Easy Care grass My Ass

[chester ver2.0]

Well after the last 20 years of apartment living we did something wild and bought ourselves a house.

It has a feature that we gaze upon in wonder but have never had to manage before....... thats right a back lawn with this green stuff called grass

I have scoured the net but getting a straight answer for lawn care is like asking if i can fit 33's under a hilux with no lift so here i go with a few simple questions

I am lead to believe the grass type is sir walter

1. Mowing - do you do it on a regular basis or just when it is to long. Also some advise dont mow it too short and others say scalp it to promote growth. Is there any agreed methodology???
2. Slow release fertilizer... i threw on some osmocote but it does not seem to be doing much any better brands??
3. Increasing coverage.... It is turf that was put down about 2 months ago but there are still bits of dirt between the rolls of turn that have been put down how do i promote growth in this area
4. Watering apart from this weekend we have not had any rain up here since i moved in 5 weeks ago. How often do you water lawn is there a schedule or just when it looks tired

Now like i said above these are pretty basic questions but i have found the internet useless as it seems to have so much conflicting information so any and all help is appreciated as we would like to keep our new novelty healthy

[westvic]

Just concrete the bastard...paint it green....jobs right 

[Rhojef]

In about a month it will start growing as the weather warms up. Buffalo tends to be a pretty thick base type grass which is reasonably weed resistant. I mow ours every 2 weeks in summer and the dryer it is the easier it is. Doesn't seem to need to much fertilizer, we have set up the washing machine water to run put to the back yard and that's all the water it gets.
Good luck with the new place

[Rowlie]

While it is new it needs water - daily probably if there is nothing coming from upstairs. Osmocote is a slow acting fertiliser so you won't see much happening immediately. Grass from turf farms is generally pretty well fertilised when you buy it so osmocote was probably a good option ie won't lead to burning and will help longer term. Don't cut it until it is quite long and then at a high setting on the mower until it is well and truly rooted - no I don't mean tired. Sir Walter is a fancy breed of Buffalo couch and as tough as tails. I always cut mine long. Shorter exposes the roots and you will get bald patches where weeds can get in and it dries out quicker. Once it is growing throw some dynamic lifter on it when you are expecting rain or a blood and bone mix works too. Once or twice during the growing season should be enough. If in doubt ring one of the turf farms and they'll give you the drum.

[Steffo1]

No shorter than 1 & 1/2 inches (say 30mm) when mowing as, any lower, you may be getting rid of the stolons, the parts of the grass which hold all the grasses nutrients plus, it's nicer to walk on. A slow mow is better than a fast mow too (unless you're a contractor ). Not blade speed but walking speed.

[KeithB]

In Sydney (where you profile says you are) you could be on nice loam, sand or clay, depending on where you are. It's good advice to keep it watered until it is established. Mowing it high will keep it healthy with no bindii and a deep watering once  a week worked for me. Less frequent watering seems to drive the roots down deeper and makes the lawn more dry weather resistant. Too much watering in heavy soil and you can end up with moss is the lawn. Sand may need more frequent watering. The gaps should look after themselves.
You can buy a moisture probe from Bunnings which can tell you the moisture level down at the roots and this might be helpful in setting a watering regimen.

[Foo]

Industrial strength round up should fix the grass for growing and mowing.

Oh you want to maintain the grass, sorry my suggestion wouldn't help you.

Foo

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[Nomad]

Industrial strength round up should fix the grass for growing and mowing.

Oh you want to maintain the grass, sorry my suggestion wouldn't help you.

Foo

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Lol....there was a quote just on my facebook feed about a bloke who just round up'd his whole lawn thinking it was fertilizer and how can he fix it. Doh

[achjimmy]

 We have 350m2 of sir Walter and another species of buffalo . As others had said water regularly while new. It’ll start to grow soon. The more humid the weather the better it’ll grow. I mix my fertilizer Scott’s and sulphate in cooler months dynamic lifter in summer ( encourages clover in cooler times)

Never cut it to short it stunts buffalo and keep your blades sharp on your mower. Watch any weed n feeds buffalo can be fussy. Most weeds clover, etc get choked out once buffalo take hold.

Good luck Great lawn

[tryagain]

1) When it needs it, but best not letting it get too long before you mow it, by too long (probably about 5cm from the last cut), the not too short is for regular mowing, the scalp it to promote growth is more akin to a spring clean, something you can do once in a while (year or two) but no need with a new lawn to worry about that for quite a while.

2) Ozmicote being slow release, genreally won't give you a really noticeable result, having said that, with a newly laid lawn, you want to be aiming for root growth more than greening up, Seasol is pretty good for doing this.

3) You can put some soil in the gaps, this will help level it out give the grass something to grow into.

4) A two-month-old lawn I'd be looking to water about every third day, push it out a day per week for the next month and then when it looks like it needs it.

Having said all of the above, you can really do pretty minimal for a lawn, and treat it badly and it will still be there, just won't look as good.

[Pete79]

Firstly if it’s freshly laid turf, just keep the water up to it until the weather starts to warm up a bit.

I’ve laid about 800-900m2 of Buffalo at our place over the last few years.
How much care it needs depends on the time of year, but we’ve done a few sections in late winter and I prefer to hand water for 30 minutes every 2 or 3 days for the first few weeks. Just to make sure it gets a good even soaking and stays healthy until there’s a few more hours of sunshine in the days.

1. Mowing - cut it reasonably long for now. Next summer (as in Nov-Dec next year) you can go a bit shorter when it’s growing fast, but for now keep it longer.
2. Fertilizer - I don’t get caught up in brand name stuff for many things in life, fertilizers are no different. My pick is palletized chook Shit. Wait till Oct-Nov before you feed it, you might get away with feeding a bit earlier in Sydney, but north of the boarder it’s just a waist to start feeding until well into the storm season and the rains are a bit more consistent.
There’s a hole bunch of crap written on fertilizer bags these days, but as long as there’s actual crap inside the bag, that’s all that matters.
3. Increasing coverage- wait for winter to end and in the mean time make sure you’re hand watering in all those gaps so the edges don’t dry out.
4. Watering- See above.


In summary;
Look after it for the first few months. Feed it once a year when it’s raining.
Cut it reasonably long and as often as you want to see your nice green lawn looking great after it’s been freshly cut.


Edit: Tryagain just beat me to it....

[Rumpig]

The biggest problem with watering it, especially if doing it regularly, is that it grows and you have to mow it....i’d rather go camping instead of mowing the yard...lol. Our grass gets watered when it rains, hence the large dead patches in the backyard currently.....it’ll grow back when the rains come though, always does.

[edz]

Drove past a new build house, next drive by it was surrounded by crusher dust and drainage Ag pipes with concrete edging along the fence lines / paths and raised garden beds out front Then the last drive by it had lush green artificial Turf out to the roadway  and established plants in the garden beds ..
I'm guessing O'l mate wasnt planing on doing any type of mowing at all ever ..

[chester ver2.0]

Thanks guys thats what i like about this place simple advice

[Hookie]

I have a lawn. It's green most of the time. I mow it when it gets long enough that I look at it and say "that needs mowing". This system works pretty well. I never felt the need to complicate it.

[Foo]

The biggest problem with watering it, especially if doing it regularly, is that it grows and you have to mow it....i’d rather go camping instead of mowing the yard...lol. Our grass gets watered when it rains, hence the large dead patches in the backyard currently.....it’ll grow back when the rains come though, always does.

Amen to this! 

Foo

[nab]

I ditched all my grass front and back a few years ago. Front is now native plants and mulch/wood chips. Just needs a quick trim and weed every 3 months, just the way I like it. Back yard is just garden beds and coloured gravel, and the missus looks after the garden beds so suits me even better!!!!

IMO gardening/lawn care sucks and I’ll leave it for some other mug to do....

[Hoyks]

I'm in Raymo and haven't had to mow for around 3 months, so not much growing taking place as its cool and bugger all rain.

Buffalo is reasonably low maintenance and when it starts growing will grow quickly and fill in the gaps. It also crowds out bindi, which is a good thing as a lot of the bindi  sprays kill buffalo.
Fertilizer only helps if there is water to take it into the soil.

All my yards in NQ had it and I'd have to mow twice a week in summer. My yard in SE QLD has some that might grow and need mowing if it ever rains again .

To help get it established and set for summer, water it a few times a week now. Soaker hoses are good, or of an evening stand out there with a hose and a beer (sorry dear I can't do _____, I'm busy watering the lawn).

If you don't have one, get a mulching mower and set it with the blades at the upper 1/3 of the mulching height. The cut grass just disappears into the lawn and you never have to empty a catcher.

[speewa158]

The best advise you can get is ,,,,,,,,,,,,    Get a professional to do the job .