March 2018 - Lawn Solutions Australia

Month: March 2018

TURF TECH – Insights into Turf technology

Posted on by nathe

Lawn Solutions Australia’s network of accredited turf growers are leading the way when it comes to adopting new technologies that are beneficial to their businesses and consumers.

From crop management, mowing practices, to harvesting and delivery, the way growers ensure you receive the highest quality turf available is continually evolving.

Here are just a few new technologies that are becoming utilised in the turf industry:

Drone technology

LSA drone

Drones, flying robots or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasing in use across many businesses and the turf industry is also reaping the benefits of this technology. Turf growers can use drones to map out their paddocks, track their crop establishment and can even utilise Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) Sensors which can provide data straight to your phone to identify problem spots for rectification with specific treatments. Some drones can even administer the treatment!

turf farm drone

Automated Mowing

By now most of us have seen robot vacuums and even robot lawn mowers, but did you know this technology is being introduced on a much larger scale for turf producers?

Whilst the level of automation is currently limited to manned vehicles, turf growers will very soon have the ability to create maps of their paddocks and assign an unmanned robot mower to the paddock with a simple click of a mouse.

Turf Mower

The purpose-built software will instinctively create the most efficient route for optimal area coverage of every paddock. The software will communicate with and control each machine, managing its speed, direction, turning radius, obstacle detection, braking and blade height.

Turf Harvesting and Robotics

Methods for harvesting turf have continually evolved over the years and it is nowhere near the backbreaking work it once was. Automatic harvesters have become the norm in the turf industry and have massively increased efficiencies for growers.

These machines are laser guided and utilise robotics to cut, roll and then stack turf on a pallet. These pallets are then dropped off the back when full and another pallet is placed into position.

turf harvester

NPK – What does it mean? Why is it important for your lawn?

Posted on by nathe

Knowing why NPK is important for your lawn will help you to understand how you are helping your lawn when you fertilise.

For the most part though, as long you use a good quality fertiliser that is suited for your turf variety – where all the scientific work has been done for you, your lawn will thrive.

Lawn Fertilisers come in many varying types and blends and can be quite confusing as to which is the right option for you. Grass is like any other plant – It takes in nutrients and air through the soil and sunlight through the leaves for photosynthesis where the conversion to sugars and energy takes place. It is the job of lawn fertilisers to keep this in balance and help provide the nutrients that your lawn is lacking.

The three numbers on the side of your fertiliser represent the value of the three macro-nutrients required for your lawn.

These three macro-nutrients are N, P, & K.

Let’s break it down…

(N) Nitrogen – Nitrogen is largely responsible for the growth of leaves on the plant and is the most talked about nutrient when it comes to lawns and is usually the highest percentage of your NPK ratio. Nitrogen usually comes in the following forms: Ammonium, Controlled release (synthetic) and Urea.

Lawns love Nitrogen, but it is important to strike a balance between strong leaf growth and strong roots capable of supporting it as well. Which is where Phosphorus comes in.

(P) Phosphorus – Phosphorus is largely responsible for root growth and is actually quite a low percentage of the overall NPK ratio. Phosphorus moves slowly through the soil, and isn’t used in great amounts by your lawn, so some is needed but not a great amount.

Phosphorus usually comes in the following forms: Water Soluble, Citrate Soluble and Citrate Insoluble.

(K) Potassium – Potassium is a nutrient that helps the overall functions of the plant perform correctly. Potassium is an essential macro-nutrient used in the largest quantities by plants for vigour and growth. Potassium comes in the form of Sulphate as soluble potash which helps grass withstand drought and disease. It also helps the plant to more efficiently use Nitrogen.

By understanding how these nutrients effect the overall health of your lawn, you will be better equipped to identify deficiencies in your lawn and the tell-tale signs of stress, which will help you know when it’s a good time to fertilise.

Lawn Solutions Fertiliser was developed for use on Sir Walter DNA Certified Soft Leaf Buffalo lawns, but it will work equally well on other lawn varieties, such as Couch, Buffalo, Kikuyu, Zoysia, Tall Fescue, Bluegrass and Ryegrass, delivering all the nutrients the turf needs to recover and grow.

Visit the Lawn Solutions Australia website where you can buy Lawn Solutions Fertiliser on the Lawn Store.

6 Common Weeds and When to Act!

Posted on by nathe

Weeds. There are so many different types that love to rear their ugly heads. Luckily there are plenty of easy ways to remove them from your lawn and to keep them from coming back.

The following 6 weeds are all active at this time of year, so it is important that if you spot any of them in your lawn you take action now.

Cudweed

cudweed

Cudweed is an annual weed that forms in rosettes. The leaves are light green on top and have a white furry underside.

Treatment:

White Clover

white clover

White clover is a creeping perennial weed, green with elliptical leaves and white pom pom like flowers.

Treatment:

Common Daisy

common daisy

Daisies are easily identified by their flower with white petals and a yellow centre. They have green leaves that form clusters of rosettes in the grass.

Treatment:

Fleabane

fleabane

Fleabane grows tall with a tough hairy stem and long rosettes of leaves all the way up it.

Treatment:

Summergrass

summergrass

Summergrass is a warm season annual weed with seed heads that appear into Autumn. Green leaves with light purple towards the stem base.

Treatment:

  • Amgrow Paspalum, Nutgrass and Clover Weed Killer (spot use only on buffalo and kikuyu)

Plantain (Lambs Tongue)

plantain

Plantain has thin veins on the leaves that form in rosettes and slender flowering stems with dense brown seed heads.

Treatment:

The best way to stay on top of weeds, is to select a healthy weed resistant turf variety like Sir Walter DNA Certified, and to maintain regular lawn care activities removing weeds by hand where you can.

Incorporating pre-emergent products like Oxafert into your lawn care, will help to kill annual weeds before they even appear. You can buy ready to use Weed Control broad leaf herbicide, Bin-Die Selective Lawn Weeder Concentrate and Oxafert here on the Lawn Store. Remember to always stick to the directions on the product label.

Check out the Lawn Solutions Australia lawn care page for more helpful advice here.

 

Building Your Own Backyard Stadium

Posted on by nathe

The crowd roars, the Mexican wave soars past and the players have entered the stadium! Ok, so you might not create this level of atmosphere, but there are certainly ways you can turn your backyard into the perfect space where competitive rivalries and future sporting stars are born. And it all starts with your lawn.

Where do you think the Marsh brothers and the Waugh brothers learnt to catch, bowl and hit a ball for six? Where did Tim Cahill first learn to score a goal off his head? It was in the Aussie backyard of course.

Here’s Lawn Solutions Australia’s tips on how to create your very own field of dreams.

  • Start with a good foundation – If your soil base isn’t ideal, then your turf will struggle, and you won’t get a nice consistent and healthy lawn to play on. A loam soil is ideal and will have the right structure that your lawn needs.
  • Choose a turf variety that will stand up to the vigour’s of backyard play – A hard wearing variety like Sir Walter will ensure you are spending less time repairing the lawn and more time enjoying it.
  • Regular mowing and lawn care will be key in keeping the pitch up to playing standard – Keeping to a regular routine of mowing, watering and fertilising your lawn will keep it looking it’s best. A well-used lawn will become compacted over time and it is important that you also aerate the lawn at least once a year.
  • Keep your lawn clear of obstacles and clutter that may cause injury – An unfortunate accident caused by a stray object could spell the end for your sporting career, so it’s best to remove any potential dangers.
  • Bigger is better – Most sports require a lot of lawn space, so making the best use of your area is important.
  • Want to go a step further and create your very own backyard stadium? A retaining wall or step makes for a great grandstand and will provide you with a safe spectator area.
  • Give it some stripes! The reason stripes appear as they do, is as simple as the way the light reflects off the grass-blade. Blades bent towards you look dark, and blades bent the opposite way from you will appear lighter. All this means is you have to bend the grass blades opposing ways to create the stripe effect. If you don’t have a cylinder mower which has an in-built roller, after mowing with your rotary mower, you can use a roller to push the blades down by rolling in opposite directions. Whilst you may not get the look completely like they do on sporting grounds, you can get a similar effect that will still look great.

Check out the Lawn Solutions Australia lawn care page for more tips for your backyard pitch here.

To find your local turf supplier click here.

Lawn Solutions Australia on Better Homes and Gardens

Posted on by nathe

Did you see us on Better Homes and Gardens? Jason Hodges presented a special feature story on turf farming and Lawn Solutions Australia.

The segment included:

  • A brief history of turf farming
  • How turf is cut and delivered 
  • Sir Walter DNA and Lawn Solutions Australia history
  • AusGAP Certification and the importance of choosing quality turf 
  • LSA’s Turfgrass research

Jason had a great time sharing his passion for lawn, Sir Walter in particular. Gavin Rogers from Lawn Solutions Australia, showed Jason our turf breeding and research facility, highlighting the emergence of new turf products for the Australian climate, including Sir Grange and TifTuf.

“The turf industry has gone from selling grass to selling lawns”, said Rogers. It sure has, and we love hearing from the many people across Australia who love their lawns just as much as Jason and everyone here at Lawn Solutions Australia.

Jason explains the difference between the turf varieties available and that his favourite is Sir Walter because it’s the best all-rounder. The DNA Certification of Sir Walter was highlighted and the importance of receiving what you pay for with the amount of substitution that occurs within the market. The DNA certification program ensures consumers are getting the real thing.

Gavin discussed with Jason the benefits of new turf varieties, Sir Grange and TifTuf. Sir Grange is a very popular grass in the world market today and TifTuf is also a very exciting variety recently introduced to the Australian market.

The turf industry has come a long way over the years, Jason says how his grandfather used to go out on the weekend with a spade and cut little pieces of turf for spending money. Shortly after, was the invention of push behind machinery and the eventual progression to the big automated harvesters that are used today.

Jason asked Gavin what we could look forward to in the future of turf in Australia – “Lawn Solutions Australia’s breeding and research program is focusing on finding varieties that are lower maintenance. Everyone wants a great lawn, but nobody wants to put the hard work into it, so we’re focusing very strongly on very low fertilising and watering requirements.” says Rogers.

Gavin’s three biggest tips to have a beautiful lawn –

  • Make sure you have the right lawn for your environment and lifestyle and the rest is pretty easy.
  • Do not overwater your lawn. Lawns only really need to be watered once a month and most of the time this should be covered by rainfall.
  • Lawns, like people, enjoy being fed. Feed your lawn around Easter, Spring time long weekend and end of February after a long hot summer.

Jason and the team came out to one of our turf farms for the shoot, here’s some behind the scenes shots from the day.

 

LSA LSA

Australia’s First Rights Order – To protect & grow the Australian Turf Industry

Posted on by Kim Tranter

Any company that grows and sells Sir Walter, the country’s most famous grass, without a licence could be found in contravention of Federal Law and subject to fines, warned Australia’s largest grass breeder.

Continue reading “Australia’s First Rights Order – To protect & grow the Australian Turf Industry”