Home

Key points of lawn installation

Do it once and do it right with quality turf – This is the key to a successful lawn installation but prior to this, it is all about:

Preparation - Preparation - Preparation

• Cutting corners in regard to the base preparation and turf/seed quality, will immediately reduce the quality and life of your lawn. With all our lawn installations it is critical to check what undesirable weeds and rogue grasses you have in the existing lawn and surrounds. With grasses such as – Kikuyu, Couch, Paspalum and Poa just to name a few, these will often require several applications of spray in order to eradicate.

• It is important to break down soil compaction and introduce soil aid conditioner so as to ensure effective root depth, which in turn encourages healthy grass.

• Early introduction of a long term insect protection to ensure elimination of root eating insects such as grass grub.

• Use of good quality clean soil which will mean less weeds and contamination and will assist in minimizing weed spraying.

• On all of our installations we source top quality seed and in the case of instant lawns we ensure that the turf is grown in soil – not clay! One has to be very careful when installing an instant lawn because if it is grown in clay it is difficult for water to drain away during the winter period which in turn creates problems such as moss and turf decomposition. Conversely, in summer the turf will shrink. We have come across cases of instant lawns that have not knitted into the lawn base six months after installation.

• Another critical issue is ensuring that the turf knits into the lawn base. If you follow the correct base preparation procedure outlined, a wetting granule and starter fertiliser should be applied. The lawn should then knit into the base within 6 to 10 days depending on the time of the year etc.

• Selecting the correct variety for your particular application is the next critical decision. Total Turf Services will provide the appropriate options and will also advise the advantages and disadvantages of each of the turf varieties. Following the laying of turf, it is important to apply a good quality slow release fertiliser.

What grass variety is most suitable?

Following preparation, grass type is the next most important decision. Each site can have different requirements such as – beach front, shady, full sun, children, pets etc. All of these factors need to be considered in order to determine the correct species of grass for the specific application. Budget constraints are also a factor in deciding grass species. For example, the installation of an irrigation system for watering during summer as compared to installing a more drought tolerant grass that requires little or no watering.

WHAT GRASS SPECIES ARE AVAILABLE:

• Tall Fescue:- Lush green carpet grass, tolerates shade, has some limited drought tolerance, requires watering through the summer but limited winter growth – highly recommended species for Auckland.

• Fine Fescue:- Same characteristics as Tall Fescue but with a very fine leaf. Does not handle humid conditions very well and can easily attract fungal diseases. – Not recommended for Auckland.

• Rye Grass:- Used mainly on sports field applications throughout Australasia and is favoured for winter sports as it has positive winter recovery. Has no shade tolerance and requires regular irrigation. – Works in Auckland in full sun but requires daily watering throughout summer.

• Couch Grass:- This species is gaining in popularity. It was once regarded as an undesirable grass. For a property with full sun and budget constraints in regard to irrigation this would be a suitable application. As Couch is a Rhizomaus grass species it has sideways moving characteristics and as a consequence is ideal on a site with children or animals. Couch needs a lot of sun and has no tolerance to shade or frost. Frost causes dormancy but it will recover once soil temperatures start improving. With all the talk of global warming, we really do not know about the future with regard to water availability etc. However, grass species such as Couch and Kikuyu could become more and more popular. – Good
grass for Auckland in full sun and ideal for beach front locations due to high in salt tolerance.

• Kikuyu Grass:- Now available in an instant form and enjoys the same characteristics and conditions as Couch

• Mixed Blends:- If possible, we make every endeavour to stay away from blending different varieties grass seed. It is much more expensive to control undesirable species of grasses/weeds and can create quite serious problems such as burning the chosen species through the application of chemicals and such in order to eradicate undesirable weeds/ grasses etc.

Image Gallery

Kikuyu Instant Lawn – “Tiger Enclosure - Auckland Zoo”

Tall Fescue Instant Lawn – St Marys Bay “Start to Finish 4 hours”

Couch Instant Lawn – Waterview “Legend”

Sand Top Dressing – Couch Lawn – Milford

Seeded Couch Grass Lawn - Greenhithe

Couch Instant Lawn – Herne Bay “Windsor Green”

Couch Lawn – Mahurangi – Windsor Green