Episode: #12 18/11/06
Presenter: Sue McDougall

A gorgeous lawn not only adds value to a property, it has some real environmental benefits as well. In times of water shortages the first reaction of some is to remove the lawns and replace with paving or hard landscaping without any thought to the impact on the environment.

Did you know that only 58 square metres of lawn provides enough oxygen for one person for an entire day? For those people who suffer hay fever, turf grasses trap an estimated 12 million tonnes of dust and dirt that is released into the atmosphere every year.

The varieties of Turf grown in WA ensure they survive very well on two days a week watering and if they happen to go through a pretty hard stage with a little extra care they can look gorgeous in not time.

Usually if it is an old lawn the soil becomes compacted and the roots can?t get though the soil for the plant to grow efficiently so grab the garden fork and open the soil up. In the old days these lawns would have been top dressed yearly with yellow sand, but this is not recommended as topdressing is only required to correct unevenness. Sand also drains too freely and doesn?t hold any nutrients around the root system.

The first thing to do is to open up the lawn and aerate it with a pitch fork. Spread over a quality soil improver and next add Moisture Worx for Turf at a rate of 2.5kg per square metre. This new product is used by leading turf growers and turf layers to increase the water holding capacity of the soil. It is the by product of coal after it has been burnt and it contains many essential nutrients that the lawn can take up resulting in a healthier more drought hardy lawn.

The increased organic matter reduces the movement of fertilisers through the soil which results in a positive impact on our waterways and allows the fertiliser to be held around the plants roots where it is used up.

Now when you apply this product it is very dusty and needs to be watered in immediately once it has been raked.

You have a few choices when it comes to filling in the holes. Be patient and wait for the runners to grow over the dead patches.

You can over sow with a seed variety that will germinate quickly and establish itself in the gaps or if you are not a patient person and the holes are big you can grab your self some turf rolls and start patching.

They will need to be dug in a little to ensure they are at the same level and very soon will grow into the existing lawn ensuring you will have the best lawn in the street.

Moisture Worx
Free Call: 1800 SAVE WATER (1800 728 392 837)
Queries & Information: info@1800savewater.com
Sales related information: sales@1800savewater.com
Webmaster & Technical: webmaster@1800savewater.com
PO.BOX 389
Greenwood
Western Australia 6924
www.1800savewater.com