Packed with both fast and slow-release granules with essential nutrients and trace elements to encourage strong growth and rich colour. Ideal for Sir Walter DNA Certified, TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda, Sir Grange Zoysia, Eureka Kikuyu, and all other lawn types. Lawn Solutions Premium Fertiliser is an ideal lawn fertiliser for home lawns, sports fields, and golf courses.
The combination of both fast and slow-release granules provides an initial boost soon after the fertiliser is applied and will continue to release nutrients to the lawn for up to 12 weeks after application. This will aid in a sustained growth pattern for a better lawn. Lawn Solutions Premium Fertiliser is conveniently available in both a 4kg & 10kg bucket.
Key Strengths
Lawn fertiliser suitable for use on all lawn varieties
Perfect for use on new and established lawns
Provides your lawn with a sustained boost to improve the overall health of your lawn
Has a careful balance of NPK to provide health and colour
Lawn Fertiliser NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium)
16-0.7-4
Nitrogen (N) 16%
Phosphorus (P) 0.7%
Potassium (K) 4%
Sulphur (S) 20%
Calcium (Ca) 1.5%
Iron (Fe) 2%
The careful balanced ratio of NPK will provide health and colour to your lawn.
Coverage
Lawn Solutions Premium Fertiliser has been designed to provide the best results when applied at a rate of 20 to 25 grams per square metre. To calculate your coverage, simply multiply your lawn area (m2) by this rate (20 to 25g).
Directions for use
Apply evenly over lawn surface using the above rate with a spreader or apply by hand
If applying by hand, a handful of fertiliser should approximately cover 2 metres squared. Use a smooth motion when spreading by hand
Walk across the area in a ‘criss-cross’ pattern whilst spreading to obtain an even distribution
Water in well immediately following application to avoid burning
Quick Tips
For best results apply at least three times per year during spring, summer, and autumn
Can be used at six-week intervals
Avoid applying to new lawns until after mowing first
Water in well after application
Avoid using when the temperature is expected to exceed 30 degrees Celsius
With a combination of both liquid and granular fertiliser applications throughout the year, your lawn will have everything it needs for healthy leaf growth and root development.
Foliar fertilisers in liquid form are products that are absorbed by the leaf of the grass when applied. These types of fertilisers are ideal for correcting nutrient deficiencies quickly, addressing stress related issues or for a general boost to overall health.
Liquid fertilisers like Exceed will provide a much quicker response from your grass than a granular fertiliser. The nutrients are almost immediately available when absorbed through the roots or leaves rather than through the soil.
The nitrogen in liquid fertiliser is usually derived from urea, which can be absorbed through the leaves. So unlike granular fertilisers, which require a soil-borne reaction at temperature, the liquid fertiliser will give your lawn an instant boost, even when the weather is still quite cool.
NPK from Concentrate 18-2-10 + Fe & Mn (hose-on is 10-1-4.5 + Fe & Mn)
Nitrogen (N) 18%
Phosphorus (P) 2%
Potassium (K) 9.9%
Zinc (Z) .07%
Iron (Fe) 1%
Manganese (Mn) .05%
The carefully balanced NPK ratio will provide health and colour to your lawn and can be used all year-round. Additional micronutrients including Iron and Manganese are also important inclusions.
Iron improves plant strength, disease resistance and colour. While Manganese plays an important role in photosynthesis providing vigour and improved nitrogen uptake. Both of these nutrients are particularly important throughout the cooler months.
Perfect for new and established lawns at any time of year
Provides an almost instant boost to the health of your lawn
Available Nitrogen for optimum leaf uptake and green up
Soluble Phosphorus to increase plant strength and lateral growth
Potassium to harden leaf cell wall and foster harder wearing turf
Iron and Manganese to enhance a darker green colour
Exceed can be applied using either a knapsack sprayer, watering can or if you have an empty ready to use bottle, thoroughly rinse it out and you can reuse it for application.
Just remember that Exceed liquid fertiliser contains iron and can stain hard surfaces, so it’s important that you wash it off immediately if there is any overspray.
While liquid fertilisers are great for a quick boost of nutrient or during times of stress, it’s important to consider longer-term health as well. This is why we recommend that you use a granular fertiliser about 3-4 times a year, as this will help to maintain the overall health of your lawn for longer periods.
With a combination of both liquid and granular fertiliser applications throughout the year, your lawn will have everything it needs for healthy leaf growth and root development.
When looking to buy instant turf, it’s essential to source your turf from a local, accredited supplier. One of the best options is to purchase from a Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) accredited turf supplier. Choosing an LSA member not only ensures you get the freshest and highest quality turf but also provides the benefit of expert advice directly from the farm.
Freshness and Quality
Turf is a living product, and its quality can significantly degrade if it’s not handled correctly or kept in storage for long periods. When you buy from a local supplier, your turf is freshly harvested from the farm and delivered promptly. This minimises the time spent in transit and ensures that your new lawn establishes faster and stays healthier.
Expert Knowledge and Support
Local suppliers who are members of Lawn Solutions Australia are specialists in turf. They can provide advice specific to your region, soil type, and climate, ensuring you choose the best variety for your needs.
The most important factors to consider when selecting a turf supplier, should fulfil the following questions…
Can the turf suppliers provide a turf variety that is best suited for your location?
Is the turf guaranteed for quality?
Does the turf come with the assurance that you are actually getting the grass that you have paid for?
You have decided to install some new grass, or you are completing a new home and it needs a new lawn to finish it off. Either way, you’re ready to buy instant turf and need to starting looking for turf suppliers.
You may have an idea about what type of grass you would like to install and are ready to start getting some quotes together. But how do you decide which turf supplier to go with? Is it the one with the best price? The best reputation? Or is it the one that is located closest to your house? While all these factors may play a part in the overall decision, they are not actually the most important ones.
It would be a false economy to save money on turf if the lawn fails to perform as required. What if you paid for Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo, but actually had some knock off delivered instead?
Australia’s best accredited turf suppliers
Lawn Solutions Australia is a national network of Australia’s best accredited turf suppliers. It is these turf suppliers that can fulfil all of your requirements when buying and installing turf.
Not just any turf grower can become a Lawn Solutions Australia turf supplier. Lawn Solutions Australia accredited turf growers are all hand-picked. The quality of turf suppliers is very important, with Lawn Solutions Australia supplying Australia’s best turf varieties. The purity and standard of turf production for these turf varieties is unmatched within the turf industry.
By ensuring the quality of the product and the high standards set for the Lawn Solutions Australia growers, these turf varieties are able to be supplied with an industry leading 10-year turf product warranty. These turf varieties include Sir Walter DNA Certified soft leaf buffalo, TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda (couch grass), Sir Grange Zoysia and Zoysia Australis. These grasses are the best of the best for their types and Lawn Solutions Australia continues to develop and introduce new and improved turf varieties to the Australian market.
AusGAP Certification
To further ensure the genetic purity of these turf varieties, all Lawn Solutions Australia turf growers are required to become accredited by AusGAP, the Australian Genetic Assurance Program for turf grass. This guarantees the turf varieties supplied are certified as true to type and will perform as they say they will. As a result, no other turf suppliers can provide this same guarantee.
In order to be AusGAP Accredited Lawn Solutions Australia turf suppliers are regularly assessed to ensure they fulfil a long list of quality and performance measures.
All Lawn Solutions Australia growers and suppliers are professionals who go the extra mile to make your lawn perfect. From expert advice about the best grass for your locality, to tips on calculating the amount of turf you need and their highly professional turf installation services. To complement this, all Lawn Solutions Australia members also offer premium lawn care products to ensure your lawn stays in great shape year-round.
Why Choose Lawn Solutions Australia?
LSA turf varieties are backed by years of research and innovation, making them the leading choice for Australian homeowners. Whether you’re asking, “Where do I buy instant turf?” or searching for the best option in your area, Lawn Solutions Australia offers unmatched quality and service. Look for an LSA accredited supplier in your area to get the freshest turf and expert advice direct from the farm.
How do I choose a turf supplier? You can contact your local Lawn Solutions Australia accredited turf supplier here.
Lawn Solutions eGift Cards are a great way to spoil the lawn lover in your life!
Available from $50.00 to $1000.00
Lawn Solutions eGift Cards are sent by email for redemption exclusively on the Online Lawn Store. (This is not a gift card that can be redeemed in-store – ONLINE USE ONLY)
Brooms Head Bowling Club is located on the North Coast of NSW between Coffs Harbour and Ballina.
Greenkeeper Blair Littlechild has worked at the club for over 13 years. The club currently has Tifdwarf bowling greens, which have proven to be difficult to manage over the years. Some issues have included ground pearl, turf disease, salinity issues from proximity to the ocean and poor greens construction also a contributing factor to the overall performance of the greens.
Tifdwarf has been the prominent bowling green grass in Australia for over 40 years. Up until recently there have been limited alternatives with superior traits available to greenskeepers. Many bowling clubs operate with very limited budgets, so any investment in construction or refurbishment of greens is critical to get right. Bowls Australia produces Bowling Green Construction Guidelines that provide greenkeepers with a solid resource for ensuring greens facilities are constructed to a particular standard. These guidelines, with the experience and expertise of greenskeepers like Mr Littlechild, have gone a long way to ensuring quality bowling green surfaces in Australia.
Mr Littlechild, the club and their staff were looking for an alternative option that would address the issues they continue to experience. They were looking to introduce a more cost-effective surface that didn’t require the stretching of financial resources for upkeep costs and were prepared to look outside the box for these results.
Enter Trinity Zoysia
Early discussions into exploring turf varietal trials began with communication between Mr Littlechilds and Simon Adermann from Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA). With Sir Grange Zoysia having achieved considerable success in the Australian sporting market, Teven Valley Golf Club nearby in particular, Mr Littlechilds asked Mr Adermann what other new turf varieties may be suited to being used in a bowling greens situation.
Trinity Zoysia is a newly introduced turf species in Australia, exclusively licensed through LSA and ticked a lot of the boxes required for a bowling green and for the Brooms Head climate and proximity to the beach. Trinity Zoysia is a Zoysia Matrella that was originally bred for the golf course industry as a versatile grass that can be mown low, primarily suited for greens and tees.
Mr Littlechild drove to Brisbane and checked out the newly installed Trinity Zoysia putting green at Indooroopilly Golf Club. Impressed with the appearance and performance of the grass, Mr Littlechild
put a trial proposal to the Brooms Head Bowling Committee. The proposal was approved in December 2019 to be trialled on one rink, making it the first trial in the world to use Trinity Zoysia for a bowling green application.
Eradication of Tifdwarf for the trial commenced in January 2020. Fumigation followed in February and Trinity Zoysia stolons supplied by Twin View Turf were planted in March. The Trinity Zoysia showed signs of fine white fibrous roots within 5 days of planting. Shortly after, 200 millimetres of rain fell leaving the greens underwater for over 4 days, but no damage was caused to the trial.
The Fertiliser program started 14 days after planting and progressed throughout winter. In August granular fertiliser was applied to promote growth and the green was top dressed in September. Mr Littlechild worked with Andrew Smith from Nuturf on the fertility program required to get the most out of the Trinity Zoysia.
From there regular mowing, grooming and rolling commenced to prepare the surface for play. Play started on the green in December 2020.
Over the next 12 months the club will monitor winter dormancy, playability, maintenance requirements and member feedback. If everything goes to plan the club will add another 3 rinks to the green in January 2022.
The primary goals they are hoping to achieve in order to determine the trials success include:
Lower maintenance costs
Reduced chemical use
Less weekly maintenance hours
Increased winter colour
The grass has already received glowing reviews from both the committee and club members, with first and foremost Trinity looking and performing as a bowling green should. Members have commented on the beautiful fine leaf and some have even said it almost looks artificial with how good it looks.
“Australia is leading the way to find a new turfgrass variety for bowling greens – Trinity Zoysia is showing some really positive signs thanks to Brooms Head Bowling Club in New South Wales”. David Doguet, Trinity Zoysia Turf Breeder – Bladerunner Farms
Mr Littlechild would like to thank the volunteer support and the committee for backing the opportunity to trial this new grass and is excited to see how it performs over the coming years.
For more information on Lawn Solutions Australia Sports Turf varieties like Trinity Zoysia, click here.
In July 2020, Lawn Solutions Australia was approached by Dubai Sports City ICC Academy and Stadium Head Curator Tony Lumsden to see if it was viable to send TifTuf stolons over for a project in Dubai. Having conducted some research on drought tolerant grasses, Mr Lumsden decided to try TifTuf as a trial grass to see if the data would be relevant to Dubai’s extreme heat.
Currently, Mr Lumsden and his team use Princess 77, TifWay 419 and have recently planted Paspalum Pure Dynasty. In summer the Dubai average temperature is 42 degrees Celsius, “soil temperature can climb to over 40 degrees and water temperature pushing 40 degrees also” Mr Lumsden said. With grass under stress, water consumption is high, so Mr Lumsden was looking for a new grass that might help reduce water consumption.
With TifTuf new onto the market and the ‘Smart Approved Water Mark’, Mr Lumsden thought this would be an excellent grass for the Dubai climate. After some communication with Lawn Solutions Australia, Mr Lumsden was put in contact with Victorian turf grower StrathAyr Turf Solutions to arrange for the TifTuf stolons to be delivered.
StrathAyr have extensive experience with growing, harvesting and exporting specialist turf products and services domestically and abroad. StrathAyr made contact with Mr Lumsden to determine their exact needs and requirements, before arranging the stolons to be sent from Australia to Dubai – over 11,500km away.
The Project
The scope of works was to provide 100kg of washed TifTuf turf stolons to enable a trial area of 400m² to be planted. The most challenging aspect of exporting turf is the immense logistics requirements encompassing certificates, inspections, flight changes, clearances…. all the while factoring that the turf is a living product and there needs to be time minimisation between harvest and replanting on the other side of the world.
Preparation and Delivery
Office Manager Alison Hall has been with StrathAyr for many years and her experience enabled careful manoeuvring and persistent coordination of all the processes required for the Dubai project to be successfully accomplished over a six-month period.
The TifTuf stolons were harvested on November 25th, with sanitisation then conducted to ensure the grass was free from disease, insects and nematodes.
The turf material went through the washing plant three times to ensure all of the soil was removed. The turf washing facility in Seymour is environmentally friendly and water is continually recycled in a closed loop system with a dedicated dam that feeds and captures all water utilised in the process. StrathAyr have a proud fifty-year history of being world leaders in the development and provision of natural turf solutions. The process of washing turf was developed and commercialised by StrathAyr many decades ago and their world-wide patent resulted in turf washing equipment being manufactured in Seymour Victoria and exported to specialist turf farms across all corners of the globe.
The washing facility at Seymour in Victoria has a module that precisely shreds the turf to create stolons ready for planting. Once the stolons were bagged, they were rapidly dispatched to the airport where pre-arranged officials were waiting to thoroughly inspect the plant material for any diseases or pests. The stolons were then re-packed in temperature-controlled packaging and loaded onto the plane, which immediately departed via air freight to Dubai International Airport (DXB).
After a lot of communication with the UAE Ministry of Finance and Dubai Customs, Mr Lumsden received the TifTuf stolons on November 30th, after sitting in cold storage for 4 days. The stolons were again tested for nematodes on arrival with a positive result being found. As a result, the stolons needed to have repeated spray applications before final testing to ensure a negative result prior to establishment.
Planting and Establishment
The stolons were spread over the plot for spraying and once given the go-ahead Mr Lumsden and his team were able to press ahead and gave the grass a very light top-dress and fertiliser application.
Hessian covers were placed over the stolons to help with moisture retention while the stolons began to establish. Day time temperatures were sitting around 26-28 degrees Celsius during this time. After approximately 12 days, the hessians were removed to see good signs of leaf growth and some root development. With half the plot covered in shade during the winter months, it was a good sign that the grass was establishing well.
The TifTuf is planted next to Princess 77 in the trial nursery, so that will provide a starting point in regard to water consumption, growth rate, shade tolerance and thatch accumulation. The shaded area of the plot will also be a valuable trial to see how the grass will perform in shade and see if it is a viable option for the cricket stadium, which has a shade issue.
The plan for the grass is to also look at trialling it in the cricket wicket, as the texture (leaf size, small internodes) is very similar to TifWay 419 and quite a bit less course than Princess 77.
“I am very excited about the possibility of this grass in the Middle East, given the possibility of less water consumption and the lack of varieties available here.”
“Given that the International Cricket Council Academy needs to be leaders in the field, we are constantly evaluating what we do and pushing ahead with new innovative products and research. I see TifTuf as a great opportunity for us to do that.” Mr Lumsden said.
Further testing, evaluation and analysis will continue over the next 12-24 months.
For more information on TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda (Couch Grass) or to find a local supplier click here.
The humble Aussie lawn that we know today has evolved through many years of cultural and environmental factors and changes to our way of life. The effects of globalisation in introduced grass types, lawn maintenance techniques, and the emergence of modern suburbia as we now know it, have all played a part in the history of lawns.
Although lawns have not always been a luxury accessible to all, modern-day technologies and new farming methods have paved the way for the lawns of today. Providing a place where families can congregate, where friends socialise, and where the many lifestyles and sporting activities take place.
Where did the history of lawns start?
The history of lawns as we know them today began with old European Estates. In these estates, lawns mainly consisted of chamomile or thyme, rather than grass. These lawns were popular as they had a relatively low growing height allowing groundsmen to spot danger or visitors before arrival. Some of these lawns were maintained by livestock, however many were hand-cut by workers using a scythe.
As these lawns took a lot of time and effort to maintain, they mainly belonged to the wealthy. These elegant gardens entwined with lawn areas became a symbol of status and continued to become more elaborate over time. It wasn’t until the innovation of lawnmowers and grass cutting mechanisms, that lawns really started to increase in popularity.
The First Lawn Mower
The first lawnmower in history was designed and created by Edwin Beard Budding in 1830. Budding was inspired after seeing a machine in a cloth mill and saw the potential for a similar concept to be used for cutting grass. The mower he designed was built from iron and had a similar design to cylinder mowers that we see today. The machine was quite heavy and took a bit of effort to use but worked well at cutting grass.
When Budding was first testing his invention, he would only test his machine in the darkness of night to avoid suspicion from his neighbours. Budding saw great potential for his invention. He soon teamed up with John Ferrabee to finance a patent as well as the cost of manufacturing. Little did they know their invention would help reshape the history of lawns.
The Modern Residential Lawn
The idea of the modern residential lawn we know today was influenced by Abraham Levitt, a property developer in the United States. Mr Levitt and his sons pioneered mass production and low-cost housing after World War II. Mr Levitt realised that it was through the landscaping of lawns that home depreciation could be offset. Every house in Levitt’s development of over 17,000 homes had a lawn.
As the popularity of lawns began to boom, more turf varieties became available. Developments in lawn maintenance products including fertilisers, and herbicides also helped lawns become easier to maintain.
Grass Types in Australia
With the growing popularity of sporting games such as lawn bowls and golf in America, people wanted to find new and better surfaces to play on. This sparked interest in new grass varieties and organisations began to conduct research into superior options. It’s through this investment in sports turf that new varieties gradually became available for use in domestic lawns too.
Couch grasses have been a popular choice for Aussie backyards due to their high drought and wear tolerance. Kikuyu grass, originally from the highland regions of East Africa and named after the Kikuyu tribe. Kikuyu has remained a popular choice due to drought tolerance, high wear, and their rich colour.
Some varieties of zoysia are native to Australia. Over time, other varieties of zoysia have been introduced from parts of South East Asia. These grasses are a popular choice due to their drought and wear tolerance.
Buffalo grasses have not always been a popular choice in Australia. This was because they would lose colour in winter and had a scratchy and coarse leaf. But in the last 20 years or so, buffalo have risen in popularity since the introduction of soft leaf buffalos like Sir Walter DNA Certified.
With incredible new turf varieties like TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda and Sir Grange Zoysia now available, we look forward to what the future has in store for the Aussie lawn to come.
In recent months conditions have been a bit all over the place in many areas. This has led to some unusual reoccurences of seed heads, so let’s take a look at why this might be happening on your lawn and what you can do about it…
What are seed heads?
Most common lawn types in Australia produce a sterile seed head, meaning they can’t be spread by seed, only through sprigs or runners. Although going to seed in most cases isn’t a bad thing for your lawn, it doesn’t look great or feel soft underfoot.
The seed head cycle can vary greatly due to climate and stage of growthbut are a natural part of the seasonal cycle. As a rule of thumb, the cycle will last for between 4 and 6 weeks.
Why has my lawn gone to seed?
Normally when a turf variety goes to seed, it’s due to one of the following two main reasons:
It’s under stress from something, usually a lack of water, nutrient, or a change in weather. If you have seed head, aerate, fertilise and water the lawn deeply if you haven’t done so in the past 6-8 weeks.
It’s occurring naturally, coinciding with seasonal change – in most varieties occurring just once or twice a year at a specific time of year.
In these situations, if your lawn has been fertilised recently and has sufficient moisture in the soil, the seed heads should stop appearing on their own within 4-6 weeks.
If there has been a dramatic weather change, it will stop seeding once conditions have gone back to normal or once the plant has adjusted.
But some of you may have found that this hasn’t been the case recently. This is likely because of the inconsistent temperatures and weather conditions. You have probably found recently one day you are wearing shorts, the next jeans, the next its raining all day – or all of these in the same day!
Your grass finds this inconsistent weather very stressful and it can’t quite relax and settle into normal growth. This presents itself in seedhead production, a sign of this stress.
So what can you do about it?
Regular Mowing – Continuing to mow the seed heads away will ensure that less energy is given by the plant to seed head production and more is given to healthy leaf growth.
Plant Growth Regulator (PGR) Application – Plant Growth Regulators like Primo Maxx limit vertical growth and they can also help to reduce the amount of seedhead that your grass produces. Regular mowing, twice weekly, and the use of PGR at full rates will minimise the seed head from flowering.
Check Soil Salinity -High salinity can put grass under stress and seedhead can appear. An application of gypsum or calcium may be required to reduce turf stress helping to stop seed head production.
Stop stressing! – If you have tried everything recommended so far, but these pesky seed heads are still appearing, stop stressing, you have done everything you can to ensure your grass is healthy – it will be just fine.
Sometimes the environment cannot be wrangled and you simply have to ride it out and let it do it’s own thing. These strange seasonal conditions will settle in due course and the seed heads will cease as well.
Since 2013 Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) has operated the largest turfgrass Research and Development facility in Australia. This facility, located in Berry NSW, is in place to ensure Lawn Solutions Australia remains as the benchmark for new and improved turfgrass varieties. It is often unknown what a facility like this looks like, and what it actually does to better the turf industry. I will take you through what is involved and what it has taken to develop this facility that has housed hundreds of different turf varieties.
LSA’s part in turfgrass research and development
Developing or breeding new turfgrass types is a very extensive and expensive process. There was no turfgrass breeding institution in Australia of any magnitude, so LSA took it upon itself to form relationships with leading institutions in other parts of the world. Over the past decade, LSA has formed strong relationships with the University of Georgia who have bred world-renowned couch grasses like TifTuf, TifSport, TifEagle, Tifway 419, and TifGrand. LSA has also formed a relationship with the largest private turf grass breeder in the world ‘Blade Runner Farms,’ who’s focus is predominantly on Zoysia Grass.
By forming these relationships, LSA has direct access to the leading new and improved turf cultivars as they become available. These relationships are of critical importance and are the backbone behind our R&D program here. To begin the evaluation of turfgrasses, the LSA research team head over to visit these institutions to observe their programs and material. From there a brief will be formed to let them know what type of turf grasses we are looking for and the traits they must have. This will generally include the texture, colour, desirable traits including shade, drought and wear tolerance and also the speed of growth. This brief will then give these institutions an accurate idea of what species from the program we are looking to import into Australia. Once a selection of cultivars has been picked by the breeders, the importation and quarantine process begins.
Getting new turf grasses into Australia
The importation process for turf grasses is long, complex, and quite expensive. To get a turf grass into Australia all the importation paperwork must be lodged with the Department of Agriculture. Once approved, a small sample of each cultivar is shipped over and placed in a Government run quarantine facility. It is here that these grasses are potted and go through the rigours of quarantine testing. These tests ensure no foreign pests or diseases are present on the plant material. Once complete, they are placed in a propagation facility. This is to ensure they grow to a suitable size where they can be nurtured back to health. This process takes between 6 and 12 months generally, and at the end of the process, LSA can collect the 8-inch pots of the new varieties.
Propagation
At this stage of the R&D cycle, the process gets even trickier. From the 8-inch pots received out of quarantine, you then have to ensure its survival (sometimes there can be 60 of them!). Then the team can begin to propagate them so there is enough stock to plant an area out and analyse its performance. Once planted out, they can then be monitored and scored for its grow-in speed, turf colour, turf quality, and seed head production for example.
There is US data on these traits, but since our climate differs so greatly, it’s important that local reporting and data is collected across multiple testing locations across Australia. Once grown, these different varieties can be analysed even further and begin to conduct herbicide tolerance trials and harvesting trials. The tricky thing about this process if you can have a grass that looks and grows great, but if it doesn’t tolerate herbicides or doesn’t harvest well, then it is back to square one.
This process helps us to reduce our selection number down to just a handful of the best grasses from each import. This entire process takes many years and leads us to fantastic new turf grass varieties like TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda and Sir Grange Zoysia.
Turfgrass research and development facilities
Further to the above, the day to day happenings at the Lawn Solutions Australia R&D facility is varied. There are a number of dedicated staff maintaining this facility and conducting research on various grasses. This facility is also replicated in other areas of Australia including the Hunter Valley, Victoria, Brisbane, and Cairns to ensure turfgrasses that are released work in all climates.
Turf grasses within the facility are maintained differently as per their requirements. Zoysia’s for example are fertilised less and mown less to couches and buffalos. Some zoysia grasses, due to their slow growth nature are left unmown. Other zoysias that are bred for golf greens are maintained at heights of 4mm and have much higher maintenance requirements. There are also hot houses dedicated to the advanced propagation of material when required. These hot houses contain originals of every cultivar we have had under trial, so there is always plant material to refer back to if and when issues arise with purity.
The R&D Facility is also used to conduct fertiliser trials on different varieties of turf. This is to see what product at what rate will provide the best results to that particular cultivar, so the nutrient requirements for the particular variety of grass can be understood.
LSA and the Sports Turf Research Institute
LSA also work closely with the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) who are a world-leading turfgrass research company whose Australian HQ is located in South East Queensland. STRI enter into extensive trial work on LSA products, often taking 2-3 years to complete. For example, they are currently working on a TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda vs Kikuyu trial to see how they each compare to each other under drought, shade and wear stress. They have previously completed a 2-year trial on all available couch grasses, measuring shade and drought tolerance and recovery from wear and tear.
The data that can be extracted from these trials ensure Lawn Solutions Australia members are on the cutting edge when it comes to turfgrass technologies. The relationships LSA has with world class turf breeders provides first access to the latest and greatest turfgrass varieties on the market. The work conducted with facilities such as STRI ensure the varieties selected will excel in all Australian environments.
