Costa’s catches up with turf expert, Neil Tweedy, in Sydney’s northwest. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe Neil knows a lot about lawns and has been in the turf business for decades. Not long ago, he was on the program sharing an essential guide for lawn maintenance. Today we are doubling down on the practical essentials of lawn care. This time, giving you all the tips you need to lay a little lawn.
When to lay a new lawn: The best time to lay a lawn is in autumn and spring. You can lay turf in summer, but the summer sun is very hot and so regular irrigation is critical.
Lawn varieties: There is a lot of variety in types of lawns. Broad-leaved varieties include buffalo and kikuyu, the fine-leaved varieties include couch grass and zoyzia. Growing from seed you can use ryegrass and fescue, even native varieties such as microlaena. However, Neil warns “it is quite difficult to establish a lawn with seed, it takes a lot of time and a lot of care."
Aspect is key: The 10m x 2m practice patch in Neils front yard was originally couch grass which suffered due to the southerly aspect providing too much shade. The back of Neils house faces north and receives the most sun, whereas this front patch is shaded by the house. Paying attention to aspect is key when choosing a lawn. Neil says he chose buffalo for this patch because “buffalo varieties don’t mind a bit of shade.” Other varieties that manage well in shade are ryegrass and zoyzia.
Preparing the patch: The first step to laying a lawn is to clear the area of any potential obstructions, removing the old grass and tilling the soil. “The soil is critical for drought tolerance, the deeper the soil the better” says Neil, and suggests that around 150mm – 200mm of topsoil is ideal.
Improve the soil: Doing a soil test to determine the pH of your soil can help you ensure the right nutrients make it to your plants.To raise pH, add agricultural lime or gypsum, as these both have a pH neutralizing effect. Gypsum also helps the soil break apart and flocculates clay which allows better drainage capacity. If you have heavy clay soil double that amount or halve it for sandy soil.
Level out: A little time preparing now is well spent down the track. Neil says, “If you can keep the soil surface nice and level, when you do that first mow, it will make the world of difference.” It prevents the mower dipping into little hills and hollows which can scalp those areas of the lawn.
Calculate your patch: For a rectangular area you would multiply the length by the width. Always add 5% to ensure you have enough left over for edges, corners, and curves. Don't let pieces get too small as they tend to dry out quickly.
Lay down the lawn: Keep the rolls snug and tight against each other and work across the slope. This helps redirect water to travel down into the soil and the turf layers, without flowing away. Neils suggests “If it is a bigger area, a brickwork pattern works best, so that there’s no way for the water to form channels in the grooves between the rolls.”
Tamping: An important finishing touch is to tamp the lawn down. It makes sure that the turf itself is sitting in contact with the soil. That way, when you water it in, the turf will be able to suck water up from the underlayer of soil, which means it won’t dry out and won’t brown off.
Once the turf is laid, keep kids and pets off until it is established. Once the roots have connected to the soil and you can no longer pull the individual rolls up, you can do your first mow. Only take one-third of the leaf off. Start with very light mowing initially, after that you can return to once a week.
Water well: A newly established lawn needs a good soak as soon as you have laid it, and another the next morning. In autumn or spring, give it a third deep soak halfway through the day, but in summer four times a day, until the turf has taken root, and you can no longer pull up the turf; then it’s ready to go.
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