Yesterday I had a visit from some lovely people.
Les and Daphne.
They pulled up and parked under the shade of our lovely big tree.
Roo waved a big wave, like they were her new best friends. Because everyone is Roo’s new best friend.
They hopped out of their car, and I went to greet them.
We introduced ourselves.
And then Les began to tell us all about our lawn. He pointed out that our lovely big tree was sucking the life out of the front lawn. That some previous tenant may have driven their car onto it repeatedly, because the earth looked very compacted. That we had two different kinds of grass across the lawn. And that it needed a good soaking (which sounds the equivalent of a good talking to for lawns).
“I want to turn my yard (left) into this yard(right). And house. What are my chances Les?”
It might seem odd that someone we were meeting for the first time just hopped out of his car and started telling us about our pitiful lawn.
But Les is a Lawn Whisperer by trade.
From Cowra. Cowra Turf.
He knew the history of our lawn just by looking at it.
He was like a Lawn Psychic, telling us about our Lawn’s past lives.
And he was spot on.
Daphne knew her stuff as well. Explaining that if you don’t water fertiliser in properly it just burns off. And that it’s important to use the right fertiliser.
Buying a generic fertilizer will green your lawn up, but it won’t actually feed it.
“A good fertilizer is Pivot 900, or Starter 15 OR Multi-grow which contains about :
Nitrogen 15
Phosphorous 13
Sulphur 10
At a rate of 1 kilo per 100 square metres.” (from Cowra Turf Website)
A good fertiliser should cost you about $40 for a 40kg bag.
When I asked what the number one mistake people made when laying new turf or trying to fix their lawns was, Les immediately answered with:
Ground Preparation.
The Lawn Whisperer told me that if you prepare the ground properly, over 80% of the battle is already won.
Turf watering is also (and one would think, obviously, but hang on) important. You don’t need to water your lawn everyday. It’s not economical, or necessary. However, a good soaking once a week will do the job.
A lawn is like a man. He might not need a beer all week, but come Friday he needs to go down to the pub and drink a fair few. (I promised Daphne I wouldn’t mention who made that comment, but it wasn’t Daphne, Pal or I. Which leaves Roo and Les. Take your pick).
Also, standing in your backyard, hose in one hand, beer in the other, flicking the hose (and probably some beer) over the lawn, won’t be enough either.
Turn the sprinkler on and sit down and have your beer. The sprinkler will do a better job than you.
When you see the water begin to run off rather than soak in, turn the sprinkler off, leave it for an hour, and then turn it back on, moving around the lawn as necessary.
For most areas, doing that once a week will be more than enough to keep your lawn healthy and well watered. If the weather has been wet (like it has this summer) most lawns won’t need a lot of watering.
For those with native plants, grass won’t grow right up to the plant. Les told me that Native plants only have one predator, and that is fire. They suck the moisture out of the ground a fair way around them, because if there were grass right underneath them, then the fire would do more damage. With no grass near a native plant, the fire will basically pass right over it.
I know that when we moved into our house, we inherited a native garden that took up the entire back corner of our yard. Our yard was also practically almost all dirt apart from the native garden and a few fruit trees.
When we ripped out the natives (I know, shame!) all of a sudden we had grass growing. Magic!
It’s also important to choose the right kind of turf for your area and needs. People with kids and dogs need a hard wearing turf. They might not be the most attractive grasses, but you need them to survive the children. For more information on which kind of grass is best suited to your area and needs, I definitely recommend going and having a look at the Turf Australia and Cowra Turf websites.
Now, in conjunction with Turf Australia, I am very VERY happy to be able to offer you a very exciting and AWESOME giveaway.
I have been given a gift voucher to give you so you can go to Bunnings and buy all the things you need to get your lawn in ship-shape (including the GOOD fertiliser) for all those summer barbeques and lounging I know you are planning on doing.
The gift voucher is worth:
$150!!!!
Yes, my friends. a $150 Bunnings Gift Voucher, with many thanks to Impact Communications and Turf Australia.
Use the Rafflecopter thingo to enter. If it plays up, tell me IMMEDIATELY in the comments and I will give it a good talking to. I haven’t had any problems with it, but I know some have!
**Disclosure: I received a turf consultation thanks to Turf Australia and Les and Daphne at Cowra Turf. No payment was offered nor accepted. We’re just trying to create discussion about turf in Australia. And give you stuff. Oh, and Daphne gets Blogs. She is cool. Les is working on it. Also, Les does not call himself the Lawn Whisperer. I gave him that name. Sorry Les.**
a Rafflecopter giveaway
It is such an Aussie summer thing to watch the kids play on the “lawn”…
My dream backyard is to have a lush lawn near an indoor pool for all the family to play!
There is nothing more awesome than beautiful green grass. My dream garden has so much of green grass I need a ride on to cut it all. It also has some bushland, complete with river flowing through. You did say dream garden right lol
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Green, manicured, and surrounded by weeping willow trees!
My dream backyard would be one with a secret garden. I’ve always wanted a secret garden since I read the book as a little girl. If we ever have enough backyard for one then I will be demanding Husband build me one!
I love a sunny country,
A land of neat tidy lawns,
But nothing is so carefree,
As a backyard where no turf adorns.
Would love to fix up our backyard.
My dream back yard is simple, some lawn to play on, some shade to keep cool, some flowers to smell, and of course my beautiful children running around and my hubby working hard in the vegie garden – hang on – I think I already have that
Aaaargh! can’t get Rafflecopter to load for some reason!
Anna Millie recently posted..A Christmas gift to Oxfam
Anna, I will put in your entries for you xx
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My Dream Garden would have to be Native with a tranquil stream and a hammock to lay in under some nice big aussie gum trees and listen to all the native birds chirping and singing
My dream backyard is 5 acres and has a horse in it!
my dream yard would mow itself
The lawn is irrelevant in dreams. My dream back garden contains the Old Spice man. On a horse…
My dream backyard would be about 500 square metres, with about half of it being a lush, green lawn coming right up to the patio. The kids would love to play on it, as well as enjoying the play equipment, trampoline, sandpit, and paddling pool. The bck half of the yard would be taken up by our shadehouse where we’re growing a range of organic fruits and vegetables that we can enjoy with friends and family!
My dream backyard has enough stuff to keep the kids occupied, a quiet place to sit and drink a cup of tea and a large, sunny area for growing vegies. Our backyard currently has great stuff for Mr 1, but Mr 4 is starting to out-grow the “baby” toys, so we are working on some “big boy” play areas that don’t take up much space (eg. a scramble net in between the posts of the balcony, a telescope attached to one of the poles).
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A luscious green lawn without green-ants would be perfect.
My husband does his best toaintain the lawn – must admit, it is entirely his domain! He would absolutely flip if I won him this Bunnings prize!! Might even justify all the time I spend blogging
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Love my low maintinance yard…leaves me time to explore other passions…but a neat edged/mowed lawn is a must!
When the man of the house bailed, he took my beloved lawn mower with him.
We live next door to what i assume is Les’s long lost brother and his wife Ruth, who’s lawn (back and front) is immaculate. He mowers every second day, has the most amazing garden shed a human could ask for and whipper snips my edges every other day.
One thing he will NOT do is mow my lawn. Not because he doesnt love me, Its because he refuses to get a weed in his mower. I have uploaded a photo of ‘Our lawns’ to your facebook page as an example of how insainley gorgeous his lawn is , compared to my shameful patch of grass.
My dream yard would resemble something with colour, preferably green.
I would love nothing more then to make Nev proud and take him with me to bunnings to pick out the perfect lawn feed and mower.
Thanks for the opportunity Daisy!
x Nic
be great to see my lawn rich green and devoid of those blasted lawn beetle grubs
Johnny Depp in my backyard
Mine would have a perfectly manicured yard with lots of tulips and a tiny koi pond
My ideal backyard would be level!!
I have a huge back yard and i love it sometimes but sometimes its a pain – when you have to mow it or fertislise it , takes ages and costs alot.
I think I need a new whipper snipper mine is about to die – used way tooo much
my dream backyard is 2 acres with a couple of big shady trees which the kids could climb. Fruit trees in one corner, a vegie patch in the other and some beautiful lawns edged with flower beds.. bliss!
mums the word recently posted..Bananas in Pyjamas Review and Givdeaway
Many people say that garden reflects the personality of the home owners. And I also like what you said about “lawns being like men”. That’s true! Practically, having a lawn comes with a great responsibility. But if you already know everything about lawn care, maintaining it could become your hobby.