ensure your new turf is the genuine thing; always insist on AusGAP certified turf . . . and ask for the certificate!