Maybe you fertilzed too heavily, I have buffalo grass in my front lawn and I
never water it. And its doing real good and green. My neighbor who waters
his lawn everyday is amazed with it and came over to admire it the other
day.

The only time it turned a bit yellow was during winter.

I hasten to add that I do aerate it and lightly fertilize during Winter or
Spring time with blood
and bone. And I also make sure I don't mow it too low during summer etc..

"Beechmere" wrote in message
om...
Problem 1: There's a gum tree in one corner of the lawn that's
stealing all the nutrients, and it's surrounded by bare dirt. How can
I get the buffalo grass to grow right up to the base of this tree?


I doubt that you can

Problem 2; Assuming Sydney gets water restrictions soon, what is the
best way to maintain my lawn's green colour throught the coming
months?

Paint?

David

"Beechmere" wrote in message
om...
SNIP

Problem 1: There's a gum tree in one corner of the lawn that's
stealing all the nutrients, and it's surrounded by bare dirt. How can
I get the buffalo grass to grow right up to the base of this tree?

I would go for Tish's idea, being to mulch around the tree, out to where the
grass starts. It will save you the worry of the near impossible task of
trying to get grass to grow, and look better than having a bare patch. Apart
from it being dry and nutrient robbed there, it would probably be very
compacted.

Problem 2; Assuming Sydney gets water restrictions soon, what is the
best way to maintain my lawn's green colour throught the coming
months?

Here on the Mid North Coast we are on water restricitons. Stage 2 now, which
means no fixed sprinklers, hand water only, and hand water gardens only, no
watering of lawns!! Hitting stage 3 on Sunday, which means odd/even house
numbers falling on odd/even dates. e.g. house 51, can only water on odd
number dates....etc. And under that, it will be hand watering for 2hrs in
the morning, 2hrs at night, between certain times.

Anyway, you could take the option that some had taken here in this town
before we reached stage 2. That is water the lawn like there is no tomorrow,
with the hope that rain will come soon. However, take a look at what
happened here. They did that, now there has been 2-3 weeks of not being able
to water the lawn at all. Lawns here are starting to die off, so all that
watering they did has gone to waste.

As a greenkeeper, i like my lawn looking nice, but thankfully I took the bet
that there would be no rain, stage 2 would be reached. So now, the lawn is
slightly brown, however it would be worse had i kept it mowed short.

My suggestions would be let it go. Don't water it, don't mow it. If you
choose to water, do it at night or early morning, every 3 or 4 days.

Sorry, I haven't really helped here, but there isn't much that can be done.
Give it one more month of no rain here, and not one lawn will be looking
good (not legally anyway).

If you do like your lawn so much, maybe getting a spearpoint/bore water
could be an option. Even a tank. Here we have a tank also, but I'm saving
that for emergency garden water.

(Tish) wrote in message
My suggestion would be to think laterally. Instead of striving for
lawn right up to the base of the tree - a task that is doomed to
eventual failure, why not create a wide, mulched bed around the tree
using attractive mulch...

Did I mention that it's a front lawn, with no fence and no footpath
(Dumb Sutherland Council). The Tree is on the nature strip that
everybody walks on.

"Beechmere" wrote in message
om...
(Tish) wrote in message
My suggestion would be to think laterally. Instead of striving for
lawn right up to the base of the tree - a task that is doomed to
eventual failure, why not create a wide, mulched bed around the tree
using attractive mulch...

Did I mention that it's a front lawn, with no fence and no footpath
(Dumb Sutherland Council). The Tree is on the nature strip that
everybody walks on.

Hi Beechmere, sorry for being obtuse, but I don't understand why this would
affect the mulch idea. There may also be a difficulty growing lawn under the
tree because of shade from the tree. If you want it green, I've seen some
pretty gardens using dichondria, which doesn't mind shade and has the
advantage of never having to be mowed, although I hear there can be a
problem with it getting into your garden beds.

Some people deliberately use gravel for mulch as a security thing--you'd
know when people are walking near your property, although this may not be
what you want!

On 30 Oct 2002 03:04:52 -0800, (Beechmere) wrote:

(Tish) wrote in message
My suggestion would be to think laterally. Instead of striving for
lawn right up to the base of the tree - a task that is doomed to
eventual failure, why not create a wide, mulched bed around the tree
using attractive mulch...

Did I mention that it's a front lawn, with no fence and no footpath
(Dumb Sutherland Council). The Tree is on the nature strip that
everybody walks on.

No, that didn't feature in the original email. You have my sympathy.
I have seen people here (Armidale, NSW) who have the same problem and
have got around it by mulching around the base of their footpath trees
and then putting in a low barrier around the edge of the mulch (like
some rocks - no bigger than 30cm tall) that deters people from walking
across the mulch.

If you have folks walking under the tree then you have zero chance of
establishing a nice piece of lawn there - it is surprising how little
foot traffic it takes to make a path in lawn.

Tish
---
signature file off-line for the moment

"Beechmere" wrote in message
om...
After neglecting the front buffalo lawn (about 120 sq m) for so long,
I became alarmed at its browninsh colour and thin cover, and decided
to fix it in a three-week intensive program. To hell with the water
bills - I want my grass back !

First, I spent a couple of hours pulling out all the weeds, including
the wretched clover. Then, I started watering daily at dusk, for one
hour, using an oscillating rod sprinkler. After a few days of this , I
applied a bag of lawn food with greening agents. Last weekend, I mowed
it, but not as short as I usually do. Just a light trim that only half
filled the catcher. I'm continuing with the daily watering, and it's
looking superb.

Problem 1: There's a gum tree in one corner of the lawn that's
stealing all the nutrients, and it's surrounded by bare dirt. How can
I get the buffalo grass to grow right up to the base of this tree?

Don't try during water restrictions. Mulch instead. You can turf it later if
you want but seems a bit of a lost cause.

May I suggest you try watering the tree a little so it doesn't send out too
many roots into your nice green lawn?


Problem 2; Assuming Sydney gets water restrictions soon, what is the
best way to maintain my lawn's green colour throught the coming
months?

Don't mow the lawn much, if you do mow take off only a little bit and let it
fall for mulch. Consider getting a large rainwater tank for next year and
using rainwater to water your lawn by hand, no government has yet seen fit
to restrict use of rainwater you have collected yourself.

When there is good rain, fertilise lightly with a quick release fertiliser
such as a liquid fertiliser, hold off on the fertiliser if there is little
moisture.